unusual

This ‘spectacular’ beach on a beautiful European island has often been labelled as the most unusual in the world, with its otherworldly scenes compared to those found on the moon

One of the world’s most unusual beaches is often compared to the Moon.

There are some spectacular beaches all around the world, from the sugar-white sands along Florida’s Emerald Coast to the glistening turquoise waters in the Maldives encircling their signature overwater villas. Yet, there’s one shore that is frequently labelled the most unusual in the world, and it’s just hours from the UK.

Resembling the otherworldly scenes of the Moon rather than at a typical sandy or pebbly shore on the Med, Sarakiniko Beach is truly remarkable. Found on the beautiful Greek island of Milos, the beach is strikingly formed of bone-white volcanic rock that has been naturally carved by the Aegean Sea and northern winds.

The unique rock formations are smooth and curved, with many serving as diving boards for visitors to jump or dive into the crystal-clear turquoise waters that engulf the volcanic terrain. Cliff diving and jumping are major activities at Sarakiniko Beach, with many also swimming through its natural caves and snorkelling in its azure waters.

Visitors can also lounge on its smooth, white surface, and have often cited its outer-space characteristics. One holidaymaker shared on TripAdvisor: “You have to visit to take a swim, jump from a higher or lower rock into the sea or just take a sun-bath. Great place that looks like the moon.”

A second commented: “Spectacular, a totally different place, I had never seen anything similar. Lovely. A shame that time did not accompany us because we would have loved to have had a snack and take a bath in this romantic place. It is like reaching a moonscape but with white stones.”

“This place looked like we were on another planet. So beautiful and unique a beach,” a third noted. While a fourth added: “Very nice beach with very clear waters. It stands out from all the beaches due to the white rocks… worth a visit.”

Despite its striking scenes, visitors have been warned about the sea anemones that lurk on the rocks in the water, which can cause painful skin reactions. However, it hasn’t deterred people from jumping in its pristine waters or marvelling at the moon-like scenes of this incredible shoreline in Greece.

Sarakiniko Beach is conveniently located about a 10-minute drive from the main port town of Adamas on Milos island, in the Cyclades group of the Aegean Sea. It’s also easily accessible from the island’s capital, Plaka, within a 10-minute drive, and just a 15-minute drive from the charming fishing village of Pollonia.

The best way to reach Milos is to catch a direct flight from London to Athens, which takes less than four hours, then a quick 45-minute flight from the Greek capital to Milos. Ferries are also available from Athens to Milos, with the quickest journey around two and a half hours, although this can significantly increase depending on the weather, so a flight might be the best option.

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On paper, Lauren Meyering’s debut feature “Horsegirls” sounds like it was made in a 2000s indie movie lab: It features a quirky heroine with a unique hobby, a loved one with a devastating illness and the formation of an unlikely community that rallies around our protagonist and her dream. But surprise — the events of “Horsegirls” are inspired by a true story, one close to Meyering, who based the film on her family friends Mackenzie and Sandra Breeden. Sometimes real life can be the realest indie movie of all.

“Horsegirls” might read on paper as too sickly sweet, but Meyering’s thoughtful direction and star Lillian Carrier’s performance keep it from tipping too far in that direction. Carrier stars as Margarita, a young woman with autism who lives with her cancer-stricken mother, Sandy (Gretchen Mol). The pair are inseparable, with Margarita accompanying her mother to chemotherapy treatments and their own special celebration rituals involving karaoke and sharing combo platters.

Sandy desperately wants Margarita to get a job but her first steps toward independence come when she spies a hobby horse rehearsal and becomes fixated on joining. If you’re unfamiliar with hobby horsing, it’s a sport originating from Finland that’s growing in popularity. It involves a choreographed routine involving elements of gymnastics and traditional dressage performed while using a “hobby horse” — a stuffed horse head on a stick.

For Margarita, who loves horses but isn’t allowed to interact with them due to her mother’s safety fears, it seems the perfect solution, and she persists despite the clique-ish mean girl behavior from some of the younger participants. The coach (Jerod Haynes) sees her determination and encourages her participation, so she gets a job at a Halloween store to pay for it but keeps it a secret from Sandy. As it turns out, both mother and daughter are keeping secrets from each other.

While the plot unfolds in a fairly predictable manner, it’s the character of Margarita who keeps us on our toes. Carrier, who also has autism, brings an inherent authenticity to the role as well as a sense of good humor that draws people to Margarita, a character who always says what’s on her mind, whether or not it’s polite or appropriate. But her refreshing honesty is what people respond to, and both she and Sandy know she’s going to need people in the not-so-distant future.

Meyering carefully threads the themes of parental concern and young adult independence throughout her screenplay. The anxieties are universal — any parent wants to feel assured that their child is going to be OK when they’re gone; any child wants to prove that they’re capable and free to do what they want. Characters like Margarita’s store manager Hank (Iqbal Theba) prove that strangers can “get” Margarita just as she is, without her mother’s interference or interpretation, even if it takes some time for Sandy to understand that.

Meyering and cinematographer Natalie Kingston create a naturalistic and often dark look, though “Horsegirls” is beautifully shot. The distinctive photography sets it apart cinematically from other films in this genre — just like Margarita herself, who visually stands out from the other girls.

This is a simple story executed with singular panache, and while “Horsegirls” follows expected narrative beats, it’s in the moments of surprise that it works best, often thanks to Carrier and her straightforward line deliveries, which help the tone pop. The film is a reminder that conformity is never compulsory, and that putting yourself out there is the only way to find out who’s ready to catch you.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

TWO sisters were left stunned after they found a picture of themselves in an Airbnb they had never stayed at before.

When Aubrey Birrell and her sister Libby entered their Airbnb in San Diego, California, USA, they spotted a large photo canvas on the wall.

In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Aubrey points at the picture of their family holiday 10 years prior, showing a group of swimmers at the beach.

Stunned, she says: “That’s my dad” before then pointing out Libby and their brother Brady.

Shocked Aubrey, who posted via her TikTok account @aubsbirrell, said they found the discovery “crazy” and “unsettling”, especially because they had never stepped foot in the Airbnb before.

Her description of the video stated: “We can’t make this up….. this is the craziest thing.”

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The two sisters never learnt how the picture ended up there.

Social media users took to the comments to share their own similar experiences.

One said: “I flew to India, then travelled up the Himalayas to my old boarding school where is was teaching for the summer.

“On the first day I was looking at the school photos in the cafeteria and another lady was also looking at photos.

“We met in front of one and I said I’d gone to boarding school here 40 years ago and this was the first time I’d been back.

“She said she’d gone to boarding school here 40 years ago and was back on vacation.

“Turns out she was Cathy, my best friend in school!

“We lost touch after we left the school and hadn’t spoken since.”

Another added: “This literally happened at our rented beach house TODAY.

“I had seen this TikTok days ago and something made me look at the giant canvas hanging in the primary bath[room].

“I immediately see my daughter and her high school friend group in the pic – one of whom is with us on this trip!

“We live two hours away and have been coming to this beach for decades. CRAZY.”

The Blue Peter presenter was a familiar face on our TV screens in the 90s and early 2000s

A Blue Peter icon has carved out an entirely new career path away from kids’ TV.

Katy Hill shot to fame in the late 90s across some of the biggest TV and radio programmes around.

She fronted much-loved children’s show CBBC Blue Peter from 1995 to 2000 and spent five years taking on incredible stunts, including flying with the RAF’s Red Arrows team, a feat no civilian had achieved before.

Riding high on her success and widespread popularity, she moved across to BBC One’s Live and Kicking until 2001. The star then presented Top of the Pops, Football Fever, BBC’s Holiday and her very own weekend show on Capital FM.

Katy was also a regular contributor to glossy publications such as Cosmopolitan Hair and Beauty, Hello! and Closer.

In 2004, she claimed second place on Channel 4’s The Games. As her career progressed, she hosted programmes for Heart Radio, penned weekly blogs and stepped in as a stand-in presenter on ITV’s Daybreak.

During an appearance on Good Morning Britain last year, Katy shared her lifelong passion for presenting, saying: “I wanted to present that show since I was five.

“It was because this was the ’70s, right, you guys know this? There had been no girl power. That was the place I saw girls jumping out of planes, flying fast jets and fast cars. Generally, it’s pretty cool. I was like: ‘That’s the job for me!'”

However, nowadays, Katy, 55, is far less visible on our television screens, having transitioned into life coaching after establishing her own business.

Describing herself as an ‘Internationally Certified Success and Confidence Coach’, she regularly shares motivational content across social media. Katy also runs her own newsletter, The Limitless List, which delivers inspiring quotes and uplifting messages.

Alongside her television work, she now provides programmes, live groups and one-to-one coaching sessions to support her members.

Katy’s Instagram bio reads: “The shy kid who refused to play small and spent 30 years on TV! Now empowering women like YOU to UNLOCK your CONFIDENCE and CLAIM the SUCCESS you deserve!”

Katy is happily married to Trey Farley, her former co-presenter on Live and Kicking. The couple have been blissfully married for over two decades and share two children, daughter Kaya and son Akira.

In July 2023, Katy and Trey celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, with the former television presenter sharing a touching tribute to her husband on social media.

She posted photographs from their wedding day and wrote: “20 Years of US! 20 Years of Mr and Mrs Farley! What a ride we’re on @rocaflix … nobody else I’d rather be doing LIFE with! Happy 20 babe! Let’s make more amazing memories! X (Ours was the Hans Zimmer version – obvs!)”

Prior to marrying Trey, Katy was previously wed to her childhood sweetheart, Andrew Frampton. They tied the knot in 1999 but separated in 2001.

Playing in goal for the U.S. men’s national soccer team is a little like playing right field for the Yankees. You’re following a long line of great players, making the comparisons — and the high expectations — unavoidable.

Matt Freese is the latest to be thrown into that crucible. But he considers that pressure to be a privilege, not a problem.

“I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating, I would say it’s inspiring,” he said before the U.S. training session Tuesday morning in Irvine. “It’s a long line of goalkeepers that I’ve looked up to for my whole life — and there were some before my life as well.”

Two games into this summer’s World Cup he’s certainly held his own with that group, giving up just one goal for a team that’s unbeaten and already through to the next round. However Thursday’s group-stage finale with winless Turkey will be far from meaningless for Freese since his first start for the U.S. came against Turkey 55 weeks ago, bringing his whirlwind international team career full circle.

U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese waves to the crowd after beating Paraguay during a World Cup match at SoFi Stadium on June 12.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

He lost that game but his performance was good enough to make him the starter in the Gold Cup, where he was even better. A little over a year ago he was just a faint blip on coach Mauricio Pochettino’s radar. Now he has a World Cup shutout and with another clean sheet Thursday, he’ll join Matt Turner as the only American keepers to post back-to-back shutouts in a World Cup in 96 years.

“I dreamt of this opportunity. But you never know if it’s going to come,” Freese said. “I learned the ones that work hard without the promise of reward are the ones that usually succeed.”

Turner, who gave up just a goal in the group stage in Qatar four years ago, is Freese’s backup in this tournament. And he’s just the most recent U.S. keeper to stand out in a World Cup. In 2014, Tim Howard set a tournament record with 16 saves in a knockout-stage loss to Belgium and 12 years before that Brad Friedel made six stops in a 2-0 win over Mexico to send the U.S. to the quarterfinals for the only time.

“To have my name next to theirs as the next guy up is an incredible honor, and it’s something I’ve dreamed of,” Freese said. “The bar is set high and I’m going to strive to reach that bar and raise it even higher.”

Freese, 27, took an unusual route to that bar. The son of a neurosurgeon who earned a doctorate from MIT and the grandson of scientists who immigrated from Germany after World War II, Freese grew up in a household where academics were more important than athletics. So while he joined the Philadelphia Union academy as a teen, he craved the demands of school and left soon afterward to enroll at Harvard.

“When you’re a professional athlete at age 18, 19 sometimes it can be difficult to keep a routine, keep a regimen that keeps you focused and keeps you hungry,” Freese said. “For me, taking classes was something that occupied my time, occupied my mind and gave a very natural release off the field.

“I think at that age it was necessary.”

After two seasons at Harvard, he returned to Philadelphia to sign with the MLS team while continuing to take classes online, once writing a paper on penalty-kick analytics. In 2022, he graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics.

The soccer part wasn’t going nearly as well. Playing behind Andre Blake, a three-time MLS keeper of the year, Freese rarely saw the field in Philadelphia. But a trade to New York City FC in the winter of 2023 gave him a second chance and likely saved his career.

He made the most of it, earning the starting job in his second season, when he finished third in the league in saves, and getting his first call-up to a national team training camp in January 2025.

Six months later he was the team’s starter in goal.

The late-blooming Freese’s journey was unusual in another way too since he traveled to the World Cup from MLS. In the five World Cups between 1998 and 2014, the U.S. started Friedel, Kasey Keller and Howard — three English Premier League keepers — in goal. A dozen years later, the Athletic reports, there are no American goalkeepers in the top five European club leagues and the three goalies on this summer’s roster all play in MLS.

U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese clears the ball as Australia’s Mohamed Toure closes in during a World Cup match in Seattle on June 19.

(Maddy Grassy / Ap Photo/maddy Grassy)

However as a guy with a Harvard diploma on his resume, Freese knows enough to know that getting to a World Cup isn’t about where you came from or even how long it took you to get there. All that matters is that you made it. And now that he’s there, his job isn’t to stand out, but to blend in.

“Being a goalkeeper is recognizing that it’s not always about you. And I’m comfortable with that,” he said. “The less action I have in a game means the better that we’re playing, and the more likely we are going to win.

“So I’m typically more focused on that and preventing any shots rather than just being only ready to save them.”

MOLLY-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury have finally revealed the unusual name they have picked for their newborn son.

The couple announced the arrival of their second child on Wednesday evening, sharing a black-and-white family photo alongside the caption: “…and then there were four.”

Influencer Molly, 27, had previously hinted that fans would “hate” the baby’s name.

Tommy finally revealed their son’s name – Midas – during his boxing match with Eddie Hall on Saturday night, sporting it on his jacket in gold writing while walking out to the song Midas Touch.

Tommy also had the name Midas on his black shorts as another tribute to his newborn son.

Molly-Mae was in the audience to support Tommy, despite the fact the match was delayed and didn’t get underway until close to midnight.

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The choice follows the naming of their daughter Bambi, which sparked criticism online due to its unconventional nature.

In April, Molly revealed the shortlisted baby names she’d ruled out and said their newborn was going to have a distinctive moniker.

She said in a vlog post: “In my opinion, you get one opportunity to name your child something that is going to make them be remembered by,” she said.

“There was so much controversy around Bambi’s name but, thank God, because I wanted to give Bambi a name people are going to remember and that no one else in her classroom was going to have.

“What I’m so triggered by, in my class, there were three Mollys and we were all best friends…

“I really think it’s an opportunity for you to set your kid apart. I think there’ll appreciate it, it’s a conversation starter.”

Giving an indication of the sorts of names she’d been considering, Molly said: “I have loads of girls names I love. I think boys names are a lot harder. I really really love, we won’t be using this, but I do love the name Bunny.

“I actually loved the girl name Goldie, but I feel Goldie now is too used. Goldie was always a top contender for me, even with Bambi.”

Continuing the metallic theme, Silver and Sylvie also made the list.

She continued: “I also love the name Junie for a boy. Junior, TJ — Tommy Junior. It’s not gonna be a Tommy Junior.”

Molly and Tommy shared the birth news yesterday.

Boxer Tommy, Molly and Bambi all gathered around the babe as they lay sleeping on a hospital bed.

Stunning Molly was still in her hospital gown in the picture but she looked utterly overjoyed, beaming down at the baby.

She captioned the post: “…. and then there were 4.”

Molly and Tommy revealed they were set to become parents for a second time in February, when the star was already six months along.

Announcing the news with a sweet video, the star shared a clip of her daughter Bambi with a “big sister” jumper on.

In the black and white montage of clips, Molly-Mae’s bump was seen for the first time as she giggled in the mirror while Tommy placed a supportive hand on her stomach.

She captioned the post: “Soon to be four”.

The pregnancy news came after Tommy and Molly-Mae rekindled their relationship following a shock split in summer 2024.

It may be one of the most unusual hotel rooms I’ve ever stayed in – and it came with some quirky features that I’ll definitely be telling stories about for a while

Dropped off in the middle of a pine forest, miles away from the nearest major town or the rush of city life, I found myself in the middle of the Lithuanian wilderness.

With the tranquil sound of silence and occasional bird song only interrupted by the wheels of my suitcase clacking behind me, I made my way down a rocky path, unsure of where I was going.

But fortunately, I wasn’t lost. This was my home for the evening, as I arrived at what may be the most unusual hotel rooms I have ever stayed in.

You find me in Anupriškes, beside Lake Gilušis in the country’s medieval heartland, having just checked-in to TonyResort, a fairy-tale-like, remote, woodland retreat.

The one thing locals have pointed out to me about their country during my time touring Lithuania, is that it should be celebrated for its relaxation and adventure.

And I found all that and more when I arrived at the resort.

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The room

The tone was set as I walked into my room and found myself immediately drawn, almost magnet-like, towards its panoramic windows.

It may have been raining heavily, but that was not about to stop me from drawing open the curtains and stepping out onto a private terrace to marvel at probably the most beautiful picture-postcard views of nature I’d encountered anywhere.

Eventually, deciding not to catch a cold, I stepped back inside and poured myself a coffee, getting acquainted with the home comforts of the room itself.

Contemporary yet understated, the design of its interior was in typical Scandinavian-Baltic fashion, with pale woods and soft greys in keeping with its location.

It is clear that relaxation is a priority, as I lay back on a large, soft, and cosy plush mattress with soft bedding that felt like a good night’s sleep was assured.

The room was fully-equipped with the modern-day creature comforts you’d hope to find in your home away from home, from a flat-screen TV equipped with satellite channels, a powerful en-suite shower and free Wi-Fi. Across the site, it has 34 rooms, with VIP, family and standard variations.

The food

Despite its remote location, you are not far from finding a good meal, with its on-site restaurant just a two-minute walk from my lodging. Its menu largely leans into ‘comfort food’ serving up grilled dishes, ranging from its most expensive beef entrecote (€29) to its half chicken (€16).

What’s unique is that in some cases, guests can catch the fresh trout from a nearby lake themselves, before having it prepared for them. Personally, I found its secret weapon to be in its dessert menu, with its apple pie particularly flavorsome and moreish thanks to its rich cinnamon pastry.

Away from the kitchen, everything is driven towards embracing the outdoors, with lakeside walks, cycling trails, rope courses, horse riding, fishing and water sport possibilities. There’s also a sauna, hot tub and jacuzzi to enjoy.

Out and about

An enormous advantage of staying at the resort is that you are only a short drive away from what surely must be one of the most striking landmarks in the Baltics.

After a fifteen-minute journey through the countryside, I found myself at Trakai Castle, which, rising from the middle of Lake Galve, is on its own island.

Built in the 14th century, it felt very much like being in a fantasy film set as, joined by Lithuania Travel, I crossed its awe-inspiring drawbridge before entering its red-bricked, Gothic grandeur.

Despite extensive reconstruction in the 1900s, the museum features plenty of evidence of its time as one of Lithuania’s most important strongholds during the 14th and 15th centuries.

There was armour, coins, weaponry and artefacts on display as I wandered around its courtyard and tower rooms. But what I wasn’t expecting was that the highlight of my trip to Trakai wouldn’t be the castle.

Walking through the town itself was almost as visually memorable as the grand fort, with a collection of brightly-painted, green, red, and yellow wooden cottages creating the most beautiful streetscapes.

Teeming with nature, natural beauty, a sense of adventure, and an unmissable historic fortress within an easy distance, Tonyresort is a hidden gem that is worth getting yourself lost in.

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A night at Tonyresort starts at €89.

UK flights from London Luton Airport to Kaunas with Wizz Air start at £19.99 per person. Visit www.wizzair.com

Sweden has chosen its future surface combatant, the Luleå class, its largest in decades, in the shape of the French FDI frigate. The unusual design, with its inverted bow, won out against rival warships from the United Kingdom (a vessel based on the Type 31 frigate) and Spain (the all-new ALFA 4000 frigate).

The announcement was made today on the deck of the stealthy Visby class corvette Härnösand. The Visby class is currently the largest surface combatant used by the Swedish Navy, but it will be dwarfed by the Luleå class. While the Visby class has a displacement of 705 tons and a length of 238 feet 6 inches, the French design has a displacement of 4,390 tons and is 400 feet 3 inches long.

According to reports, the Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), Sweden’s defense procurement organization, chose the French design primarily based on its advanced integrated combat systems and the maturity of the design. As you can read about here, the first example for the French Navy began sea trials in late 2024.

15.09.2025 : Départ de la FDI Amiral Ronarc’h de Lorient

Thirdly, Sweden factored the speed of delivery into the equation. This last point reflects the urgency of the requirement, as the country looks to rebuild its naval power since joining NATO and against the resurgent Russian threat.

While Sweden had long been looking for a next-generation warship to follow on from the Visby class, it originally envisaged a more modest design, with four air defense corvettes based on the Visby design. Since then, the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s joining NATO have changed the security landscape dramatically.

When it first pitched its FDI frigate for the program, France had offered to supply Sweden with the first fully equipped warship in 2030, a notably bold timeline. Unlike the rival offers, Naval Group is already building the FDI warships — meaning Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention, or Defense and Intervention Frigate — at its yard in Lorient. Sweden expects to receive one vessel per year starting in 2030.

Despite choosing an off-the-shelf foreign design, there will be industrial benefits for Sweden, with local defense contractors, in particular, Saab, involved in kitting out the warships.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson today heralded the selection of the new warship as “tripling the Swedish [ground- and surface-based] air defenses.” The frigates were always expected to focus heavily on anti-air warfare capabilities, something that’s of growing interest to the Swedish Navy and the importance of which has been underscored by recent conflicts.

For Sweden in particular, a new frigate with enhanced anti-air warfare capabilities will be better able to protect itself, other vessels, and even shore areas or islands, against threats from the air. The overwhelming numbers of crewed aircraft, drones, and missiles that Russia could potentially put up in a conflict involving Sweden have been a significant concern even before the country joined NATO.

The Luleå class will swap out some of the original French combat systems found in the baseline FDI frigate and replace these with locally made equipment.

However, for its critical air defense role, Swedish Minister of Defence Pål Jonsson confirmed that the Luleå class will be armed with two types of missiles from the pan-European MBDA. The first of these is the Aster 30, which, as we have described in the past, is the primary anti-air weapon of the French FDI. In its baseline form, the FDI hull can accommodate 16 Aster missiles in a pair of eight-cell launchers — later vessels will be able to carry 32 by doubling the number of launchers.

The Aster 30 is able to engage targets at more than 75 miles. Recent improvements to the Aster 30 include enhancing its capabilities against anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), a relatively new type of threat.

Aster 30 will be complemented by the CAMM-ER, the extended-range version of the Common Anti-air Modular Missile that is being added to the five Visby class corvettes, to expand their anti-air warfare capabilities. The CAMM-ER surface-to-air missile can engage a wide variety of threats out to a range of around 25 miles.

In terms of anti-ship missiles, the Swedish boats will carry the locally made RBS 15 instead of the MM40 Exocet on the French ships.

Polish Navy demonstrates the excellence of RBS15

As well as an onboard helicopter, anti-submarine firepower will be entrusted to the Swedish Torped 47 instead of the MU90. This new, lightweight torpedo has recently been tested by the Swedish Navy, being fired from a corvette, and during live-fire exercises from a submarine, as seen in the video below.

Torped 47 – den nya lätta

With its long track record of naval artillery, Sweden will provide the Bofors 57mm instead of the OTO 76mm, while the Bofors 40 Mk 4 will be used as the close-in weapon system (CIWS) in place of the 21-tube RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM). The Bofors 40 Mk 4 can fire Bofors 3P (Pre-fragmented, Programmable, Proximity-fused) ammunition, which can be programmed in six different modes to provide
optimised effect against different targets, including airbursts against aerial drones.

BAE Systems Bofors 3P Counter UAS ammunition

Smaller-caliber guns will be fitted in the form of the Saab Trackfire 12.7mm remote weapon stations (RWS), replacing the Lionfish 20 or Narwhal 20mm.

At this stage, it appears that the French-made SETIS combat management system will be retained on the Swedish warships and not replaced with a local equivalent, such as the Saab 9LV. However, the Sea Giraffe 1X radar, from the same firm, will reportedly be included in the sensor array. This would displace the original Thales Sea Fire radar found in the baseline FDI design and would extend air defense surveillance out to a significant range.

Choosing an existing French design means that Sweden will be able to share some of the costs of the program with other operators. As well as France, Greece is ordering the FDI design, and other potential customers include Sweden’s neighbor, Denmark. At the same time, operating common or very similar warship designs enhances interoperability, especially during joint operations.

The decision also further cements the military relationship between France and Sweden. Welcoming the Swedish choice, President of France Emmanuel Macron today wrote on X that it reflected the burgeoning defense partnership, which has also seen France select the Saab GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) to replace its E-3F Sentry Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) fleet, as well as Swedish participation in advanced deterrence. The latter refers to the forward deployment of nuclear-capable French Rafale fighters to Sweden, as European NATO members look at bolstering their deterrence capabilities independent of the United States.

For the Swedish Navy, the primary area of operation has been the Baltic theater, an area of resurgent strategic relevance, as the host to regular and sometimes hostile Russian military activity, maritime, airborne, and also increasingly in the ‘gray zone’ or hybrid warfare.

Once the new Luleå class frigates arrive, starting in 2030, according to plans, the improved capabilities of these powerful vessels will not only bolster Swedish Navy operations in its traditional Baltic area of operations but also out into the wider North Atlantic region, reflecting Sweden’s developing military ambitions as it becomes a more established NATO member.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com