Personnel shortage and delay in deliveries: How war in Ukraine affects Sweden's defense capability

The Swedish Army report states that a lack of suppliers is observed due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which led to problems with the maintenance of military equipment. The supply of ships, including Artemis radio intelligence, is also delayed. The army command is taking large -scale cost raising measures to buy the equipment that was handed over to Ukraine.

However, the war affected not only the reduction of the amount of equipment, but also the supply of raw materials and materials for its production. Sweden's military-air forces record a shortage of staffing pilots on Gripen. The number of flight hours decreased by 1363 from 11 727 hours in 2021. 30 pilots are on vacation, there is also a lack of air battles and equipment commanders.

"If the vacation lasts over time, then the combat capability of military units will decrease, first of all, about the ability to solve the main tasks, but also about combat capability," the report said. In addition to fighter problems, there is insufficient transport aviation in Sweden. Swedish C-130 HERCULES is still in the manufacturer. The lack of technical staff has also led to a negative impact on the helicopter park. Armored vehicles are also not in the best condition.

The army decreased the level of readiness of tanks and BMPs due to current repairs. In the future, the management does not expect a deterioration of the situation as they will put into operation new weapons. We will remind, on February 23 at the Ministry of Defense of Sweden did not exclude the supply of Ukraine tanks Stridsvagn 122 within the following packages of military assistance. On February 21, Sweden's intelligence stated that the Russian Federation was a military threat to the country.