Jollygreengiant64
MrSnuggles, could I ask whether you have real inside information on increased spending, or is this just you speculating like the rest of us? I'm genuinely interested.
Also, is this increase a reference solely to the rumoured new MPA that has been around for weeks or something new on top?
To quote myself:
the politicians are talking about increasing defence budget this very day
I listened to speeches from various political leaders and there were voices among them that wanted more defence muscles. As I also said, it seems that the submarine hunt and our embarrassing failure in that regard was a wake up call here. SAAB-Kockum did get two firm orders on Baltic Sea submarines 3-4 months ago, to be delivered around 2025. They have also been ordered to upgrade all existing naval equipment to world class standard.
That doesn't help much when Russia skims Swedish territory with potential nuclear bombers right NOW.
I wholeheartedly wish that Norway could have withstood the pressure from the US to buy their F-35s and gone for the Gripen or Rafaele instead. Now they have an ageing airforce fleet and nothing to replace it with (see the F-35 thread for more info). Finland is better armed, but then they are Finnish and never trusted that old bear.
As I am not 100% sure what you mean by MPA (you English speaking people don't like whole words, do you?
), I dare not answer that question until I know.