Swedish Army

The Swedish Army (Swedish: "Armén") is the army branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden.

Organization

The peace time organization of the Swedish Army is divided into a number of regiments for the different branches. The number of active regiments has been reduced since the end of the Cold War:

Leadership

Until 1975 the Swedish monarch was the formal head of the army. In 1937, the staff agency "Chief of the Army" ( _sv. chefen för armén, "CA") was created to lead the army in peace time. Following a larger reorganization of the Swedish Armed Forces in 1994, CA ceased to exist as an independent agency. Instead, the post Chief of Army Staff ( _sv. chefen för arméledningen) was created at the then newly instituted Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters ( _sv. Högkvarteret, "HKV").

In 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces was again reorganized. Most of the duties of the Army Chief of Staff were transferred to the newly instituted post of "Inspector General of the Army" ( _sv. generalinspektören för armén). The post is similar to that of the "Inspector General of the Swedish Navy" ( _sv. generalinspektören för marinen) and the "Inspector General of the Swedish Air Force" ( _sv. generalinspektören för flygvapnet).

Chiefs of the Army

* Per Sylvan, 1937–1940
* Ivar Holmquist, 1940–1944
* Archibald Douglas, 1944–1948
* Carl August Ehrenswärd, 1948–1957
* , 1957–1963
* Curt Göransson, 1963–1969
* Carl Eric Almgren, 1969–1976
* Nils Sköld, 1976–1984
* Erik G. Bengtsson, 1984–1990
* Åke Sagrén, 1990–1994

Chiefs of Army Staff

* Åke Sagrén, 1994–1996
* Mertil Melin, 1996–1998

Inspectors General

* Paul Degerlund, 1998–2000
* Alf Sandqvist, 2000–2005
* Sverker Göranson, 2005–2007
* Berndt Grundevik, 2007–present

Ranks

The Infantry

One regiment of infantry:

* "Livgardet" ("LG") stationed in Stockholm

The Cavalry

One regiment and two battalions of cavalry:

* "Livregementets husarer" ("K 3") stationed in Karlsborg (air assault and LRRP)
* "Arméns Jägarbataljon" (AJB, former "K 4") (part of "I 19") in Arvidsjaur (Long-reconnaissance rangers)
* "Livgardet" ("LG") (one battalion) stationed in Stockholm(King's mounted Lifeguards and Military police)

*Note that the Swedish army's cavalry are rangers and military police.

CBRN-defence

One company of CBRN-trained personel

* "Totalförsvarets Skyddscentrum" ("SkyddC") Umeå [http://www.skyddc.mil.se/]

The Armoured Corps

( _sv. Pansartrupperna)

Three regiments of armoured/mechanized troops:

* "Skaraborgs regemente" ("P 4") Skövde
* "Södra skånska regementet" ("P 7") Revingehed
* "Norrbottens regemente" ("I 19") (belongs to the Armoured Corps despite its designation) Boden

The Artillery

One regiment of artillery:

*"Artilleriregementet" ("A 9") Boden

The Anti-Aircraft Artillery

One regiment of anti-aircraft troops:

*"Luftvärnsregementet" ("Lv 6") Halmstad

The Engineers

One regiment of engineering troops:

*"Göta ingenjörregemente" ("Ing 2") Eksjö

and one engineer company stationed in Boden for subarctic operations.

The Signal Corps

One regiment of signals:

*"Ledningsregementet" ("LedR") Enköping

The Logistic Corps

One regiment of logistical troops:

*"Trängregementet" (TrängR) Skövde

The Home Guard

The Home Guard (Hemvärnet) consists of 60 battalions with a total of 42000 men. Many of the soldiers have served abroad in the various missions of the regular army. All Home Guards are former active soldiers who volunteered for the Home Guard.

Recruitment

The Swedish army recruitment based on conscription German style. All personnel are called up as conscripts for a year of national service in active combat units, after which it is possible to volunteer as officer, NCO/Warrant Officer or from 2007 stay in the Army as a professional private, mainly to be employed in the Nordic Battle Group.

The army has employed soldiers for UN-service on short time contracts since the 1950's for service abroad.

Equipment

Small arms

The Swedish Army armament for Individual/Squad level include:
*"Ak 5" assault rifle (Fabrique Nationale FNC derivative, made more rugged for Swedish demands) in versions:
**"Ak 5 - Currently standard issue"
**"Ak 5B"
**"Ak 5C" Updated version with new handguard, buttstock and reddot which is going to replace AK5 as the standard issue assault rifle
**"Ak 5D" (Will be standard usage for driving and staff personnel abroad as well as some Special Forces units)
**"Ak 5 with 40 mm grenade launcher" (Colt M203)
*"Ak 4" battle rifle (Heckler & Koch G3) in versions (Currently used by Hemvärnet (Homeguard) only):
**"Ak 4"
**"Ak 4B" New version with red-dot sight
**"Ak 4OR"
**"Ak 4 med 40 mm granattillsats" (Colt M203)
*"Kpist m/45" submachine gun in versions: Currently being phased out. Only in use with Hemvärnet
**"kpist m/45"
**"kpist m/45B"
**"kpist m/45C"
*"Pist 88" pistol (Glock 17) in versions:
**"Pist 88"
**"Pist 88B" (Glock 19)
*"Psg 90" sniper rifle (Accuracy International L96A1 Arctic Warfare) in version:
**"Psg 90"
*"Ag 90" heavy sniper rifle (Barett M82A1) in versions:
**"Ag 90"
**"Ag 90B"
*"Grg m/48" multipurpose recoilless rifle (Carl Gustav recoilless rifle) in versions:
**"Grg m/48"
**"Grg m/86"
*"Pskott m/86" disposable anti-armour RPG (Bofors AT4) in version:
**"Pskott m/86"
*"Grsp 40 mm" belt-fed grenade launcher (SACO Defense Mark 19) in version:
**"Grsp 40 mm"
*"Ksp 58" machine gun (Fabrique Nationale MAG 58) in version:
**"Ksp 58B"
*"Ksp 90" machine gun (Fabrique Nationale FN MINIMI) in versions:
**"Ksp 90"
**"Ksp 90B" (MINIMI Para)
*"Tksp 12,7 mm" heavy machine gun (Browning M2) in version:
**"Tksp 12,7 mm"

Vehicles

The Army uses 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 The Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Finland. Vehicles in the army:
*"Strv 121" main battle tank (Leopard 2A4) in version:
**"Strv 121"
*"Strv 122" main battle tank (Leopard 2(S)) in version:
**"Strv 122"
*"Strf 90" infantry fighting vehicle (CV 90) in versions:
**"Strf 9040"
**"Strf 9040B"
**"Strf 9040C"
**"Bgbv 90"
**"Stripbv 90"
**"Epbv 90"
**"Lvkv 90"
*"Pbv 302" armoured personnel carrier (Pbv 302) in versions:
**"Pbv 302A"
**"Stripbv 3021"
**"Epbv 3022"
**"Bplpbv 3023"
**"Rlpbv 3024"
**"Pbv 3026"
*"Pbv 401" armoured personnel carrier (MT-LB) in versions:
**"Pbv 401" - basic armored personnel carrier. Bulgarian-made, bought from GDR in the early 90s. [http://www.haaland.info/sweden/apc/ ]
**"Stripbv 4011"
**"Bgbv 4012" (MTP-LB)

Fire Support/Artillery

*"81mm Mortars"
*"120mm Mortars"
**"Strix mortar round"
*"Bofors FH77B"
**"BONUS artillery round
**"XM982 Excalibur
*""'Bofors 40 mm gun

Future equipment

The Swedish army has six Rheinmetall AEV-3 KODIAK advanced armoured engineer vehicles on order during the period 2011-2012. [http://www.rheinmetall.de/index.php?fid=2021&lang=3]

See also

*Military ranks of the Swedish armed forces
*Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences
*Royal Swedish Armoury
*Swedish Army Museum
*List of Swedish wars
*List of Swedish Field Marshals
*List of Swedish military areas
*List of Swedish military commanders
*List of Swedish monarchs
*List of Swedish regiments
*List of military aircraft of Sweden
*
*Swedish allotment system

External links

* [http://www.armen.mil.se/ Swedish Army] - Official site
* [http://www.soldf.com/ Soldf.com] Unofficial Weapons, vehicles and equipment page of the Swedish Armed forces.
* [http://members.surfeu.fi/stefan.allen/index.html Nordic military vehicles site]
* [http://www.haaland.info/index.html Scandinavian Armour by Roy Haaland]
* [http://www.wendel.se/rswa/index.htm Svante Wendel's Unofficial Royal Swedish Army Page]