sweden military strength

Sweden Military Strength - This article is part of the Transatlantic Security Initiative's Stronger with Allies series, charting the way forward for the alliance in the context of the 2022 NATO summit.

Sweden's announcement this week that it, along with Finland, will move forward with plans to join NATO has prompted a dramatic shift in public opinion from a committed neutral nation to a potential member of the alliance. But more important from NATO's point of view is the fact that Sweden's unique geopolitical characteristics and its small but advanced military are likely to make it a serious provider of security – not just a consumer of security – in the heart of northern Europe.

Sweden Military Strength

The Swedes have been parrying Russian aggression for centuries, on land and at sea. Long a formidable power in the Baltic region, Sweden fought several wars against Russia for regional hegemony from the late 15th century to the early 19th century. The last of these occurred just over two hundred years ago and resulted in Sweden ceding much of what is now Finland to Russia; since then, Sweden has ostensibly been neutral or, as the Swedes prefer, non-aligned. But Sweden's rivalry with Russia for security and stability in the Baltic Sea area continued unabated, even during the Cold War.

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Historically, Swedish efforts to solve its security challenges with alliance systems, whether they consist of states inside or outside the Baltic Sea area, have not been perceived as successful. This led to heavily armed neutrality as the best way to safeguard Swedish sovereignty, imbuing its strategic culture with the notion of defense and deterrence by force. For most of the twenty-five or so years following the Cold War, the absence of a serious Russian threat caused Sweden to drastically reduce its defenses and expand its strategic horizons beyond the Baltic Sea.

But since Russia re-emerged as a major security threat in the region over the past decade or so, Sweden has undergone a paradigm shift, with the Baltic Sea and the Arctic becoming central focal points for security issues. defense and security. As a member of the alliance, Sweden is likely to bring this emphasis to NATO halls and lend its voice to those who believe the alliance must first address the Russian threat in these two strategically important regions.

In terms of capabilities, Sweden also has major strengths, although like most European countries it ended conscription, reduced its military forces and reduced its defense budget after the end of the Cold War. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Sweden had an active force consisting of only one army brigade; but his reserve forces were massive, numbering some 850,000. By the late 2000s, however, the reserve force had dwindled to 200,000 and capabilities across all services had declined significantly.

Beginning in the early 2010s, Sweden (like many European countries) began to build up its military as the Russian threat returned. But regaining a firmer defensive position hasn't been easy: it only resumed conscription in 2018 after an eight-year hiatus, resulting today in a reserve force of just 10,000. Furthermore, the active strength is just 14,600 that the army Swedish is struggling to compete with the private sector in personnel matters.

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But despite its size, Sweden has a relatively large set of advanced capabilities, supported by its large and sophisticated defense industry. On the ground, this includes armored, mechanized, airborne, artillery, chemical/biological/nuclear defense, engineer, and air defense units (including Patriot). Its inventory includes 120 German-built Leopard 2A tanks, believed to be the best tanks in Europe and one of the best in the world. Sweden also produces its own infantry fighting vehicles, including the CV90 (which itself is considered one of the best vehicles of its type in the world).

The Swedish Air Force comprises nearly a hundred multi-role (and Swedish-built) JAS 39 Gripen jets, which are characterized by low maintenance requirements and short take-off and landing capabilities. It also has a limited aerial refueling capability and a squadron of five C-130 transport aircraft. In practical terms, this means that although smaller than its Italian or French counterparts, Sweden's air force is considered one of the most powerful in Europe and the world.

Although the smallest of the three services, the Swedish Navy operates the domestically built Gotland diesel-electric submarine, one of the most advanced submarines in the world and the first non-nuclear submarine to have an air-independent propulsion system. This extends its underwater endurance from a few days to weeks.

Finally, Sweden is one of the few European countries that operates an offensive cyber capability. The Swedish Armed Forces Cyber ​​Defense Department aims to significantly develop Swedish cyber capabilities up to 2025. If recent exercises are any indicator, Swedish cyber capabilities are already among the most advanced in Europe.

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Financially, Sweden has steadily increased its defense budget in recent years in an effort to improve capability, rebuild capability, and increase readiness. The pace picked up sharply in 2020, as Parliament approved a 40 percent increase to the defense budget, which is now expected to rise from $7.2 billion in 2022 to $11 billion in 2025, the largest increase in seventy years. While that would mean Sweden spends even less than NATO's target of 2 percent of gross domestic product, Sweden's centre-left government recently announced it intends to immediately increase defense spending by $318 million this year to reach that target. target of 2% as soon as possible. like 2028.

Today, Russia's brutal second invasion of Ukraine has led even more Swedes to conclude that NATO membership is necessary: ​​around half are in favor of joining the alliance, up from 36% in 2013, while only 22% oppose. And if Finland joins, the percentage of Swedes who prefer membership rises to almost 60%.

This turnaround in Swedish perceptions is remarkable – and all the result of the Kremlin's shocking aggression. If NATO allies ratify Sweden's probable membership application, Stockholm looks set to make an immediate positive contribution to the alliance's security. This contribution looks set to grow as Sweden devotes ever-increasing resources and attention to countering the Russian threat in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and across Eastern Europe.

Now is not the time to argue for its own sake: the United States and Europe will be safer with Finland and Sweden in the Alliance.

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Both have done a forward-thinking and thoughtful job of making a potential partner-to-member transition so easy.

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Image: A Swedish JAS 39 Gripen E fighter jet flies over the Baltic Sea on May 11, 2022. Photo by TT News Agency/Henrik Montgomery via REUTERS

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Sweden as a neutral country, which is different from its policy of non-alignment with NATO.

COLOGNE, Germany — Sweden's pursuit of a significant military boost is part of the government's calculation to stay out of NATO and instead seek other avenues for defense cooperation, the country's defense minister said this week.

“I don't think it's so easy to say that the solution to all defense problems in our part of Europe is solved only by NATO membership,” Peter Hultqvist told reporters at an online news conference on April 7.

Sweden joining the alliance would "change the situation" for non-aligned neighbor Finland, a key defense partner for Stockholm, he said. "And Finland has a very long border with Russia."

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Hultqvist added that Sweden's security doctrine, derived from "history and experience," would not lend itself to formal NATO membership, although the country, like Finland, is part of the alliance's Extended Opportunities Programme, which it offers some partners a closer bond.

"We think the best thing we can do is to upgrade military capabilities and work with each other from a bilateral and multilateral perspective and build true interoperability, but not change anything in the platform for security in our part of Europe," he added. .

NATO membership is a controversial topic in Sweden. Politico reported in December that a majority of parties in parliament now support possible membership of the alliance over the stated goal of the minority government in which Hultqvist sits.

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A general push for the Swedish military, approved by parliament late last year, calls for a 40% increase in spending between 2021 and 2025, to $11 billion.

The plan includes increasing the size of military personnel from 60,000 to nearly 100,000 by 2030, reorganizing the army into three mechanized brigades, upgrading naval corvettes with air defense