Sweden Eyes Smaller Fighter Fleet, Base Closure
By GERARD O'DWYER
Published: 29 Apr 12:37 EDT (08:37 GMT)
Helsinki - Proposed Swedish military cutbacks will reduce the Air Force's front-line fighter fleet to about 100 aircraft, while barracks closures in northern and southern Sweden will force the Land Forces to adopt a more centralized strategy, said Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors.
Military chiefs said the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will close air bases and barracks in northern, eastern and southern Sweden, and the Land Forces' southern bases will be relocated to central and western locations.
The Armed Forces Command (AFC) presented an updated Operational Costs Review to the MoD on April 22 that underlined a lack of funding to support the existing base structures in their present form, including the Air Force's F21 air wing in Lulea.
Military bases in the districts of Eksjö, Lulea, Karlsborg and Uppsala are expected to bear the brunt of future cutbacks. Cost cutting at the AFC's headquarters is also under consideration.
"The aim is for fewer but larger and better-equipped bases and forces," said Marie Hafström, the Swedish Armed Forces' (SAF) director general.
The cutbacks could see the closure of 10 military units. A final plan for unit closure will be presented by the AFC to the MoD in September. The Air Force is facing a $200 million operating deficit in 2008.
"I think it is strategically unthinkable that Sweden's northernmost air wing in Lulea could be moved to such a southerly location in Satenäs," said Per-Ola Eriksson, the governor of Norrbotten County in northern Sweden.
The budgetary cutbacks will require the Air Force to decrease the number of multirole fighters from 138 to 100.
"One of my first actions as newly appointed minister for defense last year was to approve the configuration of our entire aircraft fleet to one single standard, to the C/D version. We will, at the same time, reduce the fighter fleet to 100 aircraft to create a cost-effective and capability optimized Air Force," Tolgfors said.
Sweden ordered 204 39A, 39B, 39C and 39D JAS Gripen aircraft in the 1990s. Of this number, 28 are leased to the Czech and Hungarian air forces. Six more are set to be sold to the Royal Thai Air Force in 2011, with a possibility of another six later on.
Link
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3503079&c=EUR&s=TOP
By GERARD O'DWYER
Published: 29 Apr 12:37 EDT (08:37 GMT)
Helsinki - Proposed Swedish military cutbacks will reduce the Air Force's front-line fighter fleet to about 100 aircraft, while barracks closures in northern and southern Sweden will force the Land Forces to adopt a more centralized strategy, said Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors.
Military chiefs said the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will close air bases and barracks in northern, eastern and southern Sweden, and the Land Forces' southern bases will be relocated to central and western locations.
The Armed Forces Command (AFC) presented an updated Operational Costs Review to the MoD on April 22 that underlined a lack of funding to support the existing base structures in their present form, including the Air Force's F21 air wing in Lulea.
Military bases in the districts of Eksjö, Lulea, Karlsborg and Uppsala are expected to bear the brunt of future cutbacks. Cost cutting at the AFC's headquarters is also under consideration.
"The aim is for fewer but larger and better-equipped bases and forces," said Marie Hafström, the Swedish Armed Forces' (SAF) director general.
The cutbacks could see the closure of 10 military units. A final plan for unit closure will be presented by the AFC to the MoD in September. The Air Force is facing a $200 million operating deficit in 2008.
"I think it is strategically unthinkable that Sweden's northernmost air wing in Lulea could be moved to such a southerly location in Satenäs," said Per-Ola Eriksson, the governor of Norrbotten County in northern Sweden.
The budgetary cutbacks will require the Air Force to decrease the number of multirole fighters from 138 to 100.
"One of my first actions as newly appointed minister for defense last year was to approve the configuration of our entire aircraft fleet to one single standard, to the C/D version. We will, at the same time, reduce the fighter fleet to 100 aircraft to create a cost-effective and capability optimized Air Force," Tolgfors said.
Sweden ordered 204 39A, 39B, 39C and 39D JAS Gripen aircraft in the 1990s. Of this number, 28 are leased to the Czech and Hungarian air forces. Six more are set to be sold to the Royal Thai Air Force in 2011, with a possibility of another six later on.
Link
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3503079&c=EUR&s=TOP