Published: 30 Apr 12 11:59 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/40554/20120430/
Sweden’s armed forces would not be able to defend Sweden should the need arise, according to experts, who point to the lack of protection against radiation, chemical and biological warfare, and the needs for field hospitals and helicopter training.
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Sweden does need a military but let us be realistic. This is not the WWII era. The Finns heroics in the winter war is not something I see them replicating nor us mimicking. If for some reason Russia wanted to roll over Sweden tomorrow there really isn't anything Sweden would be able to do about it. I really do not see a situation for all out war here in Scandinavia on the long range forecast.
"The US will protect you, maybe even tie you a couple billion dollars in exchange for being allowed to use drones to assassinate terrorists ...and more than a few bystanders, children, wives, police officers, etc."
I am sure that such amount of sarcasm would not be funny for citizens of South Korea, Kuwait and Kosovo, which behinds were saved by the evildoer US and A. Also the Lybian "revolutionaries" did not mind that some american drones hit some tanks that shot on crowds.
Sweden either needs a military or not. Not something in between, that would be sucking funds, but still be ineffective.
I tend to believe that appointing a woman naval captain, who never in her life even dreamed of being able to coordinate armored divisions with NAVY and airforce, while thousands infantry are dying in a theoretical battle, where hospitals are needed, was an error that came out polit-correctness and not a real ability.
But the above is a bull, since if radiation and bio equipment are needed, there is no point of further warfare. We all need shovels then.
The ONLY thing Sweden needs of a conventional warfare, is special forces to assist NATO, guerilla trained infantry (of which a lot combat engineers and alpine infantry), effective anti-arcraft and anti-armor forces and fast and deadly NAVY that can do hit and run with long range surface to surface missiles and hunt submarines.
This force will make any invasion of Russians, or whoever else, simply disappear in the Swedish forests, swamps and northern mountains. Otherwise close the business and invest the funds in other stuff.
As for Gripen, it is supposedly paying for itself from sales to others.
That fact that the Swedish army does not form an effective defence we have known for some time now, so nothing new here. It has so many things wrong I would find it hard to know where to start. Certainly, lack of air defence would come towards the top but we also have an overly heavy reliance on light infantry and insufficient support units. The army also needs more combat orientated training (this includes Hv) - see the current Försvarsutbildning catalogue; no combat training but they still train artists! I could go on ...
Basically the current government has made a mess of the defence of this country. Lack of finances certain forms part of that but the whole thinking and way the government has done things has gone wrong!
I think Sweden has too much of we wont ever go to war mentality that leads to the problems with the defence but as Sun Tzu says :
The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
But I don't think the government has ever heard of Sun Tzu!!
So, if they can hide in the sea and not be found, and the JAS can control the air, then they just need to worry about overland routes and the bridge.
Norway, Finland, Denmark probably aren't massing forces on the border. They probably don't have a whole lot to fear in the long run but someone wants to make a case to spend a whole lotta money.