STOCKHOLM, April 26 Reuters Swedish defence equipment maker Saab39;s Q1 results beat forecasts as countries continued to stock up on surveillance gear and weapons because of the war in Ukraine.

Order intake at the company that makes a range of military and civilian hardware doubled to 17.02 billion crowns 1.66 billion from 8.1 billion, while its order backlog increased to 132.66 billion crowns from 128 billion crowns.

Saab, which competes with U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin, France39;s Dassault and Britain39;s BAE Systems, has seen strong demand for its products over the past year as the war raised geopolitical tensions, leading many nations to rampup military spending.

Chief executive Micael Johansson said countries are increasing stocks to improve their own resilience, as well as to support Ukraine, which had translated into a strong order intake.

The first quarter was boosted by one order worth 8 billion crowns from the government of a Western country for a CarlGustaf multipurpose shoulder launched weapon and an RBS 70 NG shortrange air defence system.

Demand has been particularly strong in the surveillance and dynamics businesses, which include sensors, deterrents, support weapons and missiles, he said.

It39;s mainly Europe and the U.S. we see taking that responsibility, Johansson said, adding that European countries also have depleted stocks that need to be replenished.

I think this will be quite long term because we are still in the beginning of this…