Military of Sweden

Military branches

• Swedish Army[?]
• Royal Swedish Navy
• Swedish Air Force[?]

• Military manpower
  • military age: 19 years of age
  • availability males age 15-49: 2,062,566 (2001 est.)
  • fit for military service - males age 15-49: 1,802,955 (2001 est.)
  • reaching military age annually - males: 51,506 (2001 est.)
• Military expenditures
  • dollar figure: $5 billion (FY98)
  • percent of GDP: 2.1% (FY98)

Armaments Swedish Military armament for Individual/Squad level include:

• AK5 (FN FNC[?] derivative) assault rifle
• M45B submachine gun
• AG90 (Barett M82A1)
• PSG90 (Accuracy International L96A1 Artic Warfare).
• P88 (Glock 17)
• AT4[?] disposable anti-armour RPG
• Carl Gustav[?] multipurpose recoilless rifle

Vehicles The Swedish Armed Forces use a wide range of vehicles, mainly made by Swedish contractors. The Combat Vehicle 90 family of Infantry fighting vehicles has been an international success, with exports to countries including Norway, Switzerland and Finland. More vehicles in the Swedish Army:

• Leopard 2A4 (Strv 121) main battle tank
• Leopard 2A5(S) (Strv 122) MBT
• Several MT-LB[?] and MT-LBu variants from the former East Germany (Pbv 401 family; used for transport, as ARV[?] (Armoured Recovery Vehicle), and for command and communications)
• Pbv 302[?] APC (which also exists in other variants for command and communications)

Aircraft The Swedish Airforce is currently deploying the Saab Gripen for service. The Gripen is a modern multi-role fighter designed to replace the Draken[?] and Viggen. Capabilities of Gripen include a very short runway requirement, advanced data link equipment, and canard delta design with lateral instability and fly-by-wire.

Naval vessels The Swedish Navy is currently developing a new class of stealth[?] corvettes, the Visby. Also, a new submarine class, Gotland, has recently been commissioned. Its air independent[?] Stirling engine enables submerged endurance never before seen in conventional submarines[?].

Possible enemies Main enemy in tactical studies is thought to use equipment from the former Warsaw Pact, although a specific country is never mentioned (for political reasons[?]). The majority of Swedish equipment are NATO compatible, and most scenarios include some form of cooperation with one or more of the NATO members.

Current deployments Sweden has deployed military forces in Kosovo and Afghanistan, supporting the fragile peace there. Observers from Sweden have been sent to a large number of countries, including Georgia, North Korea and Lebanon.

Other Sweden is a neutral country, and therefore not a member of NATO or any other military alliance. Its 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 reduced dramatically, while the number of female volunteers has increased slightly.

References

• CIA World Factbook 2001

External links

• Swedish Armed Forces official homepage (http://www.mil.se/index.php?lang=eng)