As a Finn I couldn’t think a better neighbour than Sweden. In Nato or not I’m sure Sweden will be never alone.

From the US, I obviously support Sweden joining NATO, but it is important to say that Sweden already is a member in all but name.

As a Finn, I think that in a conflict Finland and Sweden would make a very powerful duo. Sweden would guard our skies and our coasts while Finlands enourmous ground forces would fight on land alongside the swedish elite troops. We have to remember that Finland is the country who has a border with Russia but we would still defend each other. Stay strong Swedish brothers 🇫🇮💪🇸🇪

When i was in the finnish army, I had the opprtunity to train with swedish troops and it was really awesome. Such professional soldiers and lovely brothers

I see Finland and Sweden as a package deal without compromises. Our militaries are too intertwined to be separated and Finland has been a bufferzone to east for Sweden every since Cold war. We're too close countries both politically and culturally that separation of any sorts in modern times would be unthinkable as a Finn.

They would be bringing Sabaton, the greatest morale boost an army could have.

I would say the biggest reason for Sweden joining NATO is not actual threat of invasion for Sweden or it's capability to defend itself, but for Finland. The countries always said they would join together if they ever were to join, and once Finland wanted to join, Sweden was never going to say no. Vice versa as well.

As a Swede, Reading these comments and watching your video really does make me smile! :)

As a swede I would argue that our most important contribution to NATO would be weapons. We are already providing a lot of high tech weapons to the alliance, more than you think. I'll give you a list here. Many of these weapons have killed tens of thousands of russians in this war. We can start with the M982 Excalibur artillery shell which is a joint collaboration between Sweden and the USA. The shell is manufactured here in Sweden in a city called Karlskoga. This is what wikipedia says: The munition was co-developed by United States-based Raytheon Missiles & Defense (guidance system) and the Swedish BAE Systems Bofors (body, base, ballistics, and payload). This shell along with the USA made HIMARS system has been blowing up hundreds of ammuntion depots and places where the russians have stored large amounts of weapons. It has also taken out a lot of russian artillery, tanks, troops, anti-air systems, special electronic warfare systems, etc. Basically all NATO countries have this artillery shell. Also the highly advanced Bonus (joint collaboration with France) artillery shell is manufactured here in Sweden by Bofors and used by a lot of western powers. Then you have the NLAW (joint collaboration with the UK) anti tank weapon which proved to be a big success in the battle for Kyiv. The ukranians took out many tanks with it during that battle. A couple of countries have this weapon and I guess even more will buy it in the future because of it's success. Next up is the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, like every NATO country got this one. After that, the AT-4, another weapon which most of the countries in NATO have. Then we have RBS-15 (joint collaboration with Germany for the latest version, Mark 4) (also called Gungnir, which is the spear of the god Odin, from norse mythology, and which never miss it's target), one of the best anti-ship missiles. It beats the USA made Harpoon anti-ship missile. Some countries got this one as well, the germans and the poles, also the finns and maybe som others. Then we got the RBS-70 NG, anti-air MANPAD. A couple of NATO countries have this one as well. It's reported that it has downed a couple of russian cruise missiles and a bunch of iranian drones. Then you have the CV90 of course, the most used IFV in NATO in terms of the number of countries using it. It's 10 countries that uses it now. We also have the Ghost - tank project. A project that is in it's prototype stage right now, to make a stealth tank basically, on the CV90 plattform, to hide from IR, infrared sensors. A lot of weapons use IR to find and target, if the IR signature can't be detected, then you can't find the target. You could also say that it's going to be a night ambush tank. Because during the night you won't be able to detect it visually either. Then you have the BVS10, Bandvagn 206, Warthog, the Viking, or whatever they call it. A lot of NATO countries have this terrain vehicle. CB90 (combat boat 90) used by a couple of countries. This little boat can fire hellfire missiles, our RBS-17 short range anti-ship missile. The Bofors 40mm, I think 90 countries around the world got this one! One of the most legandary swedish weapons through history. Then we have mines, mine clearing equipment, hand grenades, all sorts of explosives. After all, we were the country that invented dynamite. Maybe you have heard of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel price.. ;) Then you have JAS 39 Gripen, used by a couple of countries. Then we have the meteor anti-air missile, the worlds most advanced anti-air missile. This was a collaboration with many countries. We were the first ones to use it on our jet fighter, the Gripen. We did most of the testing and some development. After that we have some awesome weapons that no one uses except us. Like the Archer artillery system (Well, the UK bought 14 of these recently), our submarine HMS Gotland, our Visby stealth corvette, our mobile mid range anti-air system called BAMSE 23, Mjölnir (which is the hammer of Thor from norse mytholodgy) our 120mm mortar vehicle, which can carry more than one hundred 120mm mortars, it's based on the CV90, etc. And in a couple of years time we will get our new A26 stealth submarine which is crazy advanced. It will be able to launch drones! You just hide the submarine on the bottom of the ocean and then launch multiple drones from it to attack the russian fleet.. ;) .. I think we will get that one in 2027-2028. So, for the russians to do a large scale land invasion by sea and put hundreds of thousands of troops on our shores might be a big problem for them. It is already hard for them today, but in the future it will be even harder.. :D Our radar family of vehicles called Giraffe. You know after the african animal with the long neck.. ;) .. Many countries have this radar system as well. We sent a couple to Ukraine. Ahh, I forgot the GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb), joint collaboration with the USA. This system is like our HIMARS system basically. It has a 150 km range. I think the ukranians may have got this from the USA. So yeah, this would be our contribution to NATO, to be able to provide more weapons. We already sell a lot today, but we have pretty hard export laws regarding weapons. If we joined NATO, then maybe we could sell some weapons that we are not allowed to sell today. Like our submarines, corvettes, etc. And maybe it would be easier to export more weapons. So basically we already are NATO's small weapons factory today. But yeah, I think this would be a big win both for Sweden and for NATO if we joined the alliance. That was a long rant! .. ;) .. Cheers from Sweden!

It is worth noting that the fact that Finland and Sweden’s weaknesses being the opposite of one another is by design. The Nordic’s do that as general practice. Each specializes in an area that the others can’t. Together, they form a union of militaries that is able to punch WELL above its weight class.

Living on Gotland, I can tell you for a fact the military pressance has grown, like alot. The sheer amount of tanks I have seen during the last few years is crasy.

A note about the Visby Class: They are so stealth, they are to hoist a radar reflector in their mast for safety when not at war (or training) as their radar cross section is smaller then a periscope. I've seen them in action, even though they are kinda old already, they are insane.

As a finn I fully support Sweden joining NATO. I know the turks have been quite the obstacle but I'm sure they can be convinced with enough pressure like in the case of Finland.

As an American of Swedish descent, as well as being able to speak the language a little and having family in Sverige, I hope Sweden gets accepted soon. In the meantime, and I’ve said this since Russia invaded Ukraine, if Russia fired one bullet at Sweden, this American veteran will feel obliged to go to Sweden and to hold every Russian who fires a bullet at Sweden accountable.

One of the best military related presentations in a long time and I watch a lot of them. I will be subscribing. Keep it up.

After WWII Sweden suggested a Scandinavian alliance. When Norway and Denmark choose to join NATO and Finland decided not to we opted to stay out. We stayed out of NATO because we didn´t want to leave Finland out to dry. When Finland decided to join NATO we followed suit. On a geopolitical and military level Sweden and Finland are interconnected today just like we were for 600 years when we were the same country. Basically we got each others backs and complement each other. And together with the other Scandinavian countries we will secure The North with no cost to American taxpayers.

The CV90, the Gripen E, the NLAW, the Archer, the Gotland class, the Visby class, the RBS15, the Carl Gustaf, the Bandvagn 410, AT-4's etc etc makes me proud as a Swede! All world class equipment. All Swedish. We are really hitting it out of the park for a country with 10 million people.

I'm glad the Fins and now the Swedes will join. The Fins have proven several times that they can hold off large armies. The Swedes have excellent submarine command and quality technology. Strategic locations and easily integrable to NATO.

Wow, such a great video!! Thankyou.

Great! Simon and crew

Sweden's air force is already integrated into a Nordic air force alliance between Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, all of which are now NATO members bar Sweden. Sweden isn't really reliant on being an official member nation and vice versa, there was and will always be a mutual understanding. If Erdogan continues to play his dumb cards, so be it. No one should beg Turkey for anything.

Couple of small points, after just a couple of minutes: 1. Sweden did not shy away from a nuclear umbrella per se during the cold war, Sweden had it's own nuclear program that were mere months from deliver a nuclear weapon and maybe half a year to deliver 2 or 3 more. The program was eventually scrapped, but the capacity was there for quite some time after. Sweden did shy away from someone elses nuclear umbrella though. 2. Swedish re-armament began earlier than 2022 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Conscription was re-instated 2017, so it was only a 7 year hiatus. Though the volumes that are called up for conscription today is way lower than during the cold war, it has been increasing every year since 2017 and prison scentences are again handed out to people that dodge it. The same goes for the re-militarization of Gotland, that has been going on for quite a few years prior to 2022. We've also got stealth tanks (doesn't emitt a heat signature, so invisable at night), in addition to stealth subs and corvettes. Though only on the prototype stage at this point, If my understanding of the system is correct.

Always a pleasure Simon.

Outstanding video!

Putin: what should we do to convince countries to not join NATO? Ivan: invade and steal territory from our neighbors who aren’t part of NATO? Putin: genius.

I find it interesting how Finland and Sweden seem like perfect compliments to one another: Sweden may lack the manpower, but they have the quality equipment and vehicles far surpassing what an army of their size would normally field, and then you have Finland that lacks a home-grown defense industry, but has the manpower to contribute. Combine Finland and Sweden together, and you have a juggernaut rivaling most other NATO partners.

And today Sweden is welcomed to the Alliance 💪 stronger together 🇫🇮❤️🇸🇪

In 1957 Sweden had the world's fourth most powerful air force, with about 1,000 modern planes in front-line service. During the 1950s, it introduced fighters such as the Saab J 29 Tunnan, Saab A 32 Lansen and Saab J 35 Draken. Later, the Viggen went on to become Sweden's primary air defense platform for many years, until repaced by the JAS 39 Gripen during the 1990s and early 2000s.

As a Swede there's one thing that I feel isn't talked about enough in this excellent video. It's the defence partnership, solidarity and brotherhood with Finland. I'm a NATO positive now but wasn't before the war. Finland has drawn the geographical short straw when it comes to Russia. They chose their independence and that's ok. That doesn't mean we aren't close. My wife and friends have family in Finland. If attacked I would grab my bags and offer to kill and die for Finnish independence and it's people. Under article 5 we are obliged to do it as a nation and no selfish or cowardly politician can stop it. Selfish as I am if I have to go fight for Finland I don't want to go alone but with my entire nation doing the same. Also, the more the marrier.

•a third of the baltics coastline including the most centrally located island in the baltic •a decent military & arms production •diplomatic reputation that strengthens NATOs reputation

Thank you - very informative

A funny thing about the "I thought SAAB only made cars?" is that Automobile manufacture was actually an afterthought and later sideproject. Originally it was an aircraft only company, the name standing for "Svenska Aeroplan AB" or "Swedish Aeroplanes & Co". AB is an abbreviation of Aktiebolag, meaning a joint stock company. It's common to see Swedish company names either incorporating or tacking it on. After the company expanded into the automobile industry it would also begin to divide itself, the car manufacturing part becoming SAAB Automobile AB that would then be bought by GM before going belly up last decade. Gripen or "The Griffin" is not just the most wellknown of their planes, but also named after their logo of a heraldic looking griffin with a crown on its head.

What is so impressive is that Sweden has been able to develop and maintain a world-class military despite spending only 1.2% of its GDP on defense.

That was educational. As an American war veteran, I just know Finland, Norway, and Sweden as nations you simply don't fuck with.

Thanks, Warographics.

Ever since the 30 Years War and the days of Gustavus Adolphus, Sweden has been a military powerhouse, with quality over quantity. They were the first army in the world to use artillery in combined arms tactics with lighter field guns made of leather, which completely chewed up enemy formations. In the Great Northern War, their Caroleans were the most feared and respected soldiers in Europe due to their close combat doctrine as opposed to other armies that relied on musketry and volley fire.

Is surstrømming considered chemical warfare if they open the cans near russia?

The only country to sink a American super carrier and intercept a SR 71...... Yeah id give them a shot

AS ALWAYS A VERY INFORMATIVE VIDEO , THIS CAN ONLY GET BETTER

Well done presentation 👍

When the Russia-Ukraine war ends, NATO and the EU need to have a serious word with Hungary

You can't even imagine the massive preparation that was done on the highest of scale in Sweden to defend against a full invasion by the USSR during the cold war. There is an excellent series on youtube called "Om kriget kom" going over all of our defenses and plans (not classified anymore) at the time. Unfortunately english subtitles are not available. But basically we had one of the best airforces in the world, a fine navy, the ability to mobilize more than 1 000 000 men and wartime assignments for basically every civilian. And also we would never surrender

Nice channel, thumbs up!

My cousin builds Gripen planes, other relatives of mine build artillery, design missiles, the list goes on. We do a bit of everything and we do it well, just look at the Archer. Fun tidbits: In my hometown, we celebrated the first Archer with ribbon cutting and cake of all things, at the town square. Also, the "nearby" artillery firing range lobs its shells over E18, the motorway connecting the capitals of Stockholm and Oslo. Good ol' shenanigans afoot.

7:50 Hey Simon, SAAB started out making fighter jets, long before they made cars, they have major relations with the Swedish military industrial complex, as they are a huge component of it. SAAB loved to advertise their cars with jets, to make people remember that when you drive a SAAB, you're driving a fighter jet!

Impressive analysis joined with a captivating delivery style (and turns of phrase). 😁

Exceptional analysis.

NATO and Sweden at the end of may had a Joint Training Exercise over Norway and Sweden!

Russia really screwed up badly

Thank you

The things you learn. A thousand times I say, Thank You.

I have been enjoying the videos of this channel way more than I thought I would. Along with the videos of Simon's 37 other channels lol

Greetings from Sweden. Thank you for an interesting show and thank you for lifting forward what we can bring to the alliance. I really hope we will join the Finns very soon.

The Australian Collins class submarine is basically an adapted Gotland submarine. Similar results against the US navy in exercises.

Griffins. They'll be bringing griffins. I'm not joking, the name of their main fighter, the Gripen, translates to griffin, and that's awesome

The opposition of Hungary and Turkey has little to do with Sweden itself. The countries are using the vote as a catalyst to get concessions to further the agendas of their current leaders.

3:45 I used the term porcupine strategy for the Sweidhs systme in the 90s.

I can't believe I found another of your channels!! Does anyone have a list with all of the them?

It is strange to hear foreigners say over and over again that Finland was neutral. I have been born in Finland, lived here my whole life, been through the schools here and been through the army but despite all that I have never heard that we were neutral. We were militarily non allied but definitely not neutral as far as I know. It sounds to me like people would be calling us southern europeans all of a sudden. I could write about this more but I think it would be waste of time. For those interested, I'll be going to birthday party of one of my relatives in couple of days who had to evacuate from southern Karjala during the wars and whose home is on the russian side of border these days. I got a lot of family from there and even more who are dead by now. Not a single word of neutrality from them either.

Sweden already started increasing defence spending back in 2014/2015. saying that they first realised the dangers of Russian with the war of 24/02-22 is just simply incorrect.

Audio is harsh on the ears brother. The high end specifically. Appreciate the content you provide.

Brilliant summary! The painful remark "Sweden's caught with its trousers down" is unfortunately spot on correct.

What a magnificently well researched episode. How any Brit digs this accurately into the pig picture of Sweden baffles me. (I’m old enough to have served on the subs). For curiosity though you missed ‘the first stealth-boat; Smyge. That too played a trick on Americans when I was in service. It also inspired the villain antagonist to James Bond in Tomorrow Never dies. Playing it off as science fiction that didn’t already exist.

It saddens me that I live in a country with more than double the Swedish population, and a significantly higher amount of natural resources, and my country doesn't even come close to fielding anything like the military prowess of Sweden. Hats off to you guys!

This video was extraordinarily well researched and accurate in both details and on the big picture. Impressive. /Swede

As a Swede I’d like to add that Sweden has a significant diplomatic corps and advanced centres for war prevention and deescalation, since no war can go on forever I think this is one of the most important parts of us joining the alliance: fostering collaboration in the prevention of war and effective deescalation

As a swede I'd like to add that the opinion on Nato has been shifting for years before the invasion, which tipped the scale totally, and we've not really been "neutral" for a long time, or ever. And I also think many Swedes see the invasion of Ukraine as a chance to do better than in WWII.

It's actually 65% public support for NATO membership in Sweden, reported today.

Small notes, we have never had a policy of neutrality. We have had a policy of non-alliance. The difference may seem inconsequential but we have many times picked sides in conflicts, we helped Finland in the winter war for example, we've also been involved in the wars in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Libya etc. We also also did create nuclear weapons, we have huge deposits of both Uranium and Plutonium and there's a lake up in northern Sweden created from our first successful nuclear bomb. The US pressured us to cancel our nuclear program.

When talking about the Leopard 2 its the number after the a that is important to focus on, it determines what level of upgrades a leopard 2 has

The formula for Swedish neutrality has actually been "Non-alliance in peacetime, neutrality in wartime", i.e. Sweden would stay our of formal alliances, and declare neutrality at such times that it concluded that peace was no longer the state of affairs around it but rather war had broken out. It did stick to this formula since 1815, but made one exception - in 1939 when Sweden decided to not declare itself neutral in the Winter War between the USSR and Finland, Sweden instead opting for supporting Finland financially and otherwise. So the Swedish decision to aid Ukraine in 2022 was unprecedented except for the 1939 aid to Finland.

Love how none-swedes try to pronounce our native words. You did well, Simon. :D

I would love to see an episode where you conduct a similar analysis of Canada's military and it's utility to NATO and/or NORAD. Canadians generally don't understand the capability, structure, and size of the Canadian Armed Forces (they overestimate it). There is ongoing debate among the political class about meeting the 2% defence spending threshold and the task to capability/capacity gap, but that debate is ill informed.

Good question

Well, SAAB is an abbreviation of Svenska AeroplanAktieBolaget, which translates to Swedish Airplane Corporation.

Sweden aircrafts are one of my favorites in Ace Combat and War Thunder.

SAAB(svenska aeroplan aktiebolaget, eng:swedish airplan company). was first producing airplanes. The cars were a way to keep production going in peacetime to easily transition into high production of aircraft in a potential war.

7:30 That's not the real workhorse of the Visby corvette, the RBS 15 anti ship missile is.

Given the great military they might bring that sounds nice. But… I’m more impressed with a native winterized military that is very motivated to do serious damage. Historically Russia just throws bodies at a problem while us isn’t the winter as a shield. That shield becomes a massive problem when add Scandinavian nations to the mix.

"today they're apparently more focused on supplying nato armies than ensuring a comfortable ride to ikea" Saab was founded to build Swedish military aircraft. the cars were built to sell off surplus parts from the aviation to begin with.

How's it goin fact boy? Have you considered doing a video on the Jas 39? It seems to be an interesting and capable piece of machinery and I'm sure many of us would love to know more, presented in the Whistler fashion.

This was a well-researched and insightful video. The budget cuts went too far and a lot of Swedes have been saying so for years. We really did loose something as a nation when conscription was halted, even if it was only for a few years. I´m glad it's up and running again.

Fun fact. The nordic generals has sign a agreement that the nordic airforce shall work as one.

After seeing how "well" Russia is doing Sweden is just icing on the NATO cake

And now we’ll be joining! 🇸🇪İsveç'ten teşekkür ederiz🇹🇷

About the airforce, it is also worth noting that we lean into our strengths throughout the armed forces. The territorial defence force (national guard, reservists, whatever you'd call them) are set up to be in the field within six hours and one of their main missions is to secure key airports. And then after that it is rigged to support air operations for a long time - support, security and maintenance out in that deep wilderness so our fly boys and girls can keep doing their job even if every single airport in Sweden is bombed into oblivion.

Sweden will bring a smörgåsbord of capabilities

Rear Earth Metal iron ore and uran is on of the areas that Sweden is the European Leader in.. ACE 2023 is a on going air exercise in the northern part of Sweden, Finland and Norway. So Swedish JAS 39 Gripen F 35 lightning F18 Hornet and more is playing war..

Just a note. 10:10. Correct nomenclature is manufacturer, model (number in this case), then nickname. The graphic got it right. Example: Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Sad no mention of the Archer during the army segment.

Geographically they provide an excellent location for the offloading, organizing and pre-deployment of troops behind any immediate front lines.

Sweden is already a member of NATO by proxy. The UK and Sweden signed an alliance, this would have had to be with the support of USA and likely other NATO countries. If anyone invades Sweden, the UK would have to intervene.

It is a minor miracle that the swedish defence industry managed to develop and thrive during time of neutrality, as often when Swedish defence industry wanted to export something it caused massive public debate as doves in Sweden under no circumstance wanted swedish weapons to actually be used anywhere for their intended purpose. Skilled politicians of all pursuasions managed to maneuver through those debate gauntlets among other by pointing to the need for Sweden as a neutral country to maintain that successful, strong, advanced and independent defence industry. Swedens neutrality hence provided a powerful impetus for a successful defence industry in spite of ”weapons” often times being a dirty word in the public debate.

i live here in sweden and for summer 2022 i went to code summer camp and we got a presentation from SAAB themselves about JAS 39 "gripen" and we even got an exclusive keychain

Kaliningrad is practically undefended. Almost all the troops are sunflower fertilizer in Ukraine

This video and most press and media fail to mention one key ability that Sweden would bring to Nato and which Nato is actually lacking in many areas. And that is diplomacy. During Sweden's decades, even centuries, of Neutrality it has managed to build up a diplomatic corps, whose experience and contacts rival that of both the US State department and UK Foreign Office. Sweden has a network of diplomatic contacts to countries, regimes and groups whom are antagonistic or out right hostile to Nato and most of its member countries. This means the Sweden has often acted as liaison and proxy for many western countries and Nato members. One example is that it is one of few countries with a working embassy in North Korea and has been vital for the US when it have come to negotiations with the regime in Pyongyang. Likewise it has many backdoor connections to different rebel groups and freedom movements around the world that Nato have lacked. In fact, Turkey's complaint and reluctance to allow Sweden to join Nato isn't because Sweden have supported Kurdish guerillas or terrorists but because it has for decades maintained diplomatic backdoor contacts with those factions. Something Turkey obviously is eager to prevent as it is in Ankara's interests to isolate their enemies and prevent them from having clear lines of communication to the rest of the world. However, such backdoor diplomacy contacts to entities to whom Nato would otherwise lack any means of communication or ways to receive vital intelligence about or even from, is a strength and ability that makes Sweden much more useful to Nato than any guns, ships or planes it would bring to the alliance.

Welcome back everyone.

He must be down in that covert for the pond my Dad was cleaning out. The other place is where the creek feeds into the pond about a few meters back into the woods. I don’t know but someone fired a bullet at me but thank god it missed. That gives a view up to here.

I didn't realize until like 10 years ago that Sweden wasn't actually a NATO member.

As Estonian i welcome our nordic brothers in to the allians!