They receive 60 million for the center for drone swarms
It will be Linköping, Lund and Örebro universities that, together with industrial and societal partners, will receive 60 million SEK from SSF’s call “Autonomous Drone Swarm Technologies”. The grant will enable the creation of a strategic research center (SRC).
A total of nine applications were received from researchers in autonomy/AI, cyber-physical systems, drones and systems-of-systems, from a total of 12 universities and research institutes. Industrial interest has also been very high, with active participation from 33 large and small companies and 13 community organizations.
With its high strategic relevance for Sweden, the project CHASS – Center for Heterogeneous Adaptive Swarm Systems was chosen, hosted by Professor Fredrik Heintz at Linköping University, in collaboration with Lund and Örebro universities. CHASS includes three dual-use relevant large industrial partners (Saab, Sectra Communications and BAE Systems Hägglunds), two main SME partners (Irnova, Deep Forestry) and clear societal participation from the Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOI), the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency (MCF) and the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration (LFV). Excellent testing opportunities are provided by the Lund University Ljungbyhed School of Aviation, Skellefteå Droneport, etc. Linköping Science Park contributes with its network of companies, startups and Defence Hub Sweden.
CHASS brings together leading expertise in AI, autonomous systems, communication, sensors, avionics and human-AI collaboration. The goal is to develop autonomous swarm systems where platforms such as flying drones, ground vehicles, surface ships and underwater vehicles can collaborate seamlessly with minimal human control.
The swarm systems should be able to configure themselves and continuously adapt to new situations through AI and digital twins. A key component is SwarmOS, a new operating system for swarms that can integrate different hardware platforms into a common intelligent unit.
CHASS also researches sustainable drone manufacturing with modular, reusable components and 3D printing, as well as how humans and swarms can collaborate effectively and safely. Legal aspects are also included. CHASS validates the results in real-world scenarios in rescue, environmental monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure.
Over six years, the center will train at least fourteen doctoral students and build a national innovation ecosystem around drone swarms. The results will be released as open source to establish Swedish leadership in the field and enable broad use in research and industry. The project start will be between May 1 and October 31, 2026.
For further information, please contact:
Research Secretary Jonas Bjarne, jonas.bjarne@strategiska.se, 08-505 81 673,
Program Manager Joakim Amorim, joakim.amorim@strategiska.se, 08-505 816 65