Common Questions

What is the GUTE II programme and what does it buy?: GUTE II is Sweden's mobile Counter-UAS programme. The FMV awarded Saab SEK 2.6 billion in May 2026 to supply an integrated system combining the Giraffe 1X radar, Trackfire remote weapon stations, and electronic warfare effectors, with deliveries from 2027.Source: Lowdown drones-industry-defence Update 10
Why did Sweden buy a counter-drone system in 2026?: Sweden joined NATO in 2024 and faces an accelerating Baltic drone incursion series, including a drone explosion at a Latvian oil facility and a NATO air intercept over Estonia. GUTE II is Sweden's response: a mobile, deployable counter-drone system for the Nordic-Baltic threat environment.Source: Lowdown drones-industry-defence Update 10

Background

GUTE II (Grundläggande Understödstjänst för Enheter II, or Ground-Based Air Defence Upgrade II) is Sweden's mobile Counter-UAS acquisition programme. In May 2026, Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) awarded Saab a SEK 2.6 billion contract under GUTE II for an integrated counter-drone system combining the Giraffe 1X air-surveillance radar, Trackfire remote weapon stations, and electronic warfare effectors. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2027. The award follows Sweden's NATO accession in March 2024 and the accelerating Baltic drone incursion series, which saw an armed drone explode at a Latvian oil facility and a Romanian F-16 shoot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia in May 2026.

GUTE II is specifically designed for the Baltic threat environment: mobile, deployable C-UAS that can operate in contested electromagnetic environments and cover dispersed ground forces rather than fixed-site defence. The Giraffe 1X radar at the system's core is already in service with multiple NATO allies, providing an interoperability baseline for joint operations. The Trackfire remote weapon station is a licence-built derivative developed with Norway's Kongsberg, while the EW effectors provide non-kinetic defeat capability against small and medium UAS.

The GUTE II award is structurally significant for the wider European C-UAS market. Sweden's FMV has a reputation for rigorous technical evaluation; its selection of a Saab-led national solution over competing US and UK alternatives validates the Giraffe-Trackfire combination as a deployable, weather-independent architecture for northern European conditions. Baltic allies — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland — are watching the GUTE II contract closely as a reference architecture for their own mobile C-UAS procurement decisions.

How the World Sees Them

NATO

The GUTE II Giraffe 1X baseline is already in NATO service; Sweden's deployment adds a new northern layer to the Alliance's integrated air picture.

Sweden

GUTE II is Sweden's first major NATO-era C-UAS programme; the FMV's choice of Saab as prime keeps the capability sovereign while meeting Alliance interoperability requirements.

Baltic states

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are watching GUTE II as a reference architecture for their own mobile C-UAS procurement amid escalating drone incursions.