Sweden to buy four Naval Group frigates in €4bn deal

(Sharecast News) - Sweden is to buy four navy frigates from France in a deal worth around �4bn, the Nordic country confirmed on Tuesday.

Sweden has ordered the French defence and intervention (FDI) frigates from France's Naval Group, with the first one due for delivery in 2030, for around 40bn Swedish krone (�3.7bn). Paris-based Naval Group is jointly owned by the French state and European defence giant Thales.

Sweden has been looking to bolster its defences ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, prompting it to join Nato in 2024, a year after Finland.

Announcing the deal, prime minister Ulf Kristersson said the purchase, which will triple the country's air defence capacity, was the country's largest military investment since the 1980s.

"The Baltic Sea has never in the modern era been as exposed, questioned and contested as it is now," he said. "With this decision I am convinced Sweden is contributing to making the Baltic Sea considerably safer in the future."

French president Emmanuel Macron posted on social media: "Following France's decision to equip itself with Saab's GlobalEye to renew its fleet of Awacs radar aircraft, this is a major strategic decision that reflects the mutual trust between our two countries.

"A strong and sovereign Europe within Nato: that is our vision of our defence and our shared security. It is built every day."

GlobalEye is an airborne early warning system developed by Sweden's Saab.

Naval Group outpaced two other bids to secure the contract, one from state-owned Spanish firm Navantia and another joint tender from the UK's Babcock International and Sweden's Saab.