The Swedish Armed Forces fired an RBS 23 medium-range surface-to-air missile from Gotland on 24 April 2019. (Swedish Armed Forces)
Sweden is creating an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) bubble on Gotland, General Jonny Lindfors, commander of the Swedish Army, told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Land Warfare Conference 2025 held in London on 17 and 18 June. He placed the A2/AD in the context of the buildup of the Swedish Army under the country's 2024 defence bill.
Gen Lindfors noted that Gotland was “super important” to Swedish defence before the country joined NATO on 7 March 2024, since when Stockholm has added helping defend the alliance's eastern flank to its missions in addition to homeland defence. He said that 50% of Russian trade passes Gotland in the Baltic, and NATO plans to move across the sea to pick up equipment in Sweden to help defend the country.
Under the 2024 defence bill, the Swedish Army is manning and equipping four brigades that were approved by the 2020 defence bill, with plans to increase the service from 55,000 to over 100,000 soldiers by 2030, according to Gen Lindfors. This includes the logistics required to defend NATO's eastern flank and stockpiling in Sweden and Gotland to make the island self-sufficient.
The Swedish Army's Gotland task force has a mechanised battalion as its core and includes an artillery battery. Fourteen Leopard 2A5 main battle tanks for a reserve tank company have been stored on the island, and the RBS 23 medium-range surface-to-air missile reintroduced into service was deployed there in 2019, along with the RBS 70/90 manportable air-defence system (MANPADS).
NATO allies regularly exercise reinforcing Gotland.
For more information on how Sweden plans to pay for its buildup, please see
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