Oscar Jonsson: Hultqvist wants a regiment

The Social Democrats want to steer defense policy in one direction – the lessons from Ukraine point in a completely different direction. THE COLUMN. Oscar Jonsson is a doctor in Russian warfare and an independent columnist for the front page of Dagens Nyheter. An excerpt from Dagens Nyheter, 2026-10-19 21:02 Original address of the article: https://www.dn.se/ledare/oscar-jonsson-hultqvist-vill-ha-ett-regemente-till-det-gor-inte-sverige-sakrare/ The Social Democrats want to steer defense policy in one direction – the lessons from Ukraine point in a completely different direction. THE COLUMN. Oscar Jonsson is a doctor in Russian warfare and an independent columnist for the front page of Dagens Nyheter. You know you can create a free account on DN? As a logged-in user you can access several smart features. While Swedish politics is consumed by the government formation, or the lack thereof, the global situation continues to worsen. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have signed a diesel agreement. It has almost no tangible economic impact, but the security considerations are not insignificant. It gives a preview of what this mandate period will entail. The instincts of the Trump administration go directly against what provides European and Swedish security. Furthermore, the US is assessing where in the world it has its military capabilities. They will reduce them in Europe. Russia is simultaneously increasing its military spending by 32 percent until 2027, which adjusted for purchasing power is between 5,500 and 6,000 trillion kronor. How should Swedish defense policy develop during this mandate period? For the average person, the question may seem settled. In 2021, the defense budget was 66 billion kronor. In 2026, it is 175 billion kronor. With such an increase, everything should be clear. The press reports are that the new money has been used to repair the holes in the Swedish Armed Forces. Defense Minister Pål Jonson called it a staff exchange rather than a facade renovation. That is a good analogy, as staff renovation costs a tremendous amount but actually only gives what is already there. If we get a change of government, the clearest change that can be seen is a greater Social Democratic focus on growing the army and increased detailed control. Peter Hultqvist (S) took a position in the Defense Committee for a new regiment in Kiruna. If we get a change of government, the clearest change that can be seen is a greater Social Democratic focus on growing the army and increased detailed control. It may sound harmless, but it is associated with multi-billion investments with questionable effects, as there is capacity in the existing regiments. The Armed Forces were crystal clear: they wanted to "particularly emphasize that political leadership surrounding ... the authority's basic organization risks leading to overspending and suboptimization." Such overspending and suboptimization can be seen in the latest government formations with political pretexts ordered in 2020. Neither in Falun nor in Sollefteå has it even begun to be built, and everything is stuck in construction processes and courts and the pursuit of environmental permits. They will probably be clear after 2035. Only in Sollefteå are the costs estimated to amount to 6.5 billion. However, since 2022, many good things have been done with the new money. It is partly about investing in various types of air defense, as well as command systems, space capability, missile artillery, and the development of unmanned systems. However, there is a huge shortage. Let us look at Ukraine's biggest challenges. The first is air defense and the need to shoot down everything Russia shoots at them. But since it is so extremely expensive and advanced to shoot down robots in the air, air defense alone is an unsustainable strategy. Ukraine lacks long-range combat to eliminate the platforms that shoot robots at the country. In the same way, the lack of long-range combat in Sweden is completely crucial. We do have a ground-based robot (Taurus) with a specified range of 50 miles that can be placed on our fighter jets. However, it is an expensive robot that exists in few examples. In addition, we have ordered the missile artillery system Himars whose robots Atacms and PrSM can shoot 30 and 50 miles respectively. In plain language: if Sweden were to be in the same situation as Ukraine, we would have a very hard time air defending the entire country. It may sound like long range, but 30 miles is from the southern tip of Öland to the coast of Kaliningrad. That is, you do not reach Kaliningrad. From the Stockholm archipelago, it is 60 miles to St. Petersburg. That is, you do not reach the Russian airfields and military bases in the Leningrad military district. In plain language: if Sweden were to be in the same situation as Ukraine, we would have a very hard time air defending the entire country including the energy systems, critical infrastructure, industry, and economic goals. We would even have minimal opportunities to strike at the platforms from which Russia shoots the robots. The lessons from Ukraine also show that one type of robots is not enough. To eliminate what shoots at you, you need to combine long-range drones with cruise and ballistic robots to overwhelm the opponent's air defense systems. This is the crucial deficiency in Swedish defense policy for the next four years. We need several different long-range systems, but also in significant quantities. The best analogy is an archer shooting at you. You can reinforce your fortress to stop the arrows. You can try to catch the arrows in the air, but it is difficult. If nothing threatens the archer himself, there are all incentives to continue. That is Ukraine's problem today. Russia may not hit every time, but can continue to bomb Ukraine with low risk to its systems. I find it difficult to see that Russia is deterred by more regiments in the sparsely populated areas or even more tanks in the Ostgotland plain. However, the ability to strike at the platforms that can shoot at us is something that is required. It would also be the best way to support our allies. Read more: Oscar Jonsson: Britain is not ready for war with Russia – is anyone? Oscar Jonsson: Russia learns from the mistakes in Ukraine – and prepares for the next war