Sweden has officially decided to join the European Long Range Strike Approach (ELSA) initiative. The announcement was made following a recent meeting of NATO defence ministers, during which Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson signed a letter of intent formalizing Sweden’s participation in the European missile development project.
“The war in Ukraine has underscored the importance of long-range deep strike capabilities, not only for deterrence but also for preventing adversaries from launching attacks from beyond our defensive reach,” Jonson shared on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The ELSA initiative was originally unveiled in June 2024 when defense ministers from the Weimar Triangle countries—France, Germany, and Poland—signed a letter of intent to jointly pursue the development of a ground-launched cruise missile. This missile is expected to have a range between 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers.
It is likely that MBDA, a prominent European defense company, will lead the development of the technology, should the ELSA project proceed into its execution phase. Earlier this year, MBDA revealed its Land Cruise Missile (LCM) system, which is based on the combat-proven Naval Cruise Missile (NCM) used by the French Navy on surface ships and submarines.
In addition to Sweden, the United Kingdom has also recently decided to join the ELSA initiative, marking a significant expansion of the project’s multinational support.
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