The shortage of equipment for the Swedish Defense Forces has been on the back burner for several years. The situation has not improved, even though defense appropriations have been increased.
It has been known for a long time that we have shortcomings in the distribution of equipment. I have just been ordered to hand over my basic equipment so that it can be distributed to the conscripts. That goes for my boots, shell jacket and thermos.
This is what Taiga of the Swedish Defense Forces, who trains servicemen and women, wrote on the discussion forum at the end of August.
The lack of boots, underwear and other equipment has plagued the Swedish Defense Forces for years, he says Dagens Nyheter (DN). Politicians have emphasized the importance of the issue, and defense appropriations have been increased.
But the equipment shortage continues.
That’s why the Finnish Defense Forces issued an order in August urging officers and other personnel to “use force”, i.e. hand over equipment that they rarely use to conscripts.
– We have a shortage, especially of rain gear and thermos flasks. Some of the regiments have replaced the rain gear with new windbreakers, but they don’t hold the rain very well, the equipment manager of the Servicemen’s Council Jasmine Malla tells DN.
Expressen newspaper wonders about the state of Sweden’s defense in his editorial and assesses the equipment shortage as the reason that equipment purchases must be tendered as public procurements.
The security situation is serious, Sweden stands on the threshold of NATO, but – and this is alarming – we are still living in a time of peace. The lack of boots and warm coats in the defense forces is not due to the war, Expressen writes.
The Defense Forces are scheduled to adopt new military uniforms at the end of next year. However, they do not include gloves, footwear or headgear.
– It is intolerable that important equipment such as helmets, body armor and boots cause chafing, muscle sores and stress injuries because they are unergonomic, points out Jasmine Malla.
Problems are also caused by the fact that the defense forces procure the same basic equipment for all conscripts and soldiers, whether they serve in Skåne in the south or Arvidsjaur in the north. DN wrote for a year already then, that in Norway the jaegers bought their winter uniforms with their own money.
Vääpeli Taiga, who wrote on the discussion forum of the Defense Forces, thinks that it is pointless in Sweden to laugh at the weak equipment of the Russian army.
How can we make decisions in war if we are this miserable in peacetime? I have no confidence in the system or that we can solve the problem with our current organization.