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Military power of Sweden & United Kingdom

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Sweden vs United Kingdom

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Sweden United Kingdom

Sweden is a country located in Northern Europe with an area of 450,295 km2 (land boundries: 2,211 km and costline 3,218 km). The capital of Sweden is Stockholm. The number of inhabitants is 10,385,347.

The Swedish military cooperates closely with the military forces of other Nordic countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO), which consists olso of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway. Sweden is a signatory of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy and contributes to CSDP missions and operations. In 2022 Sweden applied for NATO membership and was formally invited to join the alliance at the NATO Summit in Madrid. The inventory of the SAF is comprised of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems. The United States is the leading supplier of military hardware.

More about Sweden military

United Kingdom is a country located in Western Europe with an area of 242,495 km2 (land boundries: 499 km and costline 12,429 km). The capital of United Kingdom is London. The number of inhabitants is 67,886,004.

the UK is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The UK is also a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements reached in 1971 embracing also Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore. The inventory of the British military is comprised of a mix of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems. The Uunited States is the leading supplier of armaments. United Kingdom defense industry is capable of producing a wide variety of weapons systems and is one of the world's top weapons suppliers.

More about United Kingdom military

If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

small flag SE
small flag GB

Military budget

+
12 billion $
75 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
2 %
2.3 %

Manpower

small flag SE
small flag GB

Active personnel

+
23,600
148,220

Reserve personnel

+
31,300
37,000

Available for military

+
2,065,782
14,856,917

Land Forces

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small flag GB
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Tanks

+
121
272
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
2,071
4,338
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Total artillery

+
268
238
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Self-propelled artillery

+
48
71
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Rocket artillery

+
0
41

Air Forces

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small flag GB
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Total aircraft

+
207
869
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Fighter

+
0
107
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Multirole

+
94
33
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Attack

+
0
0
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Helicopters

+
53
269
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
0
10

Navy

small flag SE
small flag GB
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Total naval

+
186
111
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Aircraft carriers

+
0
2
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Destroyers

+
0
6
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Frigates

+
0
9
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Corvettes

+
7
0
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Submarines

+
5
10

Nuclear weapons

Sweden

Does not have nuclear weapons.

United Kingdom

Third out of fifth nuclear-weapon states that are under the NPT, the treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The first successful test in the nuclear history of Great Britain occurred in October 1952, three years after Russia’s first successful attempt. “Hurricane”, which was the codename for the test assumed the use of 3 megaton bomb, which was dropped in Australia. The UK itself did not have many tests after that. Comparing to a thousand and hundreds of tests by Americans and Russians, the Brits made only 45 tests of nuclear arsenal.

We should remember about the fact that United Kingdom was in a strict cooperation with United States at the very beginning. It means that we cannot forget about the tremendous help the Americans received from the British government and men of science while developing their first nuclear bomb. Unfortunately, all the data that USA could not be sent back to the UK, since the cooperation has ended prematurely. This was one of the reasons why UK developed their first nuclear weapon so late. At this moment, they possess 215 warheads in total, out of which 120 is deployed and completely operational.

Military service

Sweden

18-47 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; Swedish citizenship required; service obligation: 7.5 months (Army), 7-15 months (Navy), 8-12 months (Air Force); the Swedish Parliament has abolished compulsory military service, with exclusively voluntary recruitment as of July 2010; conscription remains an option in emergencies; after completing initial service, soldiers have a reserve commitment until age 47.

United Kingdom

16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); no conscription; women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens.