- 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)
Swedish Military
armament for Individual/
Squad level include:
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)
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.
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[?].
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.
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.
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.