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Swedish Air Force Chief: NATO Risks Losing War With Russia, Unless It Learns from Ukraine
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Sweden’s top air force commander has warned that NATO risks losing “the next decisive conflict in Europe” unless it accelerates weapons development and adapts as quickly as Ukraine, Breaking Defense reported on November 5.
“If we can’t develop in a faster pace, if we cannot innovate and learn under pressure like Ukraine does, we may lose” a future war with Russia, said Jonas Wikman, commander of the Swedish Air Force, at the Defence IQ International Fighter Conference in Rome.
Calling Ukraine’s experience a “masterclass in accelerated adaptation,” Wikman said modern warfare is defined by the side that learns fastest.
He noted that tactics in Ukraine evolve weekly and that few weapons are still used as originally intended, Breaking Defense wrote.
Wikman urged closer wartime collaboration between militaries, industry, and academia to meet new threats.
Sweden is already applying this model through its Saab GlobalEye early warning aircraft program, where engineers and researchers work alongside the air force’s operational units, according to Breaking Defense.
Previously, it was reported that Sweden’s defense minister warned that Europe must prepare—morally and materially—for the real possibility of a conflict with Russia, saying nations should shift their mindset into “war mode” to deter and defend effectively, in an interview with German outlet RND.
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