"Look out lads, the Navy's 'ere!"

Enter the Royal Swedish Navy, a far stronger naval presence on the world stage than most people realize (over 320 vessels). Indeed, that statement goes for all of Sweden's armed forces. Contrary to Sweden's global reputation as the nation of peace, it is actually a major power and one of the world's biggest producers of military technology. This contradiction is what I've described in earlier posts as a sort of Scandinavian schizophrenia.

I was reminded of this phenomena on a fine, grey, spring day aboarded the Djurgården ferry on my way to work. As we pushed out from the dock I spotted a Swedish naval vessel coming up the channel past the cruise ships.

She was exhibiting two day signals (the black balls hanging in the rigging) indicating that she was towing something astern. The ferry skipper veered far over to the edge of the harbor to let the naval vessel pass.

As she came closer abeam I could see she was a minesweeper and was sweeping the harbor--not a very comforting sight, really. The implication that a threat existed was hard to miss, especially after a German mine from WW II was just discovered in the Mersey River prompting the closure of all nearby port facilities and tunnels while a Royal Navy minesweeper came in and towed the dangerous device out to see and detonated it.

But it was interesting to see the Swedish Navy in operation and nice to know that they were keeping the harbor safe. Many mines from WW II and the Cold War have been found in Swedish waters over the years and the sight of this minesweeper reminded me that despite Sweden's two centuries of unbroken peace, it is one of the most heavily armed countries in Europe.

Today, the Swedish Navy has one of the largest mine-laying and mine-sweeping fleets in the world--a type of warfare the United States declared obsolete until several of our supply ships were sunk by Iraqi mines at the start of both Desert Storm in 1991 and the current war in 2003 (we are really good at learning from experience). The photo is not mine...of a mine--nothing was blown up in Stockholm harbor--but it shows how actively the Swedish Navy practices and prepares to carry out mine warfare.

Not only is Sweden heavily armed with a rather intimidating military, but it is also one of the world's leading arms producers. This fact gets back to that Scandinavian schizophrenia I've written about. Sweden is a global icon of peace, yet it sells loads of high-tech weapons to foreign countries--many of whom are using them on their neighbors (the Balkan nations, India, etc.). For example, the Kockums shipyard in Malmö, pictured above, has become known as a high-tech, stealth technology naval yard...

...recently launching the Visby class corvettes--big ugly things that thankfully can't be 'seen' (on radar).

...and the Gotland-class diesel-electric submarine, the most technologically advanced non-nuclear powered submarine in the world. It is so advanced that one of them is on loan to the United States Navy's sub-hunter training program because of their superb stealth technologies. To date, detection systems aboard US Naval vessels and aircraft have never been able to locate the Gotland when she is submerged.

Then there's SAAB (Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget). Note that the acronym makes no reference to cars. That's because SAAB's real specialty (and money-maker) is military aircraft. Some of the finest and fastest combat planes in the world today are built by the SAAB Aircraft Division. Israel used to buy a lot of them before they started building their own.

Then, of course, there is Bofors; the most famous artillery and anti-aircraft gun manufacturer of all time. The Bofors anti-aircraft guns were a staple of both Allied and Axis forces in WW II (being neutral, Sweden traded with both sides) and were renown for never overheating or jamming thanks to the Swedish steel from which they were machined. Today, Bofors is still producing the world's best artillery weapons, selling regularly to India, Venezuela, Australia, and dozens of others.

Then various smaller arms producers in Sweden turn out all kinds of technological and mechanical gadgets covering everything from light-weight rifles to missile guidance systems and radar technology and even these tracked troop carriers that can do quite well anywhere from the deserts to the frozen north.

So all of this was brought to mind when I saw that minesweeper. When I came back on the ferry after work I discovered that a good-size chunk of the coastal defense fleet had come in to Stockholm for a sort of Navy Day celebration. The entire seawall around Gamla Stan was blackaded with naval vessels moored Mediterannean style (perpendicular to the quay).

The ferry came in right alongside one of the bigger vessels, the mine warfare auxiliary vessel A265 that we met in earlier posts about the Beckholmen drydock back in January and March. Note that she carries some of Bofors latest innovations, the rapid-fire 75mm turret guns. Apparently those things are radar-aimed and can fire dead on-target every two seconds even when the ship is rolling in heavy seas. This is a product of the nation known as the global icon of peace...

The fleet was so completely dominating the shoreline that the ferries could scarcely sneak in to their terminal.

I wondered what the passenger ship Birger Jarl, sailing to Åland, was going to do when she arrived to see her berth occupied by a menacing flotilla of patrol boats.

Just up the quay, two heavy coastal patrol vessels had been brought up alongside the pier, showing off their nasty array of high-tech Bofors guns, missile launchers, mine-laying gear, and absolute thickets of antennae and radars.

On deck stood a few Marines armed with wicked-looking rifles. Troops were everywhere, partly to show off their uniforms and equipment and partly as heightened security.

But I still managed to sneak in and get a picture of a genuine Swedish outboard motor on one of the ship's rubber-hulled motorlaunches.

There was also a fleet of Sweden's very successful (in performance and sales) high-speed, coastal attack boats. There were a number of these constantly growling around the harbor churning up the water.

Indeed, despite Sweden's reputation for peace, it is as militarily active as it was in Vasa's day. However, there is one significant change. Vasa was to be a new kind of warship big enough to make long voyages and carry the war across the Batlic to Sweden's enemies.

The Royal Swedish Navy of today has no long-endurance vessels and is structured as a primarily defensive, coastal navy. So in view of that, perhaps Sweden's identity as a nation of peace is not so far off. After all, Sweden has remained neutral in armed conflicts since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Yet, the fact that Sweden is one of the biggest arms producers providing weapons to conflicts worldwide can't be overlooked. Sweden's schizophrenia persists.