Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that his country will purchase four French frigates from the Naval Group company as part of a “very important international contract in the defense industry†. The tricolor flagship of the defense industry was preferred to its competitors Babcock (United Kingdom), Saab (Sweden) and Navantia (Spain). Sweden favored the rapid delivery of a frigate model already built and tested. France assured its partner to provide it with a building « totalement équipé » dès 2030.
According to the Swedish Prime Minister, it is “one of the largest Swedish defense investments since the introduction of (the fighter plane) Flu in the 1980sHAS”. This contract “represents a tripling of anti-aircraft defense capabilities,” he added, without giving the precise amount, estimated at nearly five billion euros.
Increase in military spending
The frigates delivered by Naval Group to Sweden are defense and intervention frigates (FDI). This new class, delivered from 2025 by Naval Group to the French Navy, must gradually replace the multi-mission frigates (FREMM). The first of this type, the Admiral Ronarc’h, was delivered at the end of 2025 to Brest.
This agreement constitutes a success for Naval Group after the snub suffered last year in Norway, which preferred British frigates. “The possibility of sharing costs with other countries, in this case France and Greece, was also important for usadded the head of government. It is an integrated and proven naval air defense system. This means that the functional chain, with all its different subsystems, has been tested and verified for this type of ship».
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden has significantly increased its investments in the defense sector, in parallel with its NATO membership in 2024. In 2026, the country’s defense spending will reach 2.8%, with a target set at 3.1% in 2028.
