Saab Unveils Secret Drone Swarming Capability For Swedish Military

Sweden’s armed forces have revealed a secret drone swarming program using software developed by Saab.

The system, developed over the past year, is designed for sub-25-kg (55.1 lb.) uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). It allows individual soldiers to control as many as 100 drones at a time to gather intelligence, defense officials say.

Revealing the program during the People and Defense National Conference 2025 in Salen, Sweden, on Jan. 13-14, Defense Minister Pal Jonson told Swedish media that the system enables the drone swarms to “divide the tasks among themselves.”

Tasks for the swarms include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as creating a communication link with built-in redundancy. This allows drones at the front of the formation to send their data back to the operator, even when facing a contested electronic warfare environment. Saab says personnel can be trained on the system in days, “allowing the Swedish armed forces to quickly develop drone swarm capabilities,” a video about the system says.

The same video says the system can be rapidly upgraded with new functionality.

Jonson said the system will be tested in February during the Arctic Strike military exercise.

If successful, the technology will be rapidly introduced into the army this year, and military units including those conscripts will be trained on it.