The Army’s land forces are being reoriented towards an increasingly clear rapid-response, mission-oriented role which includes participation in international operations.
The Army’s international forces have to be ready, once parliamentary approval has been given, to participate in military operations beyond Sweden’s borders. A number of army units have been included on international force registers. Parts of these units are on deployment in the context of peace support operations.
The Swedish Army includes units of the following types:
- Mechanised units, equipped with tanks and other armoured vehicles, possess the greatest firepower, and overall strike power, of all the Army’s units. Units are trained and equipped for combat against any adversary both in urban areas and in different types of terrain.
- Cavalry units, which train rangers and intelligence specialists as well as military police. The soldiers, who include airborne troops, have to be capable of operating behind enemy lines, often for long periods, in all types of terrain and under all weather conditions. Cavalry units also include military police and security units.
- Artillery units which provide training in land-based indirect fire operations, covering the entire chain from sensors, through command and control systems to the weapon systems themselves. The systems are capable of achieving precision effects at long range and are unaffected by weather conditions.
- Air defence units which train units in ground-based defence against aerial targets, covering the entire chain from sensors, through command and control systems, to air defence weapons systems themselves. The task of these units is to protect, for example, centres of population, military units and air bases against attack from the air.
- Command and Control units which train staff and liaison units primarily for the command and control of combat forces and for higher staff duties, but also special units in the field of electronic warfare.
- Engineer units responsible for field work, that is to say alteration of the terrain in various ways that impede an adversary but assist the activities of own forces. Munitions clearance is also an important part of field work.
- Logistics units which are responsible for keeping combat forces supplied with, for example, catering, medical and repair facilities.
- CBRN units which deal with CBRN threats and incidents. Principal capabilities include detection, identification, surveillance, warning, reporting, physical protection and risk management. (CBRN= Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear).
Organisation
The Inspector General of the Army is the most senior representative of the Swedish Army’s land forces. Together the Army Staff at Armed Forces Headquarters, the Inspector General leads materiel procurement and other capability-generating activities, that is to say force development and the training of officers and national service conscripts.
The Army Tactical Command leads activities utilising these capabilities, for example in actual operations and deployments and in major exercises, both in Sweden and abroad.