War and conflict across borders and geopolitical turmoil are rarely considered to work.
However, this appears to have been the effect of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on two of the neighboring neighbors on the West – Finland and Sweden.
Not direct, of course. Instead, it was the response of the northern states to the invasion that turned fear to hope.
Both countries applied for membership in the Western Defense Alliance in NATO in May 2022, that is, about three months after the winter invasion.
Less than three years later, they are both entire members and are already the benefits, in terms of national security and economy.
“We are no longer a country that cannot be trusted,” Michael Johansson, CEO of the Swedish Defense Company SAAB, notes, referring to the previous historical neutrality in the country.
It indicates that in the year since Sweden joined NATO in March 2024, Saab has already negotiated with framework agreements with NATO and NATO Support Agency (NSPA). NSPA is the body that regulates NATO request from defense companies.
Mr. Johansson adds that it is much easier to get an insight into what is going on inside the alliance. “We could not reach NSPAS before,” he says.
Jukka Siukosaari, Finland’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. “Being a part of NATO brings us equally with all other allies. It expands the capabilities of Finnish companies in the defense sector and beyond.”
Mr. Johansson says there is an increasing awareness that Europe should do more on its own [Getty Images]
Private companies will benefit from pledges by NATO member states to increase defense spending.
Nowadays, 23 members of the organization currently meet the target of defensive spending by 2 % of GDP, but aspirations have grown in recent months, only to flourish in the last weeks and days amid a lot of turmoil within the alliance.
In the midst of uncertainty about what NATO may seem to be in the future, there is no doubt that these higher spending obligations will remain and perhaps even enhance if Europe decides that it is no longer able to rely on the United States of America.
Latest spending obligations for NATO members may already precede those expressed by many current members. Last year, Finland spent 2.4 % and Sweden 2.2 % of their gross domestic product on defense, both aimed at raising this between 2.6 % and 3 % in the next three years.
Examples of new NATO initiatives on the northern wing in Europe are the creation of the new NATO bases, and the efforts to establish joint defense forces in Northern Finland.
In addition to the formation of the joint Nordic Air leadership, which brings together Finland, Swedes, combat aircraft in Norway and Denmark, which number 250 lines under the associated driving structure, with flexible straightness and support joint intelligence.
In addition, significant investments will be needed to renew advanced arms systems, including missiles and anti -tank systems, and Mr. Johansson notes.
While this week, the White House announced a stopping of US military aid to Ukraine, European leaders announced that they are in the long run, so here we can also expect significant and continuous weapons spending.
The demand for air control programs and underwater systems is increasingly increasing, as the tension between Russia and the West brings the new cold to the Arctic.
In these areas, the SAAB president is eager to promote his own solutions, such as the early GLobaleye Airborne platform for warning and control, and its maritime wasp, which is underwater underwater vehicle that can neutralize explosive devices.
However, given the strong focus of Donald Trump on “America first”, it is unlikely to be happy with the European NATO members who choose SAAB, or in fact any other European defense company on American competitors.
Europe will need to balance its desire to reduce its dependence on the United States with its clear need to maintain American support.
European members will also need to consider the complications and interdependence of NATO defense systems. They often combine technologies, machines, weapons, ammunition, vehicles, crafts and ships that are produced in many different NATO countries.
In some sense, the alliance is assembled together by complex supply chains and contractual agreements that cannot be unlawful overnight.
“Europe’s relationship through the Atlantic Ocean will always be important,” says Mr. Johannson.
North countries, like other NATO members, are working to increase their military spending [Getty Images]
“The United States really protects its defense industry, and we must do the same in Europe,” he says.
However, many of this competition may be between the new arrivals to the defense industry.
The Finnish government agency has published the works of Finland as a guide that advises companies on how to deal with NATO.
Its authors predict that the armed forces on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean will get “great new needs for services and equipment, whether high -tech or low technology.”
Many of these needs will need to meet startups and small companies to medium -sized, says the guide, instead of exclusive large defense companies.
Johan Sjoyberg, a consultant of security and defense policies in the Swedish Institutions Union, says that NATO membership opened doors to Swedish companies, not the least of which is because of the “perspective of countries and other companies [towards them] It has changed.
Mr. Sjöberg adds that he prefers “a comprehensive view, that security is useful for business, as increasing security and stability provides long -term credibility.”
NATO increased its operations in the Arctic region [Getty Images]
Also in Finland, NATO membership has created new opportunities, especially for a large number of small and medium-sized companies that Ambassador Seokosari refers to the name “Nokia-Spin”.
This advanced technology is expected to provide increasingly technology, such as drones, sensors, and digital monitoring systems for programs such as the Norwegian “Driver Wall” that develops six members of NATO to defend their borders with Russia.
In fact, as the nature of the war changes, Europe’s security may increase in electronic defense and protect civilian facilities such as sea floor tubes and cables.
But perhaps the most revolutionary idea that appears from North’s expansion in NATO is the concept of “total defense” in the region.
It is also applied by Norway and Denmark, it is considered national infrastructure such as the Internet, phone, power generation, distribution, road networks, safe food supplies and medicine as devices from the total defense system.
Many of this may not be recorded as defensive spending in statistics, but at the same time, there is nothing free.
In addition to spending on civil infrastructure, national military service, for example, sometimes takes people away from the economic productive parts of the economy, indicated by Ambassador Seokosari.
But perhaps what they offer is doing more to the nation more than just providing products and services?
The latest NATO members believe that they can teach other allied countries something or two about the defense. It is clear that it offers both new views on how to measure defensive spending. Perhaps also on how civil society and projects for playing their parts.
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