Swedish defense has a history of clearly specifying how weapons and equipment should look, and what requirements are placed on them. Sometimes it has led to troubles.
We have many frightening cases where we have acquired material that has been received by FMV or the Defense Forces, and then it has been lying there for a couple of years because the instruction book was not in Swedish or the right label was not on the handle, says Jonny Lindfors.
He mentions body armor and drones as examples.
It is completely unacceptable, you can't do it that way anymore, he says.
As the external situation has deteriorated and the defense needs to be quickly equipped, the view has begun to change.
In projects that are far away in time, where we are in development projects, we should retain our engineering skills and continue to develop. Because we are actually the best in the world in many areas, says Lindfors.
Abolishes requirements for color
But when it needs to go fast, Swedish special requirements may be forced to give in. It can be things like the color of ammunition or Swedish labels. When 50 combat vehicles that were donated to Ukraine were to be re-acquired, the Swedish defense bought according to the Dutch configuration, with the mindset that "if it's good enough for Dutch soldiers, it's good enough for Swedish soldiers". Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany also buy the same type of tracked vehicle, which shortens the times.
It's a comprehensive change, and it concerns large material systems, says Lindfors.
Sometimes the industry can help, as when Bofors noticed that both Finland and Sweden would buy similar artillery ammunition. The company put forward a proposal: If both countries agreed to buy with the same color and labeling, both time and cost could be reduced.
"Good enough"
Jonny Lindfors sees no major risks with the approach.
We gain speed, we gain similarity, we gain logistics chains that are the same in Europe. We hopefully also gain costs by not having to redo things.
Helen Widin, head of market and procurement at FMV, says that Sweden must partially release the requirements to get certain material faster, for example drones "that may not come back".
I think we need to start thinking a bit more like: What is good enough instead of having this perfect solution to all problems, she says.
