The Swedish Armed Forces have officially joined Telia and Ericsson’s NorthStar 5G innovation program, aiming to enhance national defense capabilities through cutting-edge telecommunications technology. The collaboration seeks to advance military communications, logistics, and security infrastructure, while improving interoperability within NATO.
Originally launched in 2023, the NorthStar initiative was initially focused on industrial clients, but growing geopolitical tensions have pushed Sweden to accelerate its defense tech modernization. “We need to speed it up due to the geopolitical situation in the last six months,” said Brigadier-General Mattias Hanson, CIO of the Swedish Armed Forces, in an interview with Reuters.
Sweden became NATO’s newest member earlier this year and currently allocates around 2.7% of its GDP to defense—a figure the government aims to raise to 3.5% by 2030. The move follows broader European efforts to bolster self-defense as U.S. support under the Trump administration has become less certain.
Under the expanded partnership, the military will engage with tech startups and civilian companies to find innovative solutions to defense challenges. One early focus is improving communication systems for drones. “We will try to figure out how to be faster in innovation and how to solve a military problem with civilian technology,” Hanson explained.
Although Sweden has its own military communication infrastructure, future systems will integrate various technologies—including radio, satellite, 5G, and fiber optics—for more robust and flexible operations.