PRESS RELEASE : DCDC celebrates 10 years of Swedish Armed Forces cooperation [June 2023]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 8 June 2023.
Members of the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) and Swedish Armed Forces gathered to mark their decade-long partnership of working together.
The occasion saw the Swedish Chief of the Defence Staff Lieutenant General Michael Claesson and the UK Vice Chief of the Defence Staff General Gwyn Jenkins join members of DCDC and Swedish delegates in Main Building, London to mark the 10-year milestone.
As well as acknowledging the success of the relationship and the mutual benefits the cooperation brings, the event provided an opportunity to consider next steps and how to deepen and leverage the cooperation further.
Attending the momentous occasion, Lt Gen Michael Claesson announced:
The last ten years have seen extraordinary changes and developments in both global and European geopolitics – including the war in Ukraine and the greatest change in Swedish security policy since more than two hundred years ago. As a potential NATO-member the cooperation with DCDC will be an even more important part in preparing the defence of our nation for a changing world and new challenges – together with our partners.
The following day saw Director DCDC address staff in a townhall, commenting on how our shared insights have helped inform both nations in ways that are valuable and build resilience.
We look forward to the next decade of working alongside our Swedish allies.
How it all began
10 years ago, the then Swedish Director of Strategy concluded that collaboration in the intellectual space was the key to helping achieve efficiency within the Swedish Armed Forces.
DCDC was highlighted as the only Defence organisation in the world that provided research on the future, as well as concepts and doctrine.
Colonel Joachim Isacsson, now DCDC’s senior Swedish officer, was tasked with making the cooperation work in practice. Now in his 10th year working at DCDC, Joachim shares his reflections a decade on:
The cooperation has taken huge steps forward and forms a direct part of Swedish Defence strategy and implementation of NATO doctrine. I am immensely proud of what we have collectively achieved.
