Countries participating in Aurora 17
Aurora 17 in Stockholm

Aurora 17 was a military exercise that took place in Sweden during a three-week period, from 11 through 29 September 2017.[1] Its main focus was the defence of Gotland.[2] It was Sweden’s biggest military exercise in 23 years and involved troops from the United States and some other NATO countries.[2] Major general Bengt Andersson served as its exercise director.[3]

Events and opinions

Around 21,150[4] total personnel from all branches of the Swedish Armed Forces, as well as troops from foreign nations participated. One fourth of them consisted of Home Guardsmen. Civilian authorities, such as police and social services also participated. Finland (Which was not a NATO member at the time) and several NATO nations took part in the exercise. The participating nations included France, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Germany, and the United States.[2] The designated exercise area covered most of Sweden, but was focused on the Mälaren Valley, Stockholm, Gotland and Gothenburg.[1]

The exercise is expected to cost the Swedish government 583 million Swedish kronor (approx. $65.6 million USD).[5][6] The Economist put the cost at $73 million.[7]

On 13 September 2017, Sweden′s defence minister Peter Hultqvist said, "The exercise sends an important signal about our security policy. It raises the deterrent threshold against different types of incidents.”[8] He cited the “deterioration of the security situation in Europe” as the reason for the exercise.[7] The Economist claimed the exercise was aimed at sending a signal to Russia.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Aurora 17". Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "As Russia threatens, Sweden ponders joining NATO". The Economist. 21 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Rådmark, Henrik (2017). "I huvudet på en övningsledare" (PDF). Försvarets forum: personaltidning för fast anställda och reservofficerare i svenska försvarsmakten (in Swedish). Stockholm: Försvarets forum (4): 16. SELIBR 4109339.
  4. ↑ "Kritiken mot övningen – angriparen har stora likheter med Ryssland - DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  5. ↑ Nyheter, SVT. "USA:s luftvärn och stridsvagnar bjuds in att öva i Sverige". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  6. ↑ "1 000 amerikanska militärer till Gotland - DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
  7. 1 2 3 A.S. (1 October 2017). "Why Swedish troops just finished their biggest war games in 23 years". The Economist.
  8. ↑ Exercise ‘Aurora 17’ marks strategic change in Sweden’s military stance Archived 2017-10-01 at the Wayback Machine IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, 15 September 2017.
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