As of: February 29, 2024, 5:11 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Sweden joins NATO after a long struggle.
Its military may not be very large, but it does a lot to deter Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Stockholm - It's done: Sweden can join NATO.
After the Hungarian parliament voted yes on Monday (February 26), the way is clear for the Scandinavians to join the transatlantic defense alliance.
Sweden: Scandinavian country joins NATO - danger from Russia
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which violates international law, is causing the Nordic country with around 10.4 million inhabitants to abandon the centuries-long neutrality that brought Sweden, for example, through the Second World War unscathed.
For Vladimir Putin, joining NATO is likely to be a political defeat.
Especially with a view to possible further imperialist intentions in Europe.
Because: Stockholm has a manageably large, but well-equipped armed force, which it brings with it to NATO as a dowry.
The Swedish army has the extremely powerful Archer artillery in its ranks.
© IMAGO / TT
Swedish Army: Leopard 2 tanks, CV 90 and Archer artillery
“This is a historic day, a day of joy.
“It brings Sweden more security and makes NATO stronger,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Sweden currently has around 20,000 active soldiers, but wants to increase this number to 30,000 professional soldiers in the medium term.
The land forces do not have a large, closed division or brigade.
Because of the country's enormous area, they are divided into eleven battalion-strength regiments (300 to 1,200 soldiers each) between northern Norrland and the capital Stockholm in the south.
However, the Swedish army has a big advantage: its main weapon systems match those of Norway and Finland.
Like its two Scandinavian neighbors, Sweden relies on the Leopard 2 main battle tank from Germany.
The army has at least 120 Leopard 2A5s, of which 102 were operational as of February 27, according to the
Global Firepower Index (GPI)
.
In addition, according to a study by the
International Institute for Strategic Studies,
the Swedish land forces had an estimated 369 Combat Vehicle 90 (CV 90) infantry fighting vehicles in 2022, of which at least 50 have since gone to the Ukrainians.
With its thermal imaging system and laser rangefinder, the CV 90 is considered one of the most modern armored personnel carriers in the world.
The Norwegian armed forces also use it to potentially transport infantry into combat.
Norway, which played through a Russian occupation in the streaming series “Occupied,” would geographically need Swedish support in the event of a hypothetical attack by Russia.
It is helpful if the soldiers drive the same vehicles.
The very mobile Swedish Archer artillery system with its 155 mm L/52 howitzer is also considered advanced.
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Swedish Marine soldiers board a Combat Boat 90 (CB 90) after an exercise.
(Archive photo) © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Swedish Navy: State-of-the-art Visby-class corvettes and agile CB 90s
And on the water?
“Swedish defense has interesting capabilities such as the Gripen aircraft, and also naval capabilities such as submarines and the amphibious choir,” explained Magnus Christiansson from the Swedish Defense University to
ZDF
’s “heute journal” .
Former NATO strategist Stefanie Babst also spoke of the possibility of “operating more strongly and more openly, defending important sea lines, defending maritime interests and critical infrastructure”.
Ergo: Sweden plays a key role in securing the Baltic Sea with its five modern Visby-class corvettes, which were put into service between 2002 and 2015.
Former Bundeswehr General Egon Ramms explained on
ZDF
as an example : “With the accession of Finland and Sweden, the Baltic Sea has essentially become an inland sea, and indeed an inland sea of NATO, except for the small tip at the top near Saint Petersburg.”
Swedish Air Force fighter jet: the Jas 39 Gripen.
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Remarkable: The Swedish corvettes have stealth properties, which makes them much more difficult to identify at sea.
They are also armed with powerful Saab Dynamics RBS15 anti-ship missiles (combat weight 805 kilograms).
With the 1,300 hp Combat Boat 90 combat boats, which are armed with heavy machine guns, marine infantrymen can also be moved quickly between the Scandinavian coastal waters.
Swedish Air Force: Close coordination with Finland and Norway
Every two years, Norway, Sweden and Finland rehearse
the joint defense of Scandinavian airspace in the
Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE) .
While the Western military alliance is practicing defense against an attack on Norway as a weak spot on NATO's northern flank in the “Grand North 24” maneuver starting March 5 in the context of the Ukraine war, the Swedish Jas 39 Gripen fighter jets are of immense importance in the Nordic countries .
Because: Sweden has expanded parts of its extensive highways so that they serve as makeshift airfields.
The Gripen are designed so that they can also land on these roads.
NATO units have already tested such a scenario with F35 jets in Finland.
The fighter jet is therefore not necessarily tied to fixed military airfields, which can only be defended with great effort.
According to
GPI,
60 of 71 Gripen are currently operational.
(pm)