Project Simoom was the name of a business case involving the

Swedish Defence Research Agency The Swedish Defence Research Agency (, FOI; literal translation: ''Total Defence Research Institute'') is a government agency in Sweden for total defence research and development. FOI has its headquarters in Kista (Stockholm). Other FOI offic ...

(FOI) and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, which aimed to build a propellant and explosives factory in Saudi Arabia to modify anti-tank weapon systems Details about the project were revealed to the public on 7 March 2012 by investigative journalists Daniel Öhman and Bo-Göran Bodin at the Swedish

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

broadcaster

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

. The project was criticized for constituting a possible breach of Swedish arms trade laws, and for its secretive nature. It resulted in the resignation of Defence Minister

Sten Tolgfors Sten Sture Tolgfors (born 17 July 1966) is a Swedish former politician, public affairs executive and government official who is serving as Governor of Västra Götaland County since 1 September 2022, having been appointed to the position on 9 ...

on 29 March 2012 and in FOI ending its participation in the project.

References

External links

Swedish public radio
- Timeline and documents in Swedish and English Foreign relations of Sweden Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia Military of Sweden Military history of Saudi Arabia Code names Military projects Secret military programs {{SaudiArabia-stub