| Tango01 | 22 Sep 2016 10:36 p.m. PST |
"For Sweden, the forward positioning of troops to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland marks such a small step – but one that will likely have a big impact on the country's national security in both the psychological and strategic sense. With the broader security and political landscape of Sweden's immediate neighborhood experiencing recent shifts, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Micael Byden, ordered 150 mechanized infantry troops undertaking an exercise on Gotland on September 14 to remain in place. Sweden's political parties had reached an agreement in 2015 to once again station troops on the strategic island starting in late 2017, but Byden opted instead to use the exercise as an opportunity to accelerate this timetable…"
More here
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Armand |
Gunfreak  | 23 Sep 2016 4:45 a.m. PST |
I knew it, time for Finland to be annexed by Sweden |
| ThePeninsularWarin15mm | 23 Sep 2016 9:05 a.m. PST |
150 is just the beginning it says, but the island would be better off as an airbase to project power and patrol the surrounding waters. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 23 Sep 2016 10:13 a.m. PST |
@Gunfreak: Gotland isn't useful for an invasion of Finland (Sweden would rather want to take Ahvenanmaa / Åland Islands as a staging area for action against Turku). Gotland is, however, conveniently situated between Sweden and Latvia, so perhaps Carl XVI Gustaf is considering starting a Second Great Northern War. |
 piper909 | 23 Sep 2016 11:04 a.m. PST |
Look out everybody, the Vikings are coming back! |
| Daniel S | 23 Sep 2016 12:32 p.m. PST |
Gotland has limited use as an air base as the island is within range of missile systems deployed in Kaliningrad. Best current choice would be a full battalion combat group supported by AA and Anti-ship missile units. (Of course a full brigade like in the good old days would be even better but that won't happen given that Sweden only has two brigades at the moment.) |
| Bunkermeister | 23 Sep 2016 3:37 p.m. PST |
Today Gotland! Tomorrow the world! And so it begins. I for one welcome our new Swedish overlords. Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog |
| Lion in the Stars | 23 Sep 2016 3:50 p.m. PST |
Put too many troops out there and it becomes an attractive target for nukes or chemicals. |
| Gunfreak | 23 Sep 2016 4:02 p.m. PST |
@ Glen, Åland is Finish, so putting swedish boots there would be an act of war. From Gotland, you can put short range missiles aimed at Helsinki. Then simply demand Finish capitulation and tada Finland is Swedish again |
| Tango01 | 23 Sep 2016 10:50 p.m. PST |
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| Mako11 | 24 Sep 2016 10:35 a.m. PST |
Would make a good, advanced, missile boat base, if those hadn't been scrapped/sold off. Ah well, hindsight is 20:20. |
| Natxoman | 26 Sep 2016 7:14 p.m. PST |
"I for one welcome our new Swedish overlords"
Well , I much prefer to welcome our new swedish overladies…
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| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 03 Oct 2016 1:56 a.m. PST |
@Gunfreak: I know Ahvenanmaa is Finnish. It's still a suitable staging area for an invasion of Turku (which the Swedes call Åbo). Missiles on Gotland can reach several countries, so if there is going to be Second Great Northern War, Sweden had better be sure no one gets the wrong message. |
