Sweden’s Air Defence Regiment (Lv 6) carried out the Swedish Armed Forces’ first live firing with Air Defence System 103/Patriot on 14 October. It took place during Spartan Arrow, an annual German air defence exercise at NATO’s missile range on Crete.
Sweden is taking part for the first time, with just over 100 personnel. According to the regiment, the unit is being assessed through NATO’s tactical evaluation, TACEVAL. Lieutenant Colonel Michael Mattsson commands the Swedish battalion. He will also lead the Patriot unit Sweden is sending to Poland, previously reported by NDS. That mission starts in December and will protect NATO’s logistics hub for Ukraine support in Rzeszów. Mattsson calls the exercise the final rehearsal before the deployment.
Germany used the same range to certify IRIS-T SLM. According to Diehl Defence, Air Defence Missile Group 61 completed the system’s operational certification. Sweden decided to procure IRIS-T SLM in 2025.
Airbus says it networked the German IRIS-T SLM and the Swedish Patriot through a German SAMOC command post. The company describes the Swedish firing as NATO certification of the Swedish Patriot systems. The Swedish Armed Forces’ own reports do not mention certification.