Armed Neutrality But Not Relaxing Armament Building Finland and Sweden, which entered the treaty, hid how strong its military was

Source: Global Times - Global Network

The Russian Foreign Ministry warned on the 22nd that Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO will lead to the Arctic region becoming an "international stage" for military operations. Russian Defense Minister Shoigu said that the Russian military will form 12 new units in the western military district to cope with the changes brought about by Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO. What makes the outside world curious is what kind of military power is hidden in these two usually inconspicuous Nordic countries that can make Russia so nervous?

Sweden: The war potential is sufficient compared to that of the traditional powers

Although Finland and Sweden are both neutral countries, they have long adopted an "armed neutrality" policy in the shadow of the "Soviet invasion", and their armament construction has never relaxed.

Huge soldiers can be provided

Sweden is the most populous of the five Nordic countries, with an active military strength of 23,600 compared to a total population of about 10 million, which is not a high proportion. But an important reason why Sweden was able to "stand alone" in the two world wars was that it had considerable defensive forces, so that opponents had to "think twice" before invading. Sweden's successful approach also continued into the Cold War and beyond.

In response to the Soviet threat, Sweden adopted a large-scale conscription system throughout the Cold War, and all eligible Swedish men were required to undergo rigorous militarized formal training. At its peak, 85 per cent of the country's men were required to enlist in the military. In addition, Sweden has built many high-standard military projects. For example, most of the highways in Sweden, especially in the north-central region, are built according to the standard of fighters that can take off and land; Sweden has built a large number of military projects for submarines, warships and even fighters to hide in the coastal area using natural mountains as shelters.

After the end of the Cold War, the Swedish army began a massive drawdown and the conscription system was abolished in 2010. But after the Russian army invaded Crimea in 2014, Sweden was deeply disturbed. In addition, after Sweden, which is sparsely populated, has changed to a fully conscripted system, the shortage of troops has become increasingly prominent. According to the Swedish Ministry of Defence, sweden recruited more than 1,000 fewer recruits in 2016 than the number of posts scheduled, and the reserve force gap was as high as 7,000. Forced by the reality of the situation, in 2017 the Swedish government announced the resumption of conscription. Thus, although Sweden currently has only 23,600 active duty troops and 31,300 reserve troops, there are still a large number of people of the right age who have undergone regular training, and it is estimated that Sweden can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops if necessary.

It has complete national defense industry capabilities

In addition to being able to provide a large number of troops, if Sweden joins NATO, it will also bring considerable defense industrial capabilities. Sweden is one of the few countries in Europe with a complete defense industrial system, whether it is sea, land or air, it has the equipment to come up with and even enjoy a high reputation in the world. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Sweden secretly developed nuclear weapons, and its modern industrial capabilities are evident.

In the field of air force equipment, Sweden is one of the few countries in the world that can independently develop modern fighters, and the "Gripen" fighter launched by Saab Group has become a modern fighter with "four generations +" performance after several improvements, it has limited supersonic cruise capabilities, equipped with active phased array airborne fire control radar, and "Rafale" and "Typhoon" fighters and called "European Three Heroes". In addition, Sweden is also one of the few countries that can develop early warning aircraft, and the "Ericsson Eye" early warning aircraft launched by Ericsson Microwave Systems is also well-known in the world.

On the naval side, Sweden has created several global firsts. In the early 1990s, Sweden pioneered the introduction of the Visby-class stealth frigates. This is the earliest practical application of radar stealth technology in naval ships. The Swedish Navy considered itself unable to develop large ships for the traditional battle for sea power, but could take advantage of the complex fjord terrain of the Swedish coast to wage guerrilla warfare. The Lines of the Visby-class frigates are extremely simple and built with carbon fiber composites, and their special design makes the world's navies "shine". The Swedish Navy's Gotland-class conventional submarines pioneered the "Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP)" submarine. It uses a Stirling engine, allowing conventional submarines to sail underwater for several days without the need to surface to recharge like nuclear submarines.

In the army field, Sweden's Bofors is known for its high-performance artillery. The Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun during World War II was so highly effective that it was copied by both sides. Its derivatives are still in service in many countries today. In addition, the NLAW anti-tank missile, which played a major role in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, was actually jointly developed by the United Kingdom and Sweden. Sweden's recent aid to Ukraine's "archer" 155 mm self-propelled gun is known as the "king of rapid fire in vehicle-mounted howitzers."

There is a huge potential for war hidden

According to the "Global Balance of Forces Report" published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Swedish Army is equipped with 121 Swedish Leopard 2A5 main battle tanks, 354 CV90 series infantry fighting vehicles and more than 1200 armored vehicles; the Swedish Air Force has 207 military aircraft, including 71 Gripen C fighters, and plans to replace them with the more advanced Gripen E in the future; the Swedish Navy is mainly two Gothenburg-class frigates, five Visby-class frigates and 3 Gothland.com. Class submarines.

If Sweden joins NATO, it will probably be in the top ten among NATO countries in terms of the size and equipment of its active duty troops. But Sweden's strong industrial base hides war potential far beyond paper data. From this perspective alone, Sweden's combined military strength is enough to be compared with traditional military powers such as Britain, France and Germany.

Finland: More equipment in service than most NATO countries

Finland is much inferior in this regard to Sweden's strong defence industrial capabilities. But thanks to years of strengthened defense policies, the Finnish army's mobilization capacity, number of active equipment and performance are still far stronger than most NATO countries.

Finland has a population of only 5.5 million, but its total military strength is comparable to that of Sweden, at about 23,000. Unlike Sweden, which was far away from war for many years, Finland experienced the brutal Soviet-Finnish War in the 1920s, and the bitter lessons of the war still profoundly affect Finland's defense construction today. Since Finland has a long border with Russia of 1,340 kilometers, the country attaches great importance to army building. With more than 700 howitzers and 100 rocket launchers, the Finnish Army is one of the most formidable artillery forces in All of Europe. Even after the end of the Cold War, when other European armies were shrinking their size, Finland maintained an "untimely" large reserve force. Finland's high level of combat readiness was also impressive in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic: "People were surprised to find that Finland retained all of its cold war-era national stocks of medical supplies, which played an important role in controlling the panic in the early stages of the epidemic. ”

Under Finnish law, all men over the age of 18 in the country are required to serve for six months to one year. Thereafter, they will be transferred to reserve status. During this period, reservists are required to undergo military training each year to maintain combat skills. NATO's assessment report claims that with such reservist training, Finland can mobilize 280,000 soldiers in a short period of time, "which is a considerable army in modern Europe".

The Finnish Army currently has about 100 German-made Leopard 2A4 and 100 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks, 102 Swedish-made CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and 110 Soviet BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, in addition to more than 800 armored vehicles of various types. According to official NATO figures, the Uk, which ranks 10th in the number of active tanks, has 227 tanks, and Italy, which ranks 11th, has 200 tanks. Considering that the tanks of countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, which rank higher, are mostly obsolete, if Finland joins NATO, the actual combat strength of its armored forces will be improved by a few more.

In terms of artillery, the Finnish Army has a more prominent advantage. As early as the 1990s, Finland was equipped with 54 Type 155K98 howitzers, making it the first country in Europe to be equipped with a 52-caliber 155 mm towed howitzer. Last year Finland also decided to buy an additional batch of K9 self-propelled howitzers from South Korea, bringing its total to 58. In addition, Finland has purchased an upgraded version of the M270 multiple rocket system from the United States, which has the ability to launch ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum strike range of 300 kilometers.

The Finnish Air Force currently has about 160 military aircraft. In the ranking of the number of military aircraft in NATO countries, this number is also enough to put Finland in 11th place. The Finnish Air Force's main fighter consists of 55 American-made F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters. Given its aging performance, Finland decided in December to purchase 64 F-35A stealth fighters from the United States for $11.3 billion, making it one of europe's most powerful air power.

In contrast, the Finnish Navy is weak, with only a few armed speedboats and mine-laying boats. In fact, the lack of naval power is also a common weakness of the Finnish and Swedish armies, both of which are unable to guard the long coastline. But the Baltic Fleet was the weakest of the Russian Navy's four fleets, relying on only a few guided-missile frigates to support the scene. If Finland and Sweden join NATO, the entire Baltic Sea will be almost surrounded by NATO, and the NATO navy will have an overwhelming advantage over the Russian Baltic Fleet. In addition, since the main stations of the Russian Baltic Fleet are located in the Kronstadt military port in St. Petersburg and the enclave of Kaliningrad, they will be in danger of being separated by Finland and Sweden and unable to support each other.

(Source: Global Times Chenyang Ma Jun)