Sweden conducts biggest military exercise for more than two decades amid growing Russia threat

More than 20,000 troops carry out drills supported by US and French air defence units

A Swedish soldier stands on a tank as Skaraborg's Swedish regiments practice with a US-enhanced armoured gun company in Skovde (Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency/via REUTERS )

Sweden is conducting its largest military exercise in more than two decades amid rising Russian aggression.

More than 20,000 troops supported by both French and American air defence units participated in the September Aurora 17 drill.

The exercises spanned Sweden's west coast, Gothenberg, the Stockholm area, Mälaren Valley the Baltic island Gotland.

Russia has ratcheted up its military presence in the Baltic region and staged a large-scale military exercise called Zapad, in which it sent helicopters, fighter jets, missiles and tanks along its border with the EU.

Some 19,000 Swedish soldiers participated in the exercise, supported by 1,435 US and 120 French soldiers. Units from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia also participated.

Residents of Gotland were reportedly unnerved by the sudden military presence, with one man telling Sky News: "All these guns and soldiers are a little bit scary."

Sweden in June summoned Russia's ambassador after a fighter jet flew strangely close to a Swedish reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace above the Baltic sea.

Sweden's government in August agreed a defence deal which secures 2.8bn kroner (£260m) for the armed forces every year until 2020. Eight years after conscription was scrapped in the country, the government has reintroduced the policy, following a failed recruitment drive.

At the end of the Cold War, Sweden had some 850,000 personnel, yet numbers have now dwindled to some 50,000.

Sweden is not a member of Nato, but it has increased ties with the group in recent years, as Russia has bolstered its armed forces.

Last year Stockholm introduced an agreement that allows Nato forces to be deployed in Sweden, but only with the host country's permission.