The “Loke” Counter-Drone Concept Debuts in NATO Mission
The Swedish Air Force new counter-drone concept Loke has for the first time been in a live NATO mission. The Loke concept is developed by the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV), the Swedish Air Force and Saab. The concept has already become a central part of Sweden’s base-defense capability.
The system was deployed during the Swedish Air Force’s contribution to NATO operations at Malbork Air Base in Poland between April and September 2025. Military units from 21th Wing and later 17th Wing supported the protection of allied facilities, including a key logistics hub for military aid to Ukraine.
“Effective air operations require robust ground protection. The systems we deployed significantly strengthened base security, both for us and our allies” said Lieutenant Colonel Christian Bertilsson, commander of the Swedish contingent in Poland.
Rapid development
Loke was first presented in February 2025 and is built by combining existing technologies into a modular system. It integrates a mobile radar, Saab’s Giraffe 1X, with a Trackfire Remote Weapon Station armed with heavy and medium machine guns, as well as electronic-warfare components. The system can track both physical targets and signals in the electromagnetic spectrum, providing early detection and multiple options for neutralization.
“To counter emerging threats, an optimized sensor-to-shooter chain is crucial. We achieved what many thought impossible in record time, including the necessary education and training to support the mission. The fact that our jointly developed counter-drone systems now are operational in the field is clear proof of how effective collaboration between the Armed Forces and the defence industry can and should be.”, said Angelica Persson, Counter-UAS Business Development Analyst at Saab.
Next steps
The Swedish Armed Forces and Saab are continuing development, with 21th Wing now training to operate Loke as a platoon-level capability. Lessons from recent exercises, including Baltic Trust 2025 in Latvia, are feeding into the next stage of integration. Full implementation across wartime units is planned by the end of 2025.
With Loke, the Swedish Armed Forces, FMV and Saab has shown that rapid, threat-driven development can deliver tangible operational results — turning an idea into a fielded system in record time.