Sweden Just Warned Putin… We’ll Strike DEEP Inside Russia

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  Following its accession to NATO, Sweden has enacted a historic shift in military strategy—abandoning pure homeland defense to adopt an aggressive, deep-strike air force doctrine. By accelerating the integration of Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles onto its JAS 39 Gripen fighters and acquiring $730 million in HIMARS rocket artillery alongside Finland, Stockholm is preparing to strike military targets 500+ km inside Russia if attacked. Discover how road-based fighter dispersal, advanced MEPHISTO penetrator warheads, and NATO Northern Flank integration are redrawing the Baltic defense map.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Sweden's Strategic Shift: From Defensive Deterrence to Deep Offensive Counter-Air 01:55 - New Swedish Air Force Doctrine: Dispersed Operations & Civilian Infrastructure Integration 04:58 - Taurus KEPD 350 & MEPHISTO Penetrator Capabilities 07:47 - Accelerated Gripen Integration & Live Taurus Test Launch 10:06 - Ukraine's Gripen Pipeline & Transfer of Taurus-Compatible Airframes 11:55 - Saab Industrial Scaling & $730M Swedish HIMARS Acquisition 14:53 - Threatening the Arctic Flank: Neutralizing Russia's 115,000-Troop Revitalization 16:45 - Nordic-Baltic Integration: Joint Expeditionary Force & Northern Flank Deterrence  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/sfuyZ0Hs

Transcript

00:01Over and over, threats have been delivered.

00:04Ever since Sweden decided to join NATO, Putin has been pulling what's left of his hair out.

00:10This NATO expansion doesn't sit well with Russia, but every threat, veiled or otherwise,

00:16has done nothing but reinforce Sweden's determination to show Russia that it can't be pushed around.

00:23And now, Sweden is ready.

00:25If Russia wants to threaten, Sweden will do it right back.

00:30A warning has been delivered.

00:32We'll strike deep inside Russia if Putin is stupid enough to start a fight.

00:37Those are the paraphrased words of Colonel Carl Berkvist, who is the head of Sweden's Air Warfare Centre.

00:44On September 28th, the Colonel spoke to Sweden's Aftonbladet media outlet,

00:49and he made it clear that his country is adopting a more offensive aerial approach.

00:54An attack will come at a high cost, Berkvist declared, as he said that deterrence is now being combined with

01:01a clear threat from Sweden.

01:03If war is what Putin wants, he'll find that he won't be battling Sweden on Swedish territory.

01:10The fight would not be confined.

01:12Russia would burn.

01:14Of course, it's easy for a colonel to say things like this, and frankly, it's to be expected.

01:20Berkvist needs Putin to know that Sweden is no pushover,

01:24because making it clear that Russia would have a fight on its hands makes it less likely that Putin would

01:30order an attack.

01:31But these words aren't empty, and we know that because Sweden has been making some very interesting moves that back

01:39every single thing that Berkvist says.

01:43The most important of those moves is that Sweden has officially cleared the way for the sort of strike that

01:48the colonel threatens,

01:49if it ever needs to conduct such a strike.

01:53Before we dig deeper, everything you see here is researched, verified and produced by real people.

01:59If you value that, subscribe, comment below and consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.

02:06Just a few days after Berkvist delivered his interview, the news broke that Sweden had adopted a brand new Air

02:14Force doctrine that changes everything about its aerial posture.

02:18The new voice of Ukraine covered the basics in an October 4th report.

02:23Per the new doctrine, Sweden will no longer limit itself to defensive operations on its own territory.

02:29Instead, if Russia or any other enemy were to attack, Sweden would go on the offensive in response.

02:35This is exactly what Berkvist warned Russia about.

02:39It just took a few days for the paperwork to catch up to the threat.

02:43Under the new doctrine, Sweden is preparing to integrate civilian infrastructure into its response to an incoming threat.

02:50Combat aircraft are going to be dispersed all over the country and preparations are being made to enable the use

02:56of roads for fighter jet deployment and landing.

02:58This is Sweden telling Putin that it will use every single asset at its disposal to strike back against Russia

03:06should the time come.

03:08Sweden will be no shrinking violet and it won't hang around waiting for its NATO allies to come to its

03:14rescue while it defends.

03:15But to understand why this is so massive a shift in Sweden's doctrine, we need to explore what that doctrine

03:21was before.

03:22We've touched on the basics already in terms of the Swedish approach to defending itself.

03:28According to Nexus Europa, Sweden's approach throughout much of its modern history has been to use its military to prevent

03:34an attack from succeeding on Swedish territory.

03:37Stop whatever's coming and then respond, perhaps with diplomacy or a call to allies.

03:42The combat aircraft dispersal strategy was actually a part of this defensive approach as Sweden developed the BAS-90 system

03:50to enable its Gripen fighter jets to operate from roads.

03:53But the key in all of this is that Sweden's doctrine was all about survival.

03:57That hasn't gone away.

03:59But Sweden has added another element to its approach to dealing with an aerial threat.

04:04Combat aircraft will now be used to strike military targets deep inside an aggressor's territory.

04:10Those targets include anything that is needed to support that aggressor's actions, including air bases, command posts and logistical infrastructure.

04:20The logic is sound.

04:22Initial attacks would likely focus on border regions, taking out military infrastructure close to Sweden, thus forcing Russia to launch

04:30strikes from deeper within its own territory.

04:33As Russia's aerial might is pushed back, the Swedish attacks go deeper.

04:37And while all of this is happening, Russia will realise that it has to commit more resources to defending the

04:43bases that it's using, making an attack on Sweden far costlier than Putin would have initially envisioned.

04:50Again, all of this sounds great, just as Bergfist's threat does.

04:53However, to transform doctrine into true action, Sweden needs to have the weapons to back up its words.

04:59That brings us to the two pillars that underpin Sweden's entire doctrinal shift.

05:04The Taurus KEP D350 and the Gripen fighter jet.

05:08These two weapons ensure that Russia knows that the Swedish words carry real weight behind them.

05:14Starting with the Taurus, this missile is among the most dangerous developed in Europe, and you can see why from

05:20the basic specifications.

05:21This missile gives Sweden the ability to strike at ranges of over 500 kilometres deep into Russia.

05:28Flying at low altitude, the Taurus is a nightmare for traditional air defences to defend against.

05:34At its lowest, the missile can fly at altitudes of just 30 metres, making it incredibly hard for air defence

05:41radars to pick up on as it approaches.

05:43If a radar can't spot the missile, an air defence system can't fire on it.

05:48This is a strategy that Ukraine has used very well against Russia with its low-flying drones.

05:53Taurus is far from a new missile.

05:56As Army recognition pointed out, the missile was conceived back in the 1990s to address a NATO need for standoff

06:02precision weapons.

06:03That need extended to penetrating deep into buried and fortified targets,

06:07which brings us to what makes the Taurus more of a threat than most missiles.

06:11The Taurus doesn't just arrive and explode.

06:14It has a very special warhead that is designed to do as much damage as possible

06:19to the types of targets that Sweden says it would go after under its new doctrine.

06:24That warhead is the two-stage Mephisto penetrator.

06:28At 481 kilograms, the warhead packs a punch, but it's the design that is the real threat to Russia.

06:34Upon arriving at a target, the Mephisto starts its first stage, known as the Pre-Charge,

06:40through which it creates a breach in the target's defenses.

06:43For instance, imagine that a target is surrounded by reinforced concrete.

06:47The Mephisto punches through the concrete with its pre-charge, opening up a gap for the second stage of the

06:53missile.

06:54It's this second stage that does the lion's share of the damage.

06:58A high-energy explosive charge detonates once the missile has penetrated deep enough into the target.

07:03The destruction is internal, and a target that was supposed to be protected against external threats

07:08gets obliterated from the one place that nobody expected.

07:12Still, for the Taurus to be effective in the way that Sweden needs it to be,

07:16the missile has to be launchable from the platform that Sweden intends to use.

07:20That's where the Gripen comes into play.

07:23Before we explain more, this is a reminder that you're watching the military show.

07:27If you haven't subscribed yet, now's the perfect time to hit the button and enable notifications so that you never

07:32miss a video.

07:34The Taurus missile wasn't designed to be fired from the Gripen fighter jet.

07:38Technically, the two platforms are incompatible, meaning Sweden would have had to find another aerial platform from which to launch

07:45the missile.

07:45Sweden went another route. Rather than find a new fighter jet, it made its Gripen's capable of firing a missile

07:52that they were never supposed to fire.

07:54On August 21, the aviationist reported that the Swedish Air Force had done something that nobody in Russia would have

08:01seen coming.

08:02After plenty of tinkering and innovation, a JAS-39 Gripen C launched a Taurus KEPD-350 missile for the very

08:11first time.

08:11The test launch was completed at Sweden's Vidsel test range, and it was accompanied by a video showing that Sweden

08:18wasn't exaggerating the feat.

08:20The video isn't long. In about 14 seconds, we see a Gripen drop a cruise missile, which then hovers in

08:26the sky before the video fades to black.

08:28But it's enough. A closer examination of the video shows us that there is a yellow stripe on the Taurus

08:34missile.

08:35That stripe matters because it denotes that this particular Taurus wasn't a dummy missile. It was live and could be

08:42used to strike whatever targets Sweden chose.

08:45The test came after 2025 comments made by Major General Jonas Vigman, who is the commander of the Swedish Air

08:51Force.

08:52The capability itself is very important because we haven't had any deep strike or offensive counter air capabilities before.

08:59We could just put all of our money on defensive capabilities, but now that is a huge shift for us,

09:05Vigman declared.

09:06A simple 14-second video highlighted a massive moment for the Swedish Air Force.

09:11However, as massive as the moment was, it was just a test.

09:15The prevailing theory was that it would take Sweden several years to complete the full integration of the Taurus into

09:22the Gripen.

09:23Well, that theory has been thrown out the window.

09:26Sweden has been working fast to ensure its new doctrine is backed up by Gripens that are compatible with Taurus

09:32missiles.

09:32On September 25th, a little over a month after the first successful test,

09:37Defense Express reported that Sweden has completed the full integration of Taurus missiles into its Gripen fighter jets.

09:44The announcement came from defense company MBDA, which took to X to declare,

09:50A joint venture of MBDA Deutschland and Saab Dynamics has reached an important milestone.

09:56In record time, Taurus could be integrated onto the Gripen.

10:00Defense Express highlights how this work wasn't supposed to be completed before 2028,

10:05but here we are, about a year and a half ahead of schedule,

10:08and Sweden has the Taurus-enabled Gripens ready to go.

10:11There's an interesting little side note to this part of the story before we move on.

10:16Sweden's work with its Gripen fighter jets doesn't just benefit its new Air Force doctrine.

10:20It could also benefit Ukraine, especially if Germany finally gives the go-ahead for Ukraine to receive Taurus missiles.

10:26Back in June, Ukraine and Sweden signed a deal that would see Ukraine procure 16 Gripen E fighter jets.

10:33Deliveries of those jets will begin in 2029.

10:36But ahead of them, another 16 Gripens, all the older C and D variants, will arrive in Ukraine in early

10:422027.

10:43Those jets are now compatible with the Taurus.

10:45Just one more step is needed before Ukraine can start doing the damage that Sweden is threatening against Russia.

10:51A little taster of what is to come if Putin decides to expand his war to the northern borders of

10:57NATO.

10:58So the Swedish warning has teeth.

11:00However, more needs to be done to make the new Air Force doctrine a powerful deterrent.

11:05Right now, Sweden is looking to build a fleet of 72 Gripen E jets to make up for the loss

11:10of the Gripen Cs and Ds that it will be delivering to Ukraine.

11:14But it isn't there yet.

11:15The first of this order of 72, which was originally in order for 60, was delivered in October 2025 and

11:22Sweden is still waiting on the rest.

11:23We also don't know how many Taurus missiles Sweden has in its arsenal.

11:28Sweden announced its intention to purchase these missiles from Germany back in March 2025, though it didn't offer any numbers.

11:36Even so, Taurus has only been in Sweden for about a year and a half, so it's unlikely that the

11:41country has a massive stockpile.

11:42But bit by bit, Sweden's new doctrine is coming together.

11:46The tech has been sorted and the doctrine is formalized.

11:49Now, Sweden is working hard to solve the stockpile issues that would otherwise be the fly in the ointment.

11:55On the Gripen E Front Saab, the jet's manufacturer, announced in August that it plans to ramp up the production

12:01of the aircraft from 15 per year to between 25 and 35.

12:05This is a near two-fold capacity increase, and it shows us that the Swedish jet is in high demand,

12:11not just in Sweden, but all over the world.

12:13With this ramping up of production, Sweden will hope to get its hands on the fleet of jets it needs

12:18for its new doctrine.

12:19faster.

12:20Saab will also be bringing money into Sweden, which can be reinvested.

12:24Ukraine, Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Colombia all have orders in place that Sweden needs to fulfil.

12:31As for missiles, Sweden hasn't announced that it will be buying more Taurus missiles in the wake of its successful

12:36grip and integration.

12:37But it will be buying more missiles, as well as more platforms that can be used to fire them.

12:43As far back as June 2025, the Swedish military has been making noise about its intention to acquire new long

12:50-range weapons that it can use to target Russia.

12:52We now know that the Taurus is among those weapons.

12:55But another weapon that was mentioned at the time was the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a closer

13:02range option than Taurus missiles.

13:04HIMARS would give Sweden the ability to conduct strikes against Russian border bases, leaving Taurus missiles to fly deeper behind

13:11the lines, to take out bases deeper inside Russia.

13:14Fast forward to September 8th, and we have confirmation. Sweden is going to buy HIMARS.

13:20On September 8th, Defence News revealed that Sweden has signed off on a deal to purchase $730 million worth of

13:27HIMARS, the first of which are scheduled to arrive in 2027.

13:31According to Inside Defence, the per-cost unit for HIMARS was $10.3 million in the 2026 financial year, though

13:38that cost will drop to $7.8 million in the 2027 financial year.

13:43From that, we can get a vague idea of how many HIMARS are going to arrive in Sweden.

13:47As many as 93 units, depending on Lockheed Martin's markup and which of the prices Sweden has agreed with the

13:53company.

13:54Russia has a lot of very bad things to look forward to if it's thinking of attacking Sweden.

13:59A new fleet of Gripen fighter jets is coming, all of which will be able to fire Taurus missiles.

14:04HIMARS will be landing in Sweden as early as 2027, and most importantly, Sweden has implemented a doctrinal change.

14:12It's no longer just about defence of the territory.

14:15It's about hitting back just as hard as you get hit, if not harder, and that's what Russia will really

14:21worry about.

14:22Strategically, Sweden's moves are important for two reasons.

14:25First, the doctrinal shift means that Russia's military infrastructure close to NATO's northern borders is no longer safe,

14:32which creates issues for Putin's Arctic ambitions.

14:35And second, what we're really seeing in all of Sweden's moves amounts to the deeper integration of the northern flank

14:41into NATO.

14:42We'll start with Russia's infrastructure.

14:44It's no secret that Russia is revitalizing Soviet-era military bases, along with building new infrastructure far too close to

14:52the borders of Nordic countries like Norway and Finland.

14:55Back in June, Defence Matters reported that Russia is actively working on a military revitalization that may soon enable it

15:03to station up to 115,000 soldiers close to the Nordic and Baltic regions.

15:08That is a threat. A far more tangible one than the NATO-related whining that escapes the Kremlin lips when

15:15Russia talks about Sweden.

15:17The Centre for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, also maintains an Arctic military activity tracker,

15:23which shows that Russia has been escalating its activities in the Arctic region over the last few years.

15:29CSIS has recorded dozens of examples of Russian military activity in NATO's northern region, breaking it all down into seven

15:37types of incidents.

15:38Air policing, air defence operations, military exercises, missile tests, overflights, naval incidents and outright deployments.

15:47In the past decade, it has revitalized Soviet-era bases, deployed missile defence systems, invested in domain awareness capabilities, increased

15:56aerial and maritime patrols and stepped up its exercise schedule, CSIS reports.

16:01None of this has escaped Sweden's attention.

16:04With its new doctrine, Sweden has just created a massive air defence problem for Russia, as it tries to strengthen

16:10its posture in the northern regions of Europe and the Arctic.

16:13The infrastructure Russia is building now needs to be protected, as Sweden has outright said that it will strike if

16:20Russia strikes.

16:21That's a pretty major problem for Russia.

16:24It's already struggling to defend its territory against Ukraine's deep strikes, so committing more air defences to the Arctic region

16:31when it's already lost almost 1,700 anti-aircraft pieces of equipment is a big ask.

16:38Sweden's new doctrine will create a burden before a missile is even fired.

16:41And as a nice little side benefit, Sweden's moves might open up opportunities for Ukrainian deep strikes.

16:48Then there's the deeper integration into the NATO northern flank to consider.

16:53In an October 1st piece, the Independent reported that NATO's northern flank is facing a threat level not seen since

17:00the Cold War.

17:01In addition to hiding the build-up that we've already mentioned, the outlet touches on Russian cyber operations and the

17:07need to strengthen cooperation between NATO members to protect the northern regions.

17:12Sweden is vital to all of this.

17:14The country's March 2024 entry into NATO provided the collective defence organisation with many benefits in the Baltic and northern

17:22regions.

17:23Add to it the Joint Expeditionary Force, which is a collective of ten nations that provides a framework for rapid

17:29response to Russian activity in the Arctic region.

17:32And you can see that cooperation with its NATO allies is high on Sweden's agenda.

17:37We're starting to see a transformation in how NATO handles security in the Baltic region in particular.

17:44The Baltic states alongside Poland, Finland and Sweden now seem to recognise that this vital waterway can't be defended well

17:51by isolated air forces and coastal systems.

17:53Integration is needed.

17:56All of these nations have to work together, among themselves and within the NATO fold, to ensure that Russia is

18:02deterred, or if it isn't, that Russia is punished if it steps over the line on NATO's eastern and northern

18:08flanks.

18:09That's what we're seeing with Sweden's new air doctrine.

18:12While the language focuses on how Sweden will go on the attack if Russia fires first, the Kremlin will know

18:18all too well that this attack will be executed in the context of Sweden's NATO membership.

18:24Russia won't be absorbing a few Taurus and HIMARS attacks on its bases before it can carry on with its

18:29attacks against Sweden.

18:31Those weapons will be the first of many to follow.

18:34The initial counter-assault will be backed by the full power of NATO.

18:38That's the real threat from Sweden.

18:40Russia knows it.

18:41And as if Sweden's new air doctrine wasn't bad enough for Putin, he's also watching the collaboration we talked about

18:47happen in real time.

18:49Sweden is working closely with Finland, and it's deployed a few weapons to the Finnish border that can cause serious

18:55problems for Russia.

18:56Find out what those weapons are by watching our video.

18:59But before you go, subscribe and tell us what you think in the comments below.

19:03And if you want even more from the channel, consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.

19:08And thank you for watching.

19:10.

19:11.

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