The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) launches together with the Swedish Armed Forces, FOI, the Swedish Defence University, and the Ministry of Defence a new innovation project aimed at facilitating the conversion of innovations into operational defense capabilities. The project is called From Innovation to Battlefield Demonstration Week.

– The Swedish Armed Forces need to find solutions to concrete needs more quickly. With this project, we aim to create a structure that better harnesses the innovative power of industry and academia, says Tommy Petersson, head of testing and evaluation at FMV.

The initiative aims to address a specific military problem by inviting companies and academic actors to propose solutions. These will then be tested in practice and demonstrated to defense authorities, experts, and representatives from Sweden and partner countries.

A prioritized target group is smaller companies with innovations applicable to defense, but which do not currently consider themselves part of the defense industry. The project will be carried out with the support of FMV's innovation strategy and the government's defense and innovation strategy.

– By broadening the dialogue and inviting more actors, we can shorten lead times and gain quicker access to the required capabilities, says Major General Johan Axelsson, Deputy Chief of Operations at the Swedish Armed Forces.

The first demonstration week is planned for the fall of 2025. The goal is then to conduct several demonstration weeks each year to cover different domains and contribute to the faster implementation of technical solutions in Swedish military units and to Ukraine.