In recent decades, Sweden's and most of Europe's defense budgets have fallen. It has created a greater need between countries for the cost-effective maintenance of defense capabilities. The Swedish Finnish Naval Task Group (SFNTG) is a part of this trend. It will be operational in 2023 and aims to jointly use the marine forces of the countries in a cost-effective way. In this case study, the cooperation in SFNTG between Swedish and Finnish combat boats is investigated. Based on the increased need for defense cooperation, different concepts for describing and applying collaborations in the short and long term have been created. In this work the term Joint Force Generation was used to analyze the different systems of the Swedish and Finnish combat boats. The term Pooling & Sharing was used to analyze cooperation in the longer term. The purpose is to explore how the political and strategic plans will work on the tactical level of cooperation. Empiricism has been gathered through interviews by officers from both countries. Literature study of reports on the meaning of cooperation have been made. The work was limited to research & development, maintenance, management and material purchases. The interviews showed that the different communicationsystems in the combat boats required extra human resources and a common communicationsystem was desirable. Conclusions are that there are shortcomings of a functioning relationship for the combat boats to meet the requirements of the year 2023. The use of each other's bases as another goal must coordinate logistics, training and warehousing to create better impact. In the longer perspective a greater political understanding must be for the importance of the joint material purchases. The major gain is in cost savings through various forms of collective research development.

Background: In 2009, the European Union (EU) adopted the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This contributed to an already on-going change amongst the armed forces of the Union. No previous research has examined how the skills required of young officers in the EU are taught at the Basic Officer Education within either Sweden or Austria. Purpose: This thesis examines to what extent the skills needed of young officers in a CSDP-environment are taught during the Basic Officer Educations in Sweden and Austria. The purpose is to conclude if the Swedish and Austrian Basic Officer Educations are complying with the political wills of their respective countries, to adapt their armed forces to the EU and CSDP. Method: The author compares the Swedish and Austrian Basic Officer Education by examining curriculums and syllabuses, as well as conducting expert interviews with officials at the schools and comparing the results. The educations are examined based on how they educated the concept of CSDP and how interoperability and a European culture of defence are promoted. Conclusion: The results show that both Sweden and Austria educate their cadets in the CSDP and take measurements to promote interoperability and a European culture of defence. The results suggest that Austria does so to a further extent. Based on the results, the author suggests increased exchanges, Pooling &amp; Sharing during Basic Officer Education and further developments towards a common European Basic Officer Education. / <p>Erasmus</p>