Defence Act of 2000 (Sweden)

The Defence Act of 2000 (prop. 1999/2000:30) was a defence act passed by the Swedish Riksdag on 30 March 2000, and the largest reorganisation of the Swedish Armed Forces since the Defence Act of 1925. The act was a continuation of the policies set in motion by the Defence Act of 1996: shifting the military's focus from the defence of Swedish territory to a more flexible "operational defence* (Swedish: insatsförsvar) for smaller-scale peacekeeping operations in foreign nations. Many military formations were disbanded as a result.[1]

Summary

The future organisation decided by the act included, up until 2004, the following military units:

  • A headquarters, an operational command, and four military district commands.
  • An army divisional command, formed of an NBC task force and two rifle battalions.
  • 6 army brigade commands, 16 mechanised battalions, 4 air defence battalions, 4 howitzer battalions, 4 pioneer battalions, 4 maintenance battalions, 6 urban warfare battalions and 1 battalion of paratroopers.
  • 2 surface flotillas with a combined total of 12 surface vessels.
  • 1 submarine flotilla with 5 submarines.
  • A minesweeper flotilla.
  • An amphibious brigade command and 3 amphibious battalions.
  • 8 divisions of JAS 39 jets.
  • 2 helicopter battalions, one with a focus on ground operations and another with a focus on naval operations.
  • National Defence Troops, including among others 12 ground combat battalions and elements of the Home Guard.
Percentage of the Swedish GDP spent on the Armed Forces during the years following the Defence Act[2]
Year
 Percent of GDP
2001 1,7
2002 1,6
2003 1,6
2004 1,4
2005 1,4

Disbanded units, commands and academies

Armed Forces Commands

Military districts (Militärområden)

Divisions

Service Branch Commands (försvarsgrensstaber)

Army

Infantry regiments

Infantry Brigades/Norrland Brigades

Cavalry

Armoured troops

Mechanised brigades

Artillery

Air Defence troops

Combat engineers

Signal troops

Army Service Troops (trängtrupperna)

Air Force

Defence districts (försvarsområden)

[note 1]

  • Fo 47 Enköping
  • Fo 51 Örebro
  • Fo 52 Kristinehamn
  • Fo 53 Falun
  • Fo 61 Umeå
  • Fo 63 Boden
  • Fo 66 Kiruna (GJ 66)
  • Fo 67 Kalix (GJ 67)

Established units, commands and academies

Armed Forces Commands

Army

Artillery

Infantry/Cavalry

Fleet

Amphibious Corps

Military districts

Military district groups

Footnotes
  1. A defence district (Försvarsområde, shortened Fo) was the command level below military district (militärområde). Every defence district was part of a defence district group (Fogrupp), which was a part of a combined combat group which had the same strength as a brigade, as it was composed of between one and four battalions. A defence district was commanded by the Defence District Commander, who was simultaneously the commander of a Defence District Regiment.

References
  1. Holmström, Mikael (13 January 2018). "Sveriges armé chanslös vid ett angrepp" [Swedish army has no chance in an invasion]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  2. "Försvarets andel av BNP" (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2018.

Further reading
  • Skoglund, Claës (2009). Det bästa försvarsbeslutet som aldrig kom till stånd. Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag. ISBN 978-91-85789-57-3.
  • Agrel, Wilhelm (2009). Frdens Illusioner - Det svenska nationella försvarets nedgång och fall 1988-2009. Atlantis. ISBN 978-91-7353-417-8.
  • Björeman, Carl (2009). År av uppgång, år av nedgång - Försvarets ödesväg under beredskapsåren och det kalla kriget. Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag. ISBN 978-91-85789-58-0.
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