Military equipment of Sweden during the Cold War

Sweden played a role of major importance during the Cold War, despite not officially participating. Sweden's location made it an ideal base of operations for both the Soviet Union and the United States. Sweden was never invaded throughout the war, mainly due to their strong defensive power - ranked among the top five in the world at this time.

Armored fighting vehicles
The Swedish army during the Cold War possessed more or less 24,000 ground vehicles, including 2,354 tanks, 1,257 armored fighting vehicles, and up to 20,000 utility vehicles.

Coastal defence
The eastern coast of Sweden, along a length of more than 1500 kilometres, probably had the most powerful coastal defence system in the world. The system consisted of coastal artillery, submarines, battleships and aircraft. No less than 90 heavy cannons (typically 7.5 cm cannons) with large underground facilities were strategically located along the coast, together with a large number of bunkers and pillboxes.

Navy
The Swedish navy possessed a total of 129 ships between 1945 and 1991.

Cruisers
Sweden possessed four cruisers throughout the Cold War.

Destroyers
Sweden had a total of 35 destroyer-class vessels throughout the Cold War, most of them World War II models. As time went on, Sweden begun to put less effort in keeping large surface combatants and instead increasingly relied on patrol boats, fast attack craft, coastal artillery and air superiority. However this approach (especially the overreliance on lighter surface combatants) was somewhat discredited by the early 1980s. Attempts were then made to move back towards heavier more capable surface combatants (e.g. the Ytstridsfartyg Större [Surface Combatant Large] program), but this was ultimately curtailed by the sudden end to the Cold War.

Destroyers in 1945: 28

Destroyers in 1950: 21

Destroyers in 1960: 24

Destroyers in 1970: 17

Destroyers in 1980: 13

Destroyers in 1991: 0

Coastal defense ships
The Swedish navy maintained 7 coastal defense ships after World War II, though some were taken out of service shortly after.
 * Oscar II-class coastal defense ship (1)
 * HSwMS Oscar II (1905-1950)
 * Sverige-class coastal defence ship (3)
 * HSWMS Drottning Victoria (1921-1957)
 * HSWMS Gustav V (1922-1957)
 * HSWMS Sverige (1915-1953)
 * Äran-class coastal defence ship (3)
 * HSwMS Manligheten (1904-1950)
 * HSwMS Tapperheten (1903-1947)
 * HSwMS Äran (1902-1947)

Corvettes
The Swedish navy had as few as six corvettes in service during the Cold War, relying on larger vessels during this time.
 * Göteborg-class corvette (4)
 * HSwMS Gävle (1990–present)
 * HSwMS Göteborg (1990–present)
 * HSwMS Kalmar (1990–present)
 * HSWMS Sundsvall (K24) (1991–present)
 * Stockholm-class corvette (2)
 * HSwMS Malmö (1985–present)
 * HSwMS Stockholm (1984–present)

Mine warfare vessels
Sweden possessed 19 mine warfare vessels throughout the time period 1945–1991.
 * HSwMS Alnösund minelayer
 * HSwMS Arkösund minelayer
 * HSwMS Barösund minelayer
 * HSwMS Grundsund minelayer
 * HSwMS Furusund minelayer
 * HSwMS Fårösund minelayer
 * HSwMS Kalmarsund minelayer
 * HSwMS Kalvsund minelayer
 * HSwMS Skramsösund minelayer
 * HSwMS Älvsborg minelayer
 * HSwMS Älvsnabben minelayer
 * HSwMS Öresund minelayer
 * Landsort-class mine countermeasures vessel (7)
 * HSwMS Arholma (1984-2010)
 * HSwMS Koster (1986–present)
 * HSwMS Kullen (1986–present)
 * HSwMS Landsort (1982–present)
 * HSwMS Ulvön (1980s-present)
 * HSwMS Ven (1980s-present)
 * HSwMS Vinga (1980s-present)

Patrol boats
Seventeen patrol boats were in service in the Royal Swedish Navy between 1945 and 1991.


 * HSwMS Hugin
 * HSwMS Jägaren
 * HSwMS Kaparen
 * HSwMS Magne
 * HSwMS Mjölner
 * HSwMS Mode
 * HSwMS Munin
 * HSwMS Mysing
 * HSwMS Snapphanen
 * HSwMS Spejaren
 * HSwMS Starkodder
 * HSwMS Styrbjörn
 * HSwMS Tirfing
 * HSwMS Tordön
 * HSwMS Vale
 * HSwMS Vidar
 * HSwMS Väktaren

Torpedo boats
Sweden had 12 torpedo boats during the Cold War.


 * Perseus-class torpedo boat (1)
 * HSwMS Perseus
 * Plejad-class torpedo boat (11)
 * HSwMS Alderbaran
 * HSwMS Altair
 * HSwMS Antares
 * HSwMS Arcturus
 * HSwMS Argo
 * HSwMS Astrea
 * HSwMS Plejad
 * HSwMS Polaris
 * HSwMS Pollux
 * HSwMS Regulus
 * HSwMS Rigel

Submarines
Sweden had a total of 26 submarines throughout the Cold War.
 * Draken-class submarine (5)
 * Hajen-class submarine (6)
 * HSwMS Bävern
 * HSwMS Hajen
 * HSwMS Illern
 * HSwMS Sälen
 * HSwMS Uttern
 * HSwMS Valen
 * Neptun-class submarine (3)
 * Näcken-class submarine (3)
 * HSwMS Najad
 * HSwMS Neptun
 * HSWMS Näcken (Näk)
 * Sjöormen-class submarine (5)
 * HSwMS Sjöbjörnen
 * HSwMS Sjöhunden
 * HSwMS Sjöhästen
 * HSwMS Sjölejonet
 * HSWMS Sjöormen (Sor)
 * Västergötland-class submarine (4)
 * HSwMS Helsingland
 * HSwMS Södermanland
 * HSwMS Västergötland
 * HSwMS Östergötland

Auxiliary vessels

 * HSwMS Arkösund minelayer
 * HSWMS Belos (A214) submarine salvage vessel
 * HSWMS Carlskrona (M04) minelayer
 * HSWMS Trossö (A264) ice-strengthened patrol craft
 * HSWMS Visborg command/auxiliary ship
 * Landing Craft L-50 mechanized landing craft (5)

Air force
Sweden had a huge air force - the fourth largest in the world - throughout the Cold War, consisting of more than 4,000 aircraft. Out of these, no less than 3,574 aircraft were armed fighters along with many hundred bombers.

Bomber aircraft

 * Saab 17 bomber & reconnaissance aircraft - 323
 * Saab 18 twin-engine bomber - 245

Trainers

 * Saab 105 trainer aircraft - 80

Transport aircraft

 * Lockheed C-130 - 8

Helicopters

 * Piasecki Hkp 1 transport helicopter - 14
 * Bell Hkp 3 utility helicopter - 29
 * Boeing-Vertol Hkp 4 transport helicopter - 21
 * Eurocopter Hkp 10 utility helicopter - 12

Resource management
The need for safe storage of large quantities of oil to support anticipated use of military equipment led to creative solutions, in particular the use of undressed rock chambers, the full environmental effects of which have not yet been ascertained.

Sources and further reading

 * http://www.bismarck-class.dk/other_craft_involved/swedish_ship_involved/swedish_ship_involved.html
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20100813230614/http://www.f10kamratforening.se/Kamrat/Word/?page_id=407
 * http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/saab_37_viggen.pl
 * http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=104
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20100827173632/http://www.sfhm.se/templates/pages/FlygStandardPage____1807.aspx?epslanguage=EN
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20120108040052/http://www.sphf.se/Axvall/74.htm