In September 2017, Sweden hosted Exercise Aurora, its largest military exercise in nearly 25 years. The exercise involved nearly 30 per cent of the Swedish Armed Forces, as well as troop contributions from NATO Allied and partner countries – which joined on a bilateral basis. The goal of the exercise was to build a stronger defence and increase capability to face an attack. As well as taking place in Stockholm and Gothenburg regions, the exercise also featured air, land and sea assets on the island of Gotland and in the Stockholm archipelago. Aurora also featured collaboration between the military and the civilian emergency services.
