Swedish Armed Forces

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Swedish Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces logo
Military Force - Fully mobilised[1]
Officers 4,500
Regular 18,000 (100,000 trained in the last 10 years)
Militia 37,000
Total 59,500
Military Force (within 1 month)[1]
Officers 2,700
Regular 7,000
Militia 37,000 (within hours)
Total 46,700
Military manpower[2]
Military age 19 years of age
Availability males age 19-49: 1,838,427
females age 19-49: 1,774,659 (2005 est.)
Fit for military service males age 19-49: 1,493,668
females age 19-49: 1,441,257 (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annually males age 18-49: 58,724
females age 19-49: 55,954 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure $5.6[3]
Percent of GDP 1.5%[2]

The Swedish Armed Forces (Swedish: Försvarsmakten), is a Government agency responsible for the peacetime operation of the armed forces of Sweden. The primary task of the agency is to train and deploy peace support forces abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the country in the event of war. The Armed Forces is branched into Army, Air Force and Royal Navy. As a Government agency, it reports to the Swedish Ministry of Defence. The head of armed forces is the Supreme Commander (Överbefälhavaren, ÖB), beside the Sovereign the most senior officer in the country.

Sweden's military is built on conscription, and until the end of the Cold War nearly all males reaching the age of military service were conscripted. In recent years, the number of conscripted males has been reduced dramatically, while the number of female volunteers has increased slightly. Recruitment has generally shifted towards finding the most motivated recruits, rather than solely on the otherwise most fit for service, although there are exceptions. All soldiers serving abroad are by law required to be volunteers. In 1975 the total number of conscripts was 45,000. By 2003 it was down to 15,000. After the Defence Proposition 2004, the number of troops in training will decrease even more to between 5,000 and 10,000 each year, which emphasizes the need to recruit only the soldiers later prepared to volunteer for international service. There are also more admirals and generals in the defence force than ships and artillery pieces respectively.

As of 2006, wartime placement has been resumed, after being scrapped in 2003. At present Sweden can mobilise 59,500 men and women. This force includes 4,500 officers, 18,000 conscripts and 37,000 Homeguards (a voluntary militia service). But mobilisation is assumed to take one year (although no mobilisation readiness exists), and the formations assumed are of battalion level. In a couple of months, 2,700 officers and 7,000 conscripts are available, with the state militias being available within hours[1]

Currently, one of the most important tasks for the Swedish Armed Forces is to form a Swedish-led EU Battle Group to which Norway, Finland, Estonia and Ireland will also contribute. The Nordic Battle Group (NBG) is to have a 10-day deployment readiness during the first half of 2008.

Contents

Usually, the adversary in tactical military exercises and scenarios is thought to use equipment from the former Warsaw Pact, although a specific country is never mentioned for political reasons. Swedish equipment, training, and procedures are NATO interoperable, and most scenarios include some form of cooperation with one or more of the NATO members. Recent political decisions have strongly emphasized the will to participate in international operations, to the point where this has become the main short-term goal of training and equipment acquisition.

Historically, a common name for the enemy has been "Stormakt Röd" (Great power Red).[4]

Sweden aims to have the option of remaining neutral in case of proximate war, and is therefore not a formal member of NATO or any other military alliance.

Currently, Sweden has deployed military forces in the sea outside Lebanon, in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Observers from Sweden have been sent to a large number of countries, including Georgia, North Korea, Lebanon, Israel and Sri Lanka.

Officers are trained in the different combat schools and also at the Swedish Armed Forces Military Academy which has establishments at Karlbergs Castle in Stockholm, and in Halmstad. Conscripts are trained at the different units of the three branches, the purpose of which primarily being training installations and without significant wartime importance.

Swedish military ranks, essentially corresponds phonetically to those used by the armed forces of the English speaking world. Swedish ranks correspond even more closely to those in German usage due to linguistic similarities. See comparative military ranks.

There are two different systems of rank for professional officers, depending on whether one is commissioned according to the system used in the Army, or the one in the Navy. The Air Force and the Navy's Amphibious Corps use the same system as the Army.

Army Ranks (phonetic translation) Navy Ranks (phonetic translation)
Swedish English German Swedish English German
Fältmarskalk Field Marshal Feldmarschall   Admiral of the Fleet
(Fleet Admiral in the U.S. Navy)		  
General General General Amiral Admiral Admiral
Generallöjtnant Lieutenant General Generalleutnant Viceamiral Vice Admiral Vizeadmiral
Generalmajor Major General Generalmajor Konteramiral Rear Admiral Konteradmiral
Brigadgeneral Brigadier General Brigadegeneral Flottiljamiral Commodore Flottillenadmiral
Överste Colonel Oberst Kommendör Captain Kapitän zur See
Överstelöjtnant Lieutenant Colonel Oberstleutnant Kommendörkapten Commander Fregattenkapitän
Major Major Major Örlogskapten Lieutenant Commander Korvettenkapitän
Kapten Captain Hauptmann Kapten Lieutenant Kapitänleutnant
Löjtnant Lieutenant Oberleutnant Löjtnant Sub-Lieutenant
(Lieutenant Junior Grade in the U.S. Navy)		 Oberleutnant zur See
Fänrik Second Lieutenant Leutnant Fänrik Midshipman
(Ensign in the U.S. Navy)		 Leutnant zur See

The military introduced the rank of Brigadier General in 2001. The rank and the responsibilities associated with it existed before 2001, but all officers were commissioned as "Colonel First Class", or Överste av första graden, i. e. not a General. The same goes for Flottiljamiral which used to be Kommendör av första graden, or "Captain First Class". The background for this anomaly was a political will to limit the number of Generals in the armed forces. No Swedish Field Marshals have been appointed since the 19th century.

Visby class corvettes.
Visby class corvettes.

Some of the schools listed below answer to other units, listed under the various branches of the Armed Forces.

  • Artillery Combat School (ArtSS) located in Boden
  • Armed Forces Technical School (FMTS) located in Halmstad
  • Air Force Uppsala Schools (F 20) located in Uppsala
  • Field Work School (FarbS) located in Eksjö
  • Air Force Air Officer School (FBS) located in Uppsala
  • Parachute Ranger School (Fallskärmsjägarskolan - FJS) located in Karlsborg
  • Flight School (FlygS) located in Linköping/Malmen
  • Armed Forces Technical School (FMTS) located in Halmstad
  • Helicopter Combat School (HkpSS) located in Linköping/Malmen
  • Home Guard Combat School (HvSS) located in Södertälje
  • Command School (LedS) located in Enköping
  • Anti-Aircraft Combat School (LvSS) located in Halmstad
  • Military Academy Halmstad (MHS H) located in Halmstad
  • Military Academy Karlberg (MHS K) located in Stockholm/Karlberg
  • Ground Combat School (MSS) located in Kvarn also a detachment in Skövde
  • Naval Schools (SSS) located in Karlskrona

  • Armed Forces War Case Centre (FKSC) located in Stockholm
  • Armed Forces Medical Centre (FSC) located in Gothenburg
  • Aeromedical Centre (FMC) located in Stockholm
  • Armed Forces Logistics (FMLOG) located in Karlstad, Boden, Karlskrona and Arboga
  • Armed Forces Intelligence and Security Centre (FMUndSäkC) located in Uppsala
  • Armed Forces Musical Centre (FöMusC) located in Strängnäs
  • Joint Forces Command (OPIL) with Army, Air and Naval Tactical Commands (ATK, FTK and MTK) located in Stockholm and Uppsala
  • Recruitment Centre (RekryC) located in Stockholm
  • Total defence Protection Centre (SkyddC) located in Umeå
  • Swedish EOD and Demining Centre (SWEDEC) located in Eksjö
  • Swedish Armed Forces International Centre (Swedint) located in Stockholm/Kungsängen

Main article: Government agencies in Sweden

  1. ^ a b c Ivarsson, Ulf (February 2007). "Pendeln måste slå tillbaka". Hemvärnet (1): 5. 
  2. ^ a b "CIA Factbook 2007". U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (2007-02-08). Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  3. ^ The Facts 2006/2007 (PDF).
  4. ^ For use of the term "Stormakt röd" in regular media, see for example this editorial.

http://www.hemvarnet.mil.se/hemvarnet/index.php?c=news&id=30847

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