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Sweden Arms Coast Guard as Russian Activity Raises Baltic Security Concerns
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Sweden is equipping its civilian coast guard vessels with machine guns in response to what authorities describe as an increasingly complex security environment in the Baltic Sea linked to Russian activity.
According to Bloomberg on June 25, the armament involves KSP 58-type machine guns. They will be installed to enhance the ability of coast guard personnel to protect themselves while operating at sea, Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said during a visit to the coast guard vessel Triton on the island of Gotland.
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“We are seeing how the heightened tensions in our surrounding region are being reflected in an increasingly uncertain security situation in the Baltic Sea,” Bohlin said. “This means that the Swedish coast guard is taking on a partly new role and it also means that it needs, ultimately, to be able to protect itself, its personnel, and respond to the various types of threats that may arise in the course of its operations.”
According to authorities, the machine guns will initially be installed on Sweden’s three largest coast guard vessels, including the Triton. They will then be gradually deployed across the wider fleet. The full upgrade program is expected to continue through 2030.
Bohlin noted that Finland has already implemented similar measures on its coast guard vessels, while other neighbouring countries have yet to take comparable steps.
“I would say Finland is probably ahead of us in this respect, but we are likely in a solid second place when it comes to implementing this capability,” he said.
The development comes as the Russian Navy has fitted the Baltic Fleet’s large landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin with anti-drone netting, according to photographs published by military observer Massimo Frantarelli and analyses shared by Russian military commentators.
Images circulating online show sections of green mesh installed around the vessel’s superstructure and deck areas. The ship, a Project 775 (Ropucha-class) landing vessel, was reportedly photographed while escorting the Russian cargo ship Mikhail Britnev in the Baltic Sea.
According to the Russian military Telegram channel Voenny Osvedomitel, the netting is intended to provide limited protection against drone strikes.
Commenting on the imagery, the channel wrote that the thin green net appears to serve no other purpose, adding that, at best, such protection could stop an FPV drone, but would be ineffective against heavier systems such as FP-2-type drones reportedly used in attacks on Russian naval assets.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed multiple Russian unmanned attack boats that attempted to approach and strike the country’s coastline, according to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukraine’s Minister of Defense.
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