Ukraine and Sweden Plan Joint Weapons Production

The defense ministers of Ukraine and Sweden have signed a letter of intent on joint production of military equipment for Ukraine in Sweden.
The announcement was made by Ukraine’s defense minister Denys Shmyhal.

“The document updates our joint efforts in this area, creates conditions for the implementation of joint projects in the defense industry, and will ensure the sustainability and reciprocity of cooperation between our countries. We will continue to exchange technologies and experience in the production of weapons and military equipment to strengthen the resilience and self-sufficiency of our defense industries,” he said.

According to the Swedish Ministry of Defence, Ukraine has repeatedly expressed interest in Ukrainian and Swedish companies jointly producing defense equipment in Sweden for export to Ukraine.

Several countries, including Romania, Poland and Denmark, are already cooperating under similar arrangements.

“Sweden seeks to deepen the cooperation with Ukraine in the defense-industrial sector. Through this declaration of intent, we want to strengthen both Swedish and Ukrainian defense capabilities. By combining the Swedish industrial base with Ukrainian innovations and battlefield experience, we can build a stronger joint defense industry,” said Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson.

Sweden has strong potential for advanced manufacturing in both civilian and military industries, while Ukraine brings expertise in autonomous systems, control systems and software development.

At the end of June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would sign the first agreements under the Build with Ukraine program, launched during a meeting in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (Ramstein format).

The initiative provides for the export of Ukrainian military technologies and the opening of joint production lines abroad, with priority given to supplying the Ukrainian army during the war.

According to Zelensky, this includes the production of drones, missiles and, potentially, artillery in partner countries that already finance or plan to finance defense production.

“We will provide the technologies and produce weapons in their countries, for both them and us,” Zelensky said.

He stressed that none of those technologies would be shared with countries sympathetic to Russia, and Ukraine would not cooperate with such states.

Denmark will be the first country where Ukraine launches joint production of long-range drones and missiles abroad. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said Denmark had already allocated DKK 500 million to start production.