Swedish Bases To Be Opened To U.S. Forces

U.S. armed forces will have access to Swedish airbases as part of a new agreement between the two countries.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA)—signed Dec. 6, but subject to Swedish parliamentary approvals—will enable the U.S. military to exercise and operate in the Nordic country, while regulating issues such as the legal status of American forces, access to base areas and advance storage of materiel in Sweden. 

Signing of the DCA comes ahead of Sweden’s entry into NATO, which continues to be delayed as the governments in both Hungary and Turkey have yet to ratify its membership.

The agreement would allow the U.S. military to preposition and store defense equipment at Swedish bases. U.S. military aircraft would also be allowed to overfly, conduct aerial refueling and land and take off from Swedish airfields.

The agreement states that U.S. military aircraft will not be subject to air navigation fees or other charges such as overflight, en-route or terminal-navigation fees, nor will it be subject to landing or parking fees at government-owned and -operated airfields in Sweden.

The U.S. will be able to operate aircraft into Swedish Air Force bases at Halmstad, Lulea, Ronneby, Satenas and Uppsala, as well as the Vidsel airbase and test range.

Swedish defense officials describe the agreement as a “natural development of the long-term security and defense cooperation between Sweden and the U.S.” The DCA emerges amid what the Swedish government calls a “deteriorating security situation in Europe” resulting from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

“The deteriorating situation means that Sweden must be able to respond quickly to complex security developments—independently and together with others,” the Swedish government states.

Prior to the DCA, the two countries already had in place a statement of intent on enhanced bilateral defense cooperation, which was agreed in 2016, as well as a trilateral statement of intent with Finland and the U.S. dating back to 2018.

“The agreement is a clear signal that the U.S. remains engaged in the security of Europe and its neighborhood,” Swedish officials say, noting that other similar agreements have been signed with Norway and will be signed with Denmark and Finland.