When Sweden Officially Joins NATO, It Will Bring More Than Meatballs to the Table

[Boats]

When Sweden Officially Joins NATO, It Will Bring More Than Meatballs to the Table
By: Sebastien Roblin - Popular Mechanics News - 09-03-23
Re: https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...ng-nato-means/

Note: The country may have a small population, but its rich in military resources.

In July, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that he would finally drop his objections to allowing Sweden to join the NATO European security alliance. Hungary, which supported Turkey’s block, had indicated it would not obstruct Sweden’s admission should Turkey give the green light.

That means, following a procedural vote this fall, Sweden is poised to be become the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Sweden and NATO have been cooperating more closely since the end of the Cold War, and more intensely since Russia’s initial invasions of Ukraine in 2014-2015. However, for a long time, only a minority of Swedes believed joining the alliance would benefit them.

Russia’s diplomatic strategy sought to prevent Swedish entry into NATO through threats of retaliation, including implied potential targeting by nuclear weapons. Such threats, and provocative fly-bys by Russian nuclear-capable bombers, and intrusions by submarines ended up only pushing Sweden closer and closer to NATO.

Ultimately, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine finally persuaded a majority of Swedes (as well as neighboring Finns) that they needed the additional security against unpredictable aggression provided by the alliance.

But unlike Finland, which formally joined NATO on April 4 of this year, Sweden was subject to a prolonged block by Turkey and Putin-friendly Hungary, with the former particularly complaining that Sweden was too accommodating of both Kurdish separatists of Turkish origin and anti-Islam demonstrators.

Erdogan’s obstruction also may have been motivated by his 2023 reelection prospects, or used as a bargaining chip for securing upgrades for F-16 fighters from the U.S. despite deeply troubled relations. Naturally, both the U.S. and Turkey deny the existence of such a quid-pro-quo.

Whatever the reason, Erdogan abruptly dropped his veto based on what seemed like modest assurances from Sweden and the U.S.

Superficially, the roughly 24,000 active-duty personnel in the Swedish armed forces might not seem a major addition to a defensive alliance already estimated to draw on more than 3.5 million personnel. But that would overlook Sweden’s decades of ‘armed neutrality,’ which has left the country far better equipped than most its size. It would also ignore the fact that Sweden is geographically positioned to shore up NATO’s defenses where they are most vulnerable.

Note: Interesting Baltic Geography - go to link below:
Re: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod...g?resize=768:*

Sweden is nestled between NATO members Norway and Denmark to the West and Finland to the East, and has between one and two thousand miles of Baltic Sea coastline. That’s important because Russia’s Baltic fleet musters substantial forces in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad at the “hinge” between Poland and Lithuania, and secondarily at St. Petersburg. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it counted over twenty corvettes armed for anti-ship and/or anti-submarine missions and numerous anti-air, anti-ship and land-attack missile batteries.

With Sweden in NATO, hostile Russian warships, submarines and aircraft on/over the Baltic would be forced to transit between the jaws of a crocodile: Sweden and Finland’s coastline to the north, and the coastline of Germany, Denmark, Poland and the Baltic states to the south. And for a good measure, Sweden’s Gotland island is right in the center of the Baltic.

With membership in the alliance, NATO intervention to defend Sweden is guaranteed, and Sweden in turn is committing its assistance should Finland or the Baltics ever be attacked.

Of course, aggression by Russia against NATO member states seems even more inconceivable now that Russia has bled away combat power and demonstrated military ineptitude in its invasion of Ukraine. But Putin’s decision to embarked on such a rash and destructive course of action is precisely why Swedes and Finns lost lingering trust in Russia’s intentions and sought membership in the alliance.

Swedish Military Power:

Sweden’s armed forces are designed for territorial defense of Sweden and nearby Baltic waters, though they have demonstrated some capacity to deploy jets and mechanized peacekeeping forces abroad.

Stockholm draws on an unusually mature and diversified arms industry for a country of 10.5 million/ It produces its own jet fighters, airborne early-warning planes, advanced non-nuclear submarines, infantry fighting vehicles, anti-tank weapons, and heavy artillery. Swedish jets and armored vehicles are already used in multiple NATO states and, thus, are adapted to NATO standards.

Sweden’s Air Force fields 94 fourth-generation Saab JAS-39 Gripen C/D multi-role fighter jets—comparable to American F-16Cs, but better optimized for dispersed operations from highways and small airports. The force will expand with the addition of 70 4.5-generation Gripen-E fighters with improved stealth, greater range, advanced AESA radar/jammers, and uprated F414 turbofan engines permitting supersonic cruising.

Other Air Force assets include two domestic early-warning planes, a single KC-130 tanker, five C-130 transport planes, and over 50 utility helicopters.
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[Related story: NATO is Hunting Russia's "Carrier Killer" Submarines]
Re: https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...er-submarines/
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NATO's anti-submarine forces are currently hunting one, and possibly two, Russian submarines in the eastern Mediterranean. The submarines, Oscar-II class guided missile boats, was designed to take out aircraft carriers in wartime. Two NATO carriers are operating off the coast of Syria.

The Aviationist aviation blog broke the story, citing military sources who say that several maritime patrol aircraft—including brand-new U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon sub hunters—are scouring the sea for the Russian subs.The American carrier USS Eisenhower and the French Charles De Gaulle are now operating in the eastern Med supporting anti-Islamic State operations in Syria.

The Oscar II-class submarines were specifically designed in the 1980s to stalk and kill high-value enemy ships. Each measures 506 feet long with a beam of 60 feet. At 19,400 submerged, they are some of the largest submarines ever constructed.

The Oscar's firepower lies in its 24 P-700 Granit missiles. This is a huge weapon, 33 feet long and weighing 15,400 pounds each. It flies at speeds of Mach 1.6 to a range of 388 miles, and can be equipped with either a 1,653-pound warhead or a 500-kiloton nuclear warhead. Oscars also have six torpedo tubes for launching anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine rockets, and homing torpedoes.

Russia has done this before, stationing Su-33 air superiority fighters and S-400 surface to air missile systems in the region. It seems to do so out of an abundance of caution—a measure of protection in case, however improbably, NATO and Russian forces start shooting at one another. While that may be understandable, it doesn't build a lot of trust between the two sides.

Meanwhile, as improbable as a shooting war between the two sides is, NATO forces must find and track these submarines as soon as possible. The stakes are high: a single nuclear-tipped P-700 slipping through the Eisenhower's air defenses would sink her and kill nearly 6,000 U.S. Navy personnel.

Via The Aviationist

Note: Headshot of Kyle Mizokami
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Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.
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Personal note: I'd say NATO all together has got quite a military if you ask me.
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Boats


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