STOCKHOLM | For the first time in its history, the Swedish army deployed an anti-aircraft system to counter a bombing raid on the capital Stockholm on Sunday as part of the largest military exercise organized in Sweden in 30 years.
• Also read: Historic military exercises: Sweden prepares for war against Russia
“The brutal attack on Ukraine in 2022 has really shaken the foundations of our common security in Europe (…) This is a reality that could linger for a long time, so we must prepare accordingly,” warns General Carl-Johan Edstrom , Head of Joint Operations of the Swedish Armed Forces.
Photo Anne Caroline Desplanques
General Carl-Johan Edstrom, Head of Joint Operations of the Swedish Armed Forces.
General Edstrom points out that the enemy, Moscow, is not far away. And this time he attacked Sweden in a fictional scenario developed for the Aurora 23 exercise: the power grid and the telecommunications network were sabotaged. The mobilization began last Monday with a radio warning. Since then, reinforcements have arrived from 13 allied countries.
But the bombers are now threatening the capital. Therefore, it was necessary to use the very sophisticated American Patriot missile defense system there. These machines are very rarely used in the midst of civilians, even less in Sweden on the outskirts of a civilian airport in an idyllic landscape where cyclists and dog walkers are on the move.
Photo Anne Caroline Desplanques
Against a nuclear attack
Your mission is to destroy ballistic missiles or planes with nuclear weapons. To do this, they are armed with missiles that can strike up to 100 miles away and equipped with radars to detect fighter jets at ranges of up to 80 miles.
Photo Anne Caroline Desplanques
Swedish Defense has four Patriot systems deployed nationwide. In addition to the United States, the manufacturer of these machines, about fifteen countries are equipped with them, but not Canada, which does not have missile interception equipment. For years, Ottawa has refused to integrate the American missile defense system, mainly for fear of escalating international tensions.
But the war in Ukraine showed that anti-aircraft defense is essential, notes General Edstrom. Coordinated with the Air Force and Navy, it is the “backbone” of national defense and regional security, he emphasizes.
Photo courtesy of Felix Sundbäck, Swedish Armed Forces
Resist the warrior’s call
But Kerstin Bergea, president of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association, the world’s oldest anti-war organization, encourages Canada to resist the hawks’ call.
For her, Sweden is now helping to make the world “more polarized and militarized”, despite having advocated disarmament for years in the name of a safer world.
Photo courtesy of Bezav Mahmod, Swedish Armed Forces
Mr Bergea is urging Justin Trudeau to stand firmly with the pacifists by promoting diplomacy and cooperation and calling for more spending, not on defense but on fighting climate change, humanity’s first threat, she stresses.
With this in mind, two weeks ago several hundred people demonstrated in several cities across Sweden against NATO membership and the Aurora 23 exercise. The majority of Swedes, who broadly supported this vision before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have, according to local However, polls changed their minds.
return from military service
Photo courtesy of Bezav Mahmod, Swedish Armed Forces
STOCKHOLM | Around the giant devices of the Patriot system, stationed 15 minutes from downtown Stockholm, are very young people with green faces and automatic weapons on their shoulders. They are the conscripts of the Swedish Armed Forces.
You are about 300 to participate in this exercise. This is the last of her year of military service. And they are ready for a real fight. For 15 days they have been sleeping in tents, in the mud and in the cold, like in a real war.
Despite rising tensions in Europe following the 2014 Crimean invasion, Sweden faced staff shortages and resumed military service in 2018. 13,000 18-year-old boys and girls are drafted each year. They pass a series of physical examinations and the best are drafted for nine to 12 months.
Photo Anne Caroline Desplanques
Such is the case of Adela Olsson, 19, who received her draft letter last August.
“I was very excited when I received it, I couldn’t wait,” she says. And after nine months she is not disappointed: “The experience is very different from anything I could have done in civilian life. Learning to withstand stress, learning leadership will serve me throughout my life.”
“In ten months I’ve grown up like nobody else,” adds his comrade-in-arms Edvin Ostberg, 20. But he also says: “I think everyone should be able to defend their country if it’s necessary, and that we’re learning here, we’re making sure we can all respond to the call, even if we’re not professional soldiers.”
A model to imitate?
In a speech in Ottawa in March, Latvian Deputy Defense Minister Janis Garrisons stressed that Swedish military service is a role model for all NATO countries, especially those facing a major personnel crisis. This is the case in Canada, where one in ten military positions is vacant.
“People have to understand that they have to pay their country something,” Mr. Garrisons said at the Security and Defense Conference in Ottawa.
This report was produced thanks to a grant from the Fonds québécois en journalisme international.