Sweden wants cruise missiles 'for defence'

[frigidmagi]

The Local

Defence Minister Karin Enström said the high-precision missiles would chiefly act as a deterrent to other countries that might be considering an attack on Sweden.

“They would give new capabilities by offering a longer reach, but also the ability to fight targets that are further away,” she told Sveriges Radio (SR) on Thursday.

She said the move would “increase the effectiveness” of Sweden’s defence.

The cruise missiles would be added to the next generation of Gripen jets, and would be able to cause severe damage to targets 1,000 kilometres away. Current cruise missiles can only travel half that distance. The new missiles can fly at low altitude, have GPS guidance, and can manoeuvre like an aircraft.

Gunnar Hult, a professor at Sweden's National Defence College, said that increasing the cruise missile fleet is primarily a psychological move.

“This is nothing to be concerned about; Sweden wants to build the same capabilities that other countries have built. It’s more of a psychological thing,” he told The Local.

The Swedish Armed Forces pointed out that other countries in the wider Baltic area, including Finland and Russia, were investing in similar weapons.

The new proposal flies in the face of comments from Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who said last year that cruise missiles would “never be relevant for Sweden. Our defence is a defence”.

Hult pointed out that Bildt’s comments were made long before Russia moved in on Ukraine.

“There is a clear contradiction here. Before the Ukraine crisis, a move like this would have been perceived as quite aggressive. But after Russia’s behaviour, Sweden has obviously seen the need to stock up on the missiles,” he explained.

Enström, meanwhile, claimed that Sweden had to keep up with the ever-changing face of world conflict.

The proposal ruffled feathers with the Green Party (Miljöpartiet).

“This is a 180-degree turn compared to their previous approach,” Peter Rådberg, the party’s defence policy spokesman, told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

He explained that such weapons were “crazily expensive” and were not the kind of offensive weapons needed in a defence force.

Hult argued that it was useless to define the guided missiles by their defensive or offensive properties.

“It’s not just a defence thing. In fact, the perception that weapons are ‘defence or attack’ is old-fashioned,” Hult told The Local.

“There is no static front these days. Modern Russian doctrines say that if war starts then they will strike at depth into any enemy territory.”

Green Party member Peter Rådberg added that the proposal had not yet reached the hands of the defence committee, and that he imagined it would only pass if the Alliance won the elections in September.

[Norseman]

Guys... I have a bad feeling about this :(

[Josh]

Hey it's been like two or three hundred years since Sweden was an imperial power, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

It's not like you're right next door and will be the first to feel the wrath of a restored Gustavan regime.

Oh wai

[General Havoc]

Where's Olaf Tyrgvesson when you need him?

[frigidmagi]

Cruise missiles wouldn't be necessary for war against Norway. For one thing there's a series of bloody mountains on the border, which frankly means it's more cost effective to send jets and planes.

Now for raining death and despair on Copenhagen...

In all seriousness though a Sweden with a good supply of Tomahawks or Stormshadow (curse you Britain!) would be in a very good position to lock up the Russian Baltic fleet. Hell given the range of missiles they could hit the fleet at any time in port.

They could also bring pain and discontent to Helsinki to, but I'm sure the Swedes would never do anything unpleasant to their good buddies the Finns. That would be unprecedented!

[Lys]

The Swedes want cruise missiles because in the event of war, the best way for the Russians to gain control of the Baltic is to seize two Swedish islands and mount anti-ship missile launchers on them. The Swedes have no ability to actually defend those islands should the Russians choose to take them, and they're not part of NATO. Taking the islands is an obvious outflanking manoeuvre to take against NATO without engaging it directly. A couple of months ago the Baltic Fleet and a large contingent of naval infantry went on exercises, while Russian land forces were massing on the Russian side of the border with Ukraine. Cue panic on the part of the Swedes. Now we know that those movements were just Putin showing off his military muscles, but as the Swedes see it, it's a reminder that part of their territory is completely defenceless. So now they want cruise missiles, it's the most effective way to mount a serious defence in the event of foreign aggression.

[frigidmagi]

Which is a bit silly. The Swedes haven't had the ability to seriously defend anything in over a decade. They only notice now? It is interesting to see more aftereffects of the Ukraine situation play out however.

[Lys]

The thing they noticed now is not that they are defenceless, they knew that already, but that they need defences. If the bear is content to stay in his cave and hunt away from your hut, then you don't need to put bear traps all over your property. If the bear starts sniffing around in your general direction, suddenly you get nervous, and bear traps start looking like a good idea.