Aurora 17th

Aurora 17 in Stockholm .

Aurora 17 in Stockholm.

Aurora 2017 was a three-week maneuver launched in September 2017 by the Swedish Armed Forces ( Försvarsmakten ) and the Finnish Armed Forces in Sweden . Around 19,500 Swedish soldiers, together with units from Denmark , Estonia , Lithuania , France , Norway , the USA and neighboring Finland, simulate the defense against a fictitious invasion. It is the largest and most comprehensive military exercise in Sweden since the end of the Cold War . At the same time, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are holding the " Zapad 2017 " maneuver in Belarus with officially 12,700 soldiers from both countries.

Aurora 2017 focuses on southern Sweden and the island of Gotland as a strategically important part due to the geographical proximity to Russian territory of the Kaliningrad exclave . In addition, scenarios around the two largest Swedish cities Gothenburg and Stockholm and its catchment area around the Mälaren ( Mälardalen ) are practiced. While all of the Swedish armed forces are heavily involved, the USA with 1435, Finland with 270, France with 120 and Denmark , Norway , Lithuania and Estonia with 40 to 60 men each have smaller contingents.

background

Sweden was during the Cold War and is not a member of any military alliance to this day - it is neutral. While the country was still rehearsing for UN peace missions before the renewed East-West conflict came to a head , Sweden's stance changed significantly after Russia annexed Crimea . In 2015, the Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist ( Socialdemokraterna ), together with the Defense Ministers of Norway , Finland and Denmark as well as the Foreign Minister of Iceland, declared Russian action to be the greatest challenge for security in Europe . At that time, a new military cooperation between the Nordic countries and joint exercises as well as an intensification of the exchange of information with the Baltic states were agreed.

Although Sweden is not formally a member of NATO , it has come closer to the defense alliance through various partnerships since the end of the East-West conflict. The country has been a member of NATO's “ Partnership for Peace ” program since 1994 and has participated in NATO-led missions in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Libya. In 2016, Sweden signed a “Host Country Agreement” with NATO, so that in the event of a crisis it can store material in Sweden and transport it across the country. Sweden is a partner in the NATO Response Force and participates in the alliance's air transport community .

In the past there had been repeated provocations and incidents with Russian military objects near Swedish territory in international airspace or with the Swedish military. Around one and a half months before the maneuver, on June 20, 2017, a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 harassed a Swedish reconnaissance aircraft ( Gulfstream IV (S 102 B)) in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.