Amajor Swedish naval exercise was disrupted by the sudden appearance of remote-controlled drones. The manoeuvres were interrupted, and weapons were loaded with live ammunition to shoot down the intruders, which managed to escape. Incidentally, the Finnish military, also said they were visited by drones shortly thereafter.

“We can confirm these observations. But what it was, and to what extent, is nothing we can go into,” Swedish Armed Forces Press Secretary Jesper Tengroth told Dagens Nyheter. According to military reports, the units involved swapped their training blanks to live ammunition to shoot down the trespasser. Ultimately, however, they didn’t open fire. Jesper Tengroth said that the Swedish armed forces always adapted to current threats.

The drones observed over Swenex were equipped with position lights visible in the darkness, which led to speculation that a “major superpower” was behind the encroachment in order to openly demonstrate that it had the capacity to keep a close eye on the Swedish defence.

All in all, 2,000 troops, 20 warships, a number of surveillance aircraft, warplanes and helicopters participated in the Swenex 2016 exercise, which was held between November 14 and 23, 201.