The Swedish Gripen
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Interview: Sten Tolgfors - Minister of Defense Sweden
Sten Tolgfors is overseeing the biggest restructuring of Sweden's armed forces in modern times. Regarded as a reformer - with strong problem-solving, analytical and negotiating skills fine-tuned during his earlier stint as minister for foreign trade - Tolgfors was appointed defense minister in September 2007, after the resignation of his Swedish Moderate Party colleague Mikael Odenberg. Tolgfors' spell in the Foreign Trade Ministry became apparent soon after he arrived at the Defense Ministry, when programs designed to internationalize Sweden's armed forces were accelerated and a greater degree of economic accountability was placed on defense budgeting and spending.
Sweden's Defense profile: ■ 2009 defense budget: $5 billion (1.48 percent of gross domestic product), including $1.6 billion for procurement. ■ Major defense programs: Gripen EF fighter aircraft, Archer artillery, Visby-class corvettes and NH90 helicopters. ■ Armed forces personnel: 47,000, including 21,000 in the Army, 5,000 in the Navy, 8,000 in the Air Foce, 7,500 in command and control, and 5,500 in logistics. ■ Deployed troops: 1,000 serving on missions in Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Kosovo, the Middle East and Sudan.
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