For a number of years the Air Defence Regiment has been using the surveillance radar (UndE 23), the part of the system that gathers information.
"Now the final piece of the puzzle is in place in the missile system RBS 23", the local Saab Bofors representative, Leif Lundin, explained in his speech.
The system has been under development for almost 20 years and the advanced missile is highly manoeuvrable. The missile can shoot down air targets including fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and guided bombs, at ranges between 1 kilometre and 15 kilometres at altitudes up to 15,000 metres. The missile also has extremely high speed and acceleration. In just one second the missile can reach the dizzying speed of 3,000 km/hour.
Pontus Nordberg from FMV explained that he had always had a particular interest in air defence, ever since he grew up close to Lv 2’s barracks in Malmö and tried to build his own rockets. He also wished SAAB Bofors Dynamics success with the new system on the international market.
The Commanding Officer of the Air Defence Regiment, Colonel Lennart Klevensparr, thanked all parties concerned for their excellent collaboration and presented Major Niklas Uddén, who has been responsible for training on the system, with a symbolic crystal cube.
The RBS 23 missile system is currently being used as a demonstrator. That means that the system is not yet in operational service. The training of national service personnel on the system started in 2008 but only for the demonstrator unit. The Swedish Armed Forces are proposing to start forming operational units as from 2008.