The Swedish Armed Forces said the incidents occurred on Friday in the southern and northern areas of the Baltic Sea. Swedish airspace was not violated during either encounter, it said.

NATO fighter jets were launched “to maintain security in the shared airspace,” the Swedish military said in a statement.

“The Russian actions are serious and constitute a recurring pattern of behavior that threatens both our territorial integrity and security,” Vice Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, Sweden’s chief of joint operations, said.
The interceptions involved Sweden’s JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, which are used for national air defence and NATO-related missions.

Sweden joined NATO in March 2024, ending decades of military non-alignment following heightened security concerns in Europe.

Tensions in the Baltic Sea region have increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with NATO members strengthening surveillance and air patrol operations in the area.

The increase marked the 11th consecutive annual rise in global defense spending and pushed military expenditure to 2.5% of global gross domestic product, the highest share since 2009, according to SIPRI.

The U.S., China and Russia remained the world’s three largest military spenders, accounting for a combined $1.48 trillion, or 51% of total global military expenditure.

U.S. military spending fell 7.5% to $954 billion in 2025, primarily because no new financial military assistance for Ukraine was approved after years of extensive wartime support following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.SIPRI said U.S. military funding for Ukraine totaled $127 billion over the previous three years.

“The decline in U.S. military expenditure in 2025 is likely to be short-lived,” the institute said, noting that spending approved by Congress for 2026 had already risen to more than $1 trillion and could climb further to $1.5 trillion in 2027.

Europe was the main driver of the increase in global military spending, with regional expenditure rising 14% to $864 billion as governments accelerated rearmament programs amid continued security concerns linked to the war in Ukraine and broader NATO defense commitments.

Spending by Russia and Ukraine continued to rise in the fourth year of the war, while NATO members in Central and Western Europe recorded the sharpest annual increase since the end of the Cold War, reflecting sustained efforts to strengthen deterrence and replenish military stockpiles.

SIPRI said the combination of immediate security crises and long-term military modernization plans suggested the upward trend would likely continue through 2026 and beyond.“Given the range of current crises, as well as many states’ long-term military spending targets, this growth will probably continue,” the report said.

In the Middle East, military expenditure showed mixed movement.Israel’s defense spending fell 4.9% to $48.3 billion as the war in Gaza eased in 2025, reducing the intensity of active operations compared with the previous year.Iran’s military spending declined for the second consecutive year, falling 5.6% to $7.4 billion, reflecting continued economic pressures and fiscal constraints.

The figures underscore how geopolitical tensions from Eastern Europe to the Middle East continue to shape defense budgets even as shifts in U.S. policy alter the pace and distribution of military support among allies.