HELSINKI - Russia's decision to purchase four Mistral assault ships from France has raised fears in Sweden that at least one of the vessels could be deployed in the Barents Sea. Swedish Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors warned that such a deployment would heighten security tensions in the High North at a time when relations between Russia and its Nordic neighbors were improving.
"Mistral will add to the development of Russian military capability and we will need to take note of this as well. A stronger Swedish Air Force with sea-targeting capabilities, together with the modernization of our submarine fleet, are some of the decisions that I see as relevant when the effect of the Mistral is discussed," Tolgfors told the Society and Defense National Conference in Stockholm on Jan. 21.
The Norwegian government has yet to respond officially to the Mistral purchase.
Norway has been steadily improving contacts with Russia and has launched a range of common cooperation projects since 2008. These include joint naval exercises, air and sea rescue operations, and new cooperation covering border controls.
Military reports in Sweden suggest that Russia will locate at least one Mistral-class helicopter carrier in Severomorsk, the main base for Russia's Northern fleet on the Kola Peninsula and which borders the Barents Sea.
"The Swedish government needs to ask, and our military need to know, just what implications Russia's purchasing of Mistral-class vessels will mean for this country's defense, as well as security in the Baltic Sea," said Mikael Oscarsson, a member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee of the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament.
Tolgfors said that a higher proportion of Russia's annual budget is being directed at modernizing its military into a smaller, but more mobile and better trained force with greater firepower.
"Russian military power is a fraction of its Soviet predecessor. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union had 78 Army divisions and two brigades in our region. Now it has a bomber division and seven brigades. It had 20,000 tanks in our neighborhood. Now they have 300. Russia had 120 primary surface vessels. Now it is 15. It had over 160 submarines. Now it has 24," said Tolgfors.
Sweden, and its Nordic and Baltic neighbors, have very good reason to question Russia's acquisition of Mistral attack ships, said Tolgfors.
"Today, Russia has only the ability to conduct a limited attack on an unskilled opponent over the land border in its immediate neighborhood. Sweden's defense research agency, FOI, believes that Russia, by 2015, will have the ability to conduct sporadic military operations against smaller neighbors, and sporadic minor military operations far beyond its own territory using its naval and air force assets," said Tolgfors.
"Mistral will add to the development of Russian military capability and we will need to take note of this as well. A stronger Swedish Air Force with sea-targeting capabilities, together with the modernization of our submarine fleet, are some of the decisions that I see as relevant when the effect of the Mistral is discussed," Tolgfors told the Society and Defense National Conference in Stockholm on Jan. 21.
The Norwegian government has yet to respond officially to the Mistral purchase.
Norway has been steadily improving contacts with Russia and has launched a range of common cooperation projects since 2008. These include joint naval exercises, air and sea rescue operations, and new cooperation covering border controls.
Military reports in Sweden suggest that Russia will locate at least one Mistral-class helicopter carrier in Severomorsk, the main base for Russia's Northern fleet on the Kola Peninsula and which borders the Barents Sea.
"The Swedish government needs to ask, and our military need to know, just what implications Russia's purchasing of Mistral-class vessels will mean for this country's defense, as well as security in the Baltic Sea," said Mikael Oscarsson, a member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee of the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament.
Tolgfors said that a higher proportion of Russia's annual budget is being directed at modernizing its military into a smaller, but more mobile and better trained force with greater firepower.
"Russian military power is a fraction of its Soviet predecessor. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union had 78 Army divisions and two brigades in our region. Now it has a bomber division and seven brigades. It had 20,000 tanks in our neighborhood. Now they have 300. Russia had 120 primary surface vessels. Now it is 15. It had over 160 submarines. Now it has 24," said Tolgfors.
Sweden, and its Nordic and Baltic neighbors, have very good reason to question Russia's acquisition of Mistral attack ships, said Tolgfors.
"Today, Russia has only the ability to conduct a limited attack on an unskilled opponent over the land border in its immediate neighborhood. Sweden's defense research agency, FOI, believes that Russia, by 2015, will have the ability to conduct sporadic military operations against smaller neighbors, and sporadic minor military operations far beyond its own territory using its naval and air force assets," said Tolgfors.
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