Strategic Management of Capability Development and Defence Acquisition

This course describes how Sweden and other countries organise and plan their innovation, the long-term supply of defence materials and capability development. The course will contribute to your understanding of how Swedish defence acquisition is implemented as a support to capability development, and the roles of the various organisations involved in these processes.

Capability development also demands collaboration with other countries. The course therefore deals with the importance and impact of defence exports, defence materials collaborations, offset, the transfer of technologies, and international standardisation work.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

• explain the planning and implementation of Swedish defence acquisition for the purpose of creating capabilities, as well as the roles of the various stakeholders; This should be described by setting the Swedish approach in an international context in which the Swedish approach is related to that of other countries;
• apply internationally accepted scientific theory to describe and analyse processes for defence acquisition and capability development and how these interconnect;
• individually and in small groups, demonstrate the ability to identify and relevantly frame the question of what leads to a military capability, and subsequently choose relevant analytical methods with consideration for the complexity of the task and the decision horizons involved;
• demonstrate the ability to analyse and assess on what grounds decisions and standpoints are taken in order to drive a process that leads to a capability that facilitates a military effect; and
• discuss theories and methods for studying the management of strategic capability development.