Whiskey on the Rocks, The Soviet-Swedish War of 1981
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AMH-5540 Modern Western Military History
University of South Florida
Professor John Smith
April 23 2020
This is a reading of the material cover in class. The First few minutes are not covered because they deal with house keep and attended.
Class today we are covering the Soviet-Swedish War of 1981, which is a part of the wider Cold War which we have been covering for the past few weeks. Though never officially a war, since neither side officially declared war against each other, it was war in all but name. The Swedish-Soviet War saw the highest casualty rate every seen outside the Indian-Pakistan War of 1999 in the short wars of the late 20th century and early 21st century. The war started on October 27 1981 and lasted till a UN back cease fire when into effect on November 1 less than a week later.
It lasted a total of six days, not even a week, but it was those six days that brought a world to a halt. Many of you are too young to remember the war, or even the after math of it. But let me say this, as a young sergeant with 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment which was stationed inside West Germany, this war put everyone was one edge. It was the only time that US forces within Germany had ever been on DEFCON 2 alert. Everyone from the lowest private to the highest general believed it was only a matter of time before Ivan and the Warsaw Pact would kick off World War 3 and come across the Fulda Gap, with thousands of tanks and APCs.
To this day we don't know who fired the first shots of the war at the Battle of Karlskrona, but is what we do know for sure. The Soviet submarine S-363 an old Whiskey class submarine that was on a reconnaissance mission ran aground just outside the main Swedish naval base at Karlskrona in the early morning hours of October 27 1981. It surface soon after. This was well within Swedish territory waters, and the Swedish soon learned of this breach of neutrality.
Soon after this, the Swedish Navy sent out an unarmed officer to speak to captain of the S-363. The captain of the S-363 claimed his boat had simultaneous failures of his navigational equipment, despite the fact he had to cleared a series of treacherous rocks, straits, and island to get to where he was. The Swedish Navy then offered to help S-363 leave the area, which was turned down by the captain of the S-363. After this meeting both the Swedish officer and the captain of the S-363 radio higher headquarters to let them know what was happing.
After the radio message the Soviet Baltic Fleet put together a large rescue task force to help the S-363. This task force was made up of ocean going tug boats, destroyers, and frigates. The increase radio traffic was picked up by a Swedish Air Force Caravelle ELINT aircraft. Then a Saab 105 light attack aircraft visually spotted this task force in international waters. This information was quickly passed on to then Swedish Prime Minister Thorbjorn Falldin. On learning of the Soviet Task Force he gave his famous "Hold the Border" order.
Once the "Hold the Border" order reached all of the Swedish military units, they when on to high alert. The Air Force armed their strike fighters with their most advance anti-ship missiles, and their fighters with anti-air weapons. Their anti-ship batteries were fully man, and their radars were turned on operating on peace time single band frequency.
At 17:31 hours local time, the Soviet task force reached the 12mile territorial limit of Swedish waters, at which time the Swedish radar operators when to their war time radar frequency hopping mode. We don't know if this was to scare the Soviets away or if they were getting ready fire on the Soviets. As I said before no one knows who fired first.
But as the first missiles was launched all sides started to fire more missiles. Aircraft from both sides were scrambled to cover their brothers in arms. It ended minutes later the Soviet Fleet withdrew with heavy losses. But the Soviets also gave it back to the Swedish. But it was the Swedish who were the clear winners at Karlskrona. The Swedish lost 3 radar sites, a missiles battery, and four mobile gun batteries. The Soviets lost a Kashin Class destroyer with all hands when her magazine blew. The Soviets also lost 2 Mirka Class frigates, a pair of their ocean going tugs, and five more ships were damage to one degree or another.
The first sign of trouble was picked up by an USAF E-3 Sentry orbiting near Hamburg. The crew of the E-3 picked up the sortie of Swedish Air Force around 0921 local time. The crew of E-3 were trying to make since of the Swedish sortie. When they radio in to command about the Swedish sortie, they were order to fly north and take up an orbit near Copenhagen to learn more about this Swedish sortie. They were met in route to their new station by a pair Danish Air Force F-16s. What they were about to watch on their radar scopes was the first meeting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Forces or the war.
The Swedish had sortie their Saab 37 Viggen fighters. They were either with Shyflash and SIdewinder missiles. They also sent in their Saab 35 Draken fighters, but with this one they kept a squadron in reserve in case the Soviets did something else. They also held back their attack for Saab 37 and 105 aircraft. They Swedish didn't want this to turn into a war, so they were taking defense measures only. The Soviets sent in fighters to cover the withdraw of their fleet, as they got ready for a counter strike against Sweden. These aircraft included the MiG-25 Foxbat, Mig-21 Fishbed, and the Su-15 Flagon.
Now it should be noted what rules of engagement each side was operating under. The Swedish had told their pilots, that they were not to fire unless fired on. As I said before, the Swedish had no wish of turning this naval skirmish into a full scale war. The Soviets on the other hand, were to say it plainly being dicks. The Soviets who were flying were told, if it looked like the Swedish were a threat to blow them out of the sky.
At 0948 local time, the Soviets when active with their targeting radars. This cause the Swedish pilots to start a series of rapid maneuvers to break this radar lock. The Soviets taken these rapid maneuvers to be a threat, fired a salvo of their AA-3 Anab and AA-6 Acrid medium to long range air-to-air missiles. As the Swedish pilots realize they were under fire, they returned fired. They also radio high headquaters to let them know what was going on.
Then the Soviet Navy joined into the fray. They started to launch their surface to air missiles. But they failed to take the time to pick out friend from foe in the airspace above them. This fact so when after the war, it was shown the Soviets downed more of their own aircraft in this battle than Swedish.
In this first meeting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Forces, it showed to schools of thought. The Soviets believed in large ground control networks to control their fighters. The Swedish on the other hand believe in give their pilots the initiative. In this first meeting, the Swedish Air Force score a 4 to 1 kill ratio over the Soviets. 18 planes were also downed by SAM missiles, but 11 of these were Soviets.
As all of this was happing the S-363 which had cause all of this, was being boarded by a team from the Swedish Army. The Soviet sailors fought the Swedish off long enough to set off the scuttling charges within the S-363. This killed most everyone on board the boat at the time. Only 2 Swedish soldiers and 3 Soviet sailors came out alive, badly wounded but alive.
The shocked crew of the E-3 Sentry couldn't believe what they were watching on their scopes. They were relaying this information in real time to NATO command in Brussels. Who in turn passed this information on to Washington, London, and Paris.
As both the Swedish and Soviets forces withdrew from the Battle of Karlskrona, both sides were figuring out where to go from there. For the Swedish, all they cared about was maintaining the border And they might of been willing to agree to a cease fire with the Soviets and work out the problems in front of the United Nations in New York. But Swedish government did issued a new ROE for their military. Any Soviet military aircraft or ship found inside Swedish territory was now free game and they could fire without warning. Outside Swedish territory, their military was only to fire if fire on.
Some had said over the years, if the Swedish had kept to their ROE of only fire, if fired on, for all of their military forces this could kept the war from blowing up like it did. I say these people refuse to look at the cold hard facts of what happen next in the war.
The Soviets, they wanted to so they were the masters of the Baltic. And with the losses they took in the Battle of Karlskrona, showed they were weak something the Soviets didn't want. At 1632 Leonid Brezhnev order two squadron of Tu-16 bombers armed with anti-shipping missiles to take off and sink the Swedish Navy. Brezhnev also ordered the submarines of the Baltic Fleet to attack Swedish warships.
As this was going on, news of the Battle of Karlskrona was reaching President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and President Francois Mitterrand. The three nuclear leaders of NATO were worried about what the Soviets were doing in the Baltic and Sweden. But since neither government had any kind of defense treaty with Sweden, they could do nothing more than offer support to Sweden. And put limited pressure on the Soviets to back down. But they also took steps to keep from being caught with their pants down. Reagan put his strategic force on DEFCON 3 alert, and the rest of the US military on DEFCON 4 alert. The British and French followed suit and raised their threat levels.
When the two Squadron of Tu-16 were taking off the Soviet Submarine B-103, a Foxtrot class submarine ran across the Swedish submarine HMS Sjoormen. We only have a general idea of what between the two submarines, because both were lost with all hands turning the course of the war. But what we do know is HMS Sjoormen was on patrol in the Baltic, and knew of the current ROE for the Swedish military. The B-103 also knew of their orders from what we know. We believed the B-103 was able to fired first and one of the torpedoes it fired found the HMS Sjoormen.
But with radar warning of the incoming Tu-16 squadrons, Swedish fighter once again took off, to fly CAP for their navy, which was inside Swedish waters. The two squadrons of Tu-16s were guided by a single Tu-95 maritime reconnaissance plane. At a range of 70 kilometers, the radars on the Tu-95 went active. Seconds later with the targeting information plugged into the 32 AS-6 Kingfisher missiles carried by the squadron of Tu-16. Moments later all 32 AS-6 Kingfisher were fired at the Swedish navy up and down the Baltic.
With the Tu-16s well out of range, the bulk of Swedish fighters fired their Skyflash missiles at the AS-6 Kingfishers missiles with the hopes of downing the Kingfishers. This was not a mission the Skyflash were designed for, and it showed. Only 3 of the AS-6 Kingfishers were downed out the 60 Skyflash missiles that were fired that day. The four Ostergotland class destroyers were equipped with the Sea Cat SAM system, but other than this the Swedish navy had no SAMs to fight off the AS-6 Kingfishers. The four Ostergotland fired their Sea Cat missiles, in the hope of downing the Kingfishers, they downed two.
What happened next has been called the death of the old Swedish Surface Navy. All of the destroyers in the Swedish Navy took multi hits by the Kingfisher missiles fired that day. Only HMS Gastrikland was able to return port. One of its Sea Cat missiles was able to down on of the Kingfishers. Of the two that made it past the Sea Cat missiles, one of the two Kingfishers fail to explosive, which was the only thing save the ship from sinking on that day. But she was to damaged to be repaired and she was scrapped after the war ended. But most of the destroyers in the Swedish Navy when down with all hands. Only 93 Swedish sailors that were not onboard HMS Gastrikland lived to see another day.
After the raid by Tu-16s, the Swedish changed their ROE once again. Every Soviet ship and airplane in the Baltic was now a target for the Swedish air force and the submarines of the navy. They were royally pissed off at the Soviets, is the only words that comes to mind to state the Swedish state of mind after the death of the old Swedish surface navy. The Swedish booted the whole Soviet diplomatic mission to Sweden out of their nation. They declared the Soviet ambassador a persona non grata. Then they recall their diplomatic staff and ambassador from the Soviet Union. The Soviets soon after declared the Swedish ambassador a persona non grata.
For the rest of the night and in to the next morning there was only a few small dog fights between the Swedish and Soviet Air Force. For the first time since the end of the World War 2, all passenger traffic on and over the Baltic sea came to a stop. All ships on the Baltic made for the nearest friendly port for fear of being caught in the cross fire.
Then the Swedish submarine HMS Nacken started its famous war patrol. In the early morning hours of 28 found the old Foxtrot class submarine B-103. At this time no one knew the HMS Sjoormen, but she would be avenged. The crew of HMS Nacken fired of a signle torpedo which found and sunk the B-103. This was the first victory for the Nacken, but by no means the last victory for the Nacken.
Mean time at the UN headquarters in New York City, the Soviet Ambassador there delivered a message to the Swedish Ambassador. To this day, we do not know what this message said, but its been reported by multi people who worked in the United Nations in 1981, that the Swedish Ambassador told the Soviet Ambassador to go straight to hell with that message. But the general believe is the Soviet message, said the Swedish government would pay for all the damage cause so far to the Soviet military as well of given other economic measures that would help the Soviets.
At the same time this was going on, President Reagan order the air force to get ready to perform an Operation Nickel Grass like operation to resupply the Swedish incase this when on for any length of time. Reagan didn't want to see the Swedish fold to Soviet pressure. Reagan also ordered the CIA to help out any way possible, short of getting the US in the middle of this pissing match.
The 28 for most part was a low in the action. Mostly it was small scale dog fighting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Force. There was also the naval side, HMS Nacken sank a Whiskey class submarine in the early afternoon. Another Whiskey submarine was sunk by HMS Sjohunden. But this low, would only last this day only, on the 29 the war would chance yet again.
As the Soviets realize the Swedish were not going to back down, the Soviets decided to strike Swedish Naval and Air Bases. They hoped this would force the Swedish to back down and take Soviet terms. They made the call to use their ageing fleet of Il-28s and Tu-16s to keep this from looking like a massive strike on NATO. But in all told the Soviets sortie over 100 bombers in the early morning hours of the 29, with a fighter escort over 400 hundred fighters.
As Swedish radar picked up the incoming the raid and saw the size of the raid, the Swedish order every fighter into the air to defend Sweden. As the Swedish Air Force formed up in the early hours of the 29, the Saab 37 were order to clear a path for all of the other fighters that were taking off on this massive sortie. With the scale of this raid, it forced the Swedish Air Force to place all of its front line fighters into the air. For the Swedish, if they lost the war would be over.
When the two sides meet over the Baltic in the early morning hours they started the Bar Room Brawl. The Bar Room Brawl was the largest dog fight or the war. The Swedish had more kills than the Soviets in this dog fight, but the Soviets had far more in numbers. It was through numbers alone, that allow the Soviets to reach their targets. The Swedish Air Force gave as good as it caught, but it wasn't enough. In the course of the battle they lost 25% of its remaining straight in the fight. Soviet losses in the Bar Room Brawl was even worse than the Swedish, taken a loss of 41% the aircraft flown in this mission. The Famous Swedish fighter pilot Bengt Olausson who just retired after serving as the chief of staff for the Swedish Air Force said after he landed his Saab 37 fighter, "It was a bar room brawl in dawn light.." This is what give the dog fighter its name in later years. In Bar Room Brawl over three hundred aircraft of all sides were shot down.
Olausson would go on to finish the war with 29 air to air kills against the Soviets, the second highest scoring ace of the Swedish Air Force of the war. And highest scoring ace to see the end of the war.
But thanks to effort of the Swedish Air Force the bombing by the Soviets did not had the effect the Soviets hoped for. All but one of the Swedish air force bases would be operation within 12 hours of the raid.
The Bar Room Brawl change the course of the war with again. The Swedish began a total mobilization. They started to bring out of storage old Saab 32 and 29 fighters. They even armed their Saab 105 in their training squadrons with AIM-9 Sidewinder to help make up for the losses in the front line fighter units. The Swedish were not about to bow down to Soviet terms, and they were doing everything they could to keep their air force in the fight.
Leonid Brezhnev, decided to show the Swedish that they could be crushed after the Bar Room Brawl. He ordered an Airborne Division to take Gotland. He believe one Gotland was under Soviet control, the Swedish would come to the peace table, and agree to Soviet terms. Since this type of operation would take a day or two to get ready, he spent the rest of the day working on were terms he would give the Swedish. No one knows what these terms would been, because they were lost in the aftermath of the war, but the general believe is they would make Versailles look like a fair peace treaty.
In the meant the US, UK, France, and PRC all order the boomers to put to sea. There were a number of case in the American and British navy of the Blue and Gold crew mixing because of the quick orders to put to sea with all possible haste. America Strategic and forces within Germany went to DEFCON 2, and all other American force when to DEFCON 3 alert. The British, French and Chinese all follow suit with higher states of alert.
Reagan also order the start of Operation Freedom Ring to start. Freedom Ring was a massive airlift of military equipment that the US was given Sweden in her time of need. But unlike Operation Nickel Grass of eight years prior, Freedom Ring was more design to improve the anti-air abilities of the Swedish. Some notable equipment the Americans gave the Swedish, is the M247 Sergeant York Anti-Aircraft vehicle. There was only one prototype that was being tested. The M247 would prove to be a total failure, and the program was cancel soon after the war ended. But other equipment would prove much more useful to the Swedish, such as the MIM-23 Hawk, FIM-43 Redeye, and FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missile systems. The American also send in 400 plus air-to-air missiles to help the Swedish. Because by the 29, even thought the air war between Sweden and the Soviet Union had been going on for three days, the Swedish Air Force had used or loss in combat 45% of its total pre-war air-to-air missile stock. The British also took part in Operation Freedom Ring. The British sent on to Sweden 100 air-to-air missiles. The Brits also sent on Blowpipe MANPADS system to the Swedish army.
As this was going on, the NSA satellite KH-14 was making a pass over the Soviet Union. It saw the airfield used by the 76th Guard Airborne Division preparing for a massive operation. This important moved at speed not normally seen by intelligence agency, and was bring shown to President Reagan only 3 hours later. This information was them passed on to Sweden 30 minutes after that.
The race was on.
But it needs to be noted that Operation Freedom Ring, wasn't the only military assistance operation to Sweden during the war. The Danish gave the Swedish 27 F-100D Super Sabre fighters. The F-100 was due to be retired by the Danish Air Force the following year, and there for the Danish were willing to give them up. The Swedish couldn't train any of their pilots quickly enough to fly the Super Sabres in the war. But in the aftermath they would give the Swedish a fighter would be a stop gap till they could get more advance fighters into their front line units. The Swedish wouldn't retire the Super Sabre till 1991.
Now I know there had been talk over the years, that if the Danish gave the Swedish their Saab 35, the Swedish had been able to down even more Soviet fighters. Now you have to understand at the time, many in NATO thought the Soviet would be crossing the Fulda Gap at any time. And they didn't want to give up anything more advance aircraft out of the fear they would need them shortly. But the F-100 Super Saber was still able to go toe to toe with the MiG-21s, MiG-25s, and Su-15 the Soviets were using. The MiG-21 was only a few years older in design than the F-100. The MiG-25 and Su-15 was a high speed fighter interceptor that had no business trying to dog fight.
The French also send on a dozen Dassault Mirage III fighters to Sweden. They also send four Roland 1 launchers and 60 missiles for these launchers. Like the Danish F-100s, the Mirage IIIs wouldn't see combat in the war and would play the same role as the F-100s. The Swedish wouldn't retired their Mirage IIIs till 1994. But the Roland 1 launchers were put to use within the war defending Swedish air fields and naval bases. They would claim a total of 14 Soviet aircraft in the remaining days of the war.
But there was another thing that no one accounted for when this war start. That was the possibly of Soviet pilots defecting to the west. Ever since Viktor Belenko flew his MiG-25 to Japan and defected to America, the Soviets had limited the gas they had given to pilots so they couldn't defect to the west. But after the Brawl Room Bar, Major Ivan Paechnik, who had been passed over promotion in 1980, and had just been given the news his wife had died in labor decided to defect to the west. He was leading a flight of four Su-24s to attack the Swedish Naval Base at Karlskrona in a follow on attack. Sometime turning this flight, he pulled out a small hand gun and killed his weapon system operator. He then broke hard as the flight made its run at Karlskrona. He started his run to freedom.
Paechnik's Su-24 was picked up by a USAF E-3 in orbit over Copenhagen at a range of 70 miles. The Danish scambled six of their new F-16 to pick up this lost Su-24, and need be shoot it down. Somehow Paechnik was about to let the Danish know he was defecting, at which point the F-16s began to escort Paechnik's Su-24, yet at the same stood by to shoot him down in case he decided to do something other than defecting. He landed at the main Danish Air Force Base outside Copenhagen, with his bombs still on the pylons. The four AS-10 Karen missile on Paechnik's Su-24 gave the NATO a good look at what Soviet smart weapon technology looked like in the early 80s. The Su-24 also gave up many technology secrets before be handed back to the Soviets in mid 82 in 34 crates, along with the body of the weapon system operator. Paechnik was tried by the Soviets in absentia, and sentence to death. Paechnik did spend two years in a low security prison in the US for the murder of his weapon system operator , before be given his freedom and US citizenship.
Paechnik's defecting was the only defecting till the last day of the war, when Junior Lieutenant Victor Krotkov flew his Su-17 to the same base that Paechnik had landed add days before. But unlike Paechnik, Krotkov was given US citizenship and his freedom right away. The two AS-11 Kilter and two AA-8 Aphid missiles gave the NATO power an even better understand of Soviet smart weapons, and so a way to counter them. The Su-17 also gave up its own secrets as the NATO took it apart for information.
HMS Nacken by the 30th, had an outstanding war patrol by any book. She had sunk two Whiskey Class, a Foxtrot Class, a Romeo Class submarine, a Zulu Class submarine and a Grisha class corvette. But by this stage in the war HMS Nacken only had six torpedoes left, but she had a lot of fight left in her.
HMS Nacken was on patrol near Gotland, to counter a possible amphibious landed by the Soviets. This would prove to be a stoke of good luck for Sweden in her time of need. The Soviets had plan to land an armor regiment of T-62 tanks to support the 76th Guard Airborne Division in their mission to take Gotland. HMS Nacken found this sufrace task force which was made up of the following: 3 Alligator Class LSTs, 4 Ropucha Class LSTs, and 4 Grisha class corvettes acting as escorts.
The captain of HMS Nacken knew when he saw this surface task force that this could only be a landing force to take Gotland. So at great risk to his submarine, he moved his submarine to fire at the LSTs of this task force. He detail two torpedoes to each ship, then he fired all six of his remaining torpedoes at 2 Alligator and one of the Ropucha LSTs in under a minute.. He then took his boat to right off the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
The sounds of six torpedoes in the water got all four Grishas to take notice that a submarine was in the area. They began firing their RBU rockets, and what would became the heavy use of the weapons in the war. The main problem with the Grishas and RBUs was the elections used. The RBUs were unguided weapons, and the Grishas sonar was well behind the standards used in Western navies. Even with HMS Nacken driving at flank speed, they could barley pick her up. When they returned to their escort screen positions 25 minutes later, they had fired off over 300 RBU rockets, and not the first one hit HMS Nacken. They caused a lot of shock damage on the Nacken, but the Nacken was able to return port where she would spend the rest of the war.
But the six torpedoes fired by HMS Nacken ran hot straight and true. They sank one Alligator and the Ropucha LST, and caused so much damaged on the other Alligator that she sunk after hits by a single 500 pound bomb from a group of seven Saab 105 attack planes sent after the surface task force. They missed the main task force, but they found the damaged Alligator and the single Grisha left behind to escort it back home. The seven Saab 105 attack birds also sunk the Grisha but at the cost of two of Saab 1005 sent after it, and a third Saab 105 damaged.
But as the battle for control of the Sea was on going, the battle for control of the air was also on going. The Soviets launched the transports of the 76th Guards Airborne Division, with a fighter escort of over 400 planes. This was the second biggest dog fight of the war, after the Bar Room Brawl. If the Swedish Air Force would of been the same size when the war started on the 27th, this dog fight would been even larger, but the Swedish Air Force was down to about 55% of its pre war strength, and it through everything it had into this battle. And when I say everything, I mean everything. It was basically if it could carry a Sidewinder it was thrown into battle.
In this dog fight, the Swedish didn't worry about the Soviet fighters, and only shot them down when they had no choice but to shoot the Soviet fighters down. Their targets were the Soviet transports being used to bring in the 76th Guard Airborne Division.
Each side took their licks in this battle, but at a range of five miles off the coast of Gotland, what was left of the Swedish Air Force broke off from battle. The Swedish Air Force was now down to 43% of its pre war strength, but the Swedish Army was about to help out and thin the ranks of the Soviet Air Force.
Since the war had started, the home guard on Gotland had been mobilization. Even the home guard cadets were doing what they could to help the older men in case the Soviets came to Gotland. The air force had been using their C-130s and transport helicopters to move the Livregementets husarer (cavalry) and Luftvarnsregement(anti-air) regiments out to Gotland to help defend her from the Soviets. So far the Soviets had been keeping away from Gotland, to keep away from the possibly of SAM batteries station there. Once the Swedish Air Force broke off at the five mile limit, this was proven to be a wise call.
As the Swedish Air Force broke away, the operators of the MIM-23 Hawk radar systems flipped on their radars. Seconds later when given the weapons free command they began to fire at the Soviets. A few hit Soviet fighters by mistake. The Hawk missile operators had been told to take out the transports, and they did that, and when the fighter escorts came in to attack the Hawk radar systems, they were in for a rude shock.
The Swedish had a large number of FIM-43 Red Eye missiles, and a very small number of the new FIM-92 Stinger missiles they had been given to them by the Americans, as well as the Blowpipe missiles by the British. These MANPADS systems ate into the fighter-bombers that came in that day. But the Soviets also did manage to knock out about quarter of the Hawk Radar systems on Gotland in the first day of the land war.
By the time the first Soviet paratrooper's boot touched the ground, the losses taken by the 76th Guards Airborne Division were high. About 40% of the division was lost to Swedish fighters and Hawk missiles. Then in a stroke of good luck for the Swedish, later that day, they shot down the division commanders' Mi-17 Hip transport helicopter with a Blowpipe missile, as it tried to land in a LZ control by the men of the 76th Guard Division. This lost of command would affect the 76th till the last day of the war, till the new commander was able to reach Gotland only hours before the cease fire.
The Hell of Gotland had just begun and would last till the end of the war on the first of November.
As this was going on, high stakes talks were on going on at the UN headquarters in New York City. These talks were very heated for all sides. Finally in the early hours of the 31st of October the four permanent members of the security council that were not taking part in the war put forward a very fair cease fight agreement for both sides.
This cease fire agreement, would require both the Soviet and Swedish warships to put into harbor for a period of two weeks. It should be noted, that this cease fire agreement was agreed on by the Soviets and Swedish on the first of November to end the war, would had only effected the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Neither side would sortie any military aircraft into the Baltic for this two week period. A third party nation (Finland) would be used to remove the Soviet troops on Gotland and return them to the Soviet Union. This was to be done within 72 hours of the cease fire agreement going into effect. As the cease fire was in effect both size would be take part in seven nation talks to forge a peace treaty. The other three nations, that were agreed on were India, Brazil, and Japan.
But only 30 years after the fact are we starting to learn the truth of why the Soviets didn't agree to these terms for a cease fire on the 31st. Much of it has to do with the timely death of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. We don't know if he stuffed a heart attack like, (redacted) said, or in fact he was killed by (redacted). But whatever the reason, the blood would keep flowing for about another 39 hours before the cease fire was agreed to.
As the Soviets refuse to agree to a cease fire, Gotland was fast became hell on Earth. Even with the fact 40% of the 76th Guard Airborne Division had been destroyed even before, a single paratrooper touched ground, and with no one landing in the LZ they were putting up one hell of a fight. Finally about four hours into the hell that was Gotland, a battalion size unit of Soviet paratroopers finally formed up.
It was this area were the division commander of the 76th tried to land late on the 30th, only to be shot down by a MANPADS. The MANPADS was to prove the key weapon in the Battle of Gotland. Both sides had them. The Soviets were equipped with SA-7 and SA-14 launchers, and the Swedish were equipped with the FIM-43 Red Eye, FIM-92 Stringers, and Blowpipe missiles systems. These missile downed close air support aircraft launched by both the Swedish and Soviets in alarming numbers.
As it looked like the Swedes were getting the upper hand in the Battle of Gotland, the four remaining LSTs from the Soviet surface task force landed on Gotland. What limited artillery the Swedish had on Gotland, shifted fire from the battalion of paratroops that had been able to form up to the bridgehead the Soviets were forming on the east side of the island.
In armor warfare, the Centurion tanks used by the Swedish Army would prove to be more than a match for the Soviet T-62 main battle tank. The Swedish by the end of the war would have a six to one kill ratio in the ground war. The reason is simple, the two tanks used on Gotland matched up very evenly on paper, but what made the difference was the training the two nations put into training their troops. The Swedes more far more time and money into training than the Soviets, and it showed.
But because the Soviet Paratroopers were dropped all over of Gotland, there wasn't any part of the island left untouched by the battle. In a number of places, combat was hand to hand, with at least one case of a 55 man who retired from the army a few years before, picking up an AK-47 off a dead Soviet paratrooper who's parachute didn't open and killing at least five Soviet paratroopers, with one of those being with the bayonet of the AK.
But the Battle of Gotland, saw a large number of civilian deaths. Before Gotland, only a small number of Swedish civilians had died in this war. The Swedish government did everything it could to remove children and the elder from Gotland before it became hell on Earth. Even using its C-130s on the return flights to get the children off the island. But it wasn't enough. At 2231 local time, a flight of four Su-17 carrying a mix load of general purpose bombs and napalm, attacked a shelter being used to house most of the remaining children on Gotland. Over 500 children died that night.
The news of the shelter that was housing the children being bombed spread like wild fire. This filled the Swedish troops on Gotland with rage. And they began to fight ever harder than before. But all told, over 1,500 civilians died in the Battle of Gotland.
When the cease fire was broadcast on all radio nets at 1348 local time, Gotland had become a wasteland of high tech weapons and bodies of the dead. The 76th Guards Airborne Division as a fighting unit was finish, with only 27% of soldiers of the Division still being combat effect. The armor regiment, was in even worse shape than the paratroopers. They had a told of 9 combat effect tanks left on Gotland. The Swedish also took their licks. They were down to only 59% combat effect troops on Gotland. And it should be noted that combat effect, is troops who could still fight. About 5% of these number included walked wounded.
In Moscow sometime on the first of November, Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev died. To this day we don't know if it was a heart attack like, Mikhail Gorbachev said it was, or it he was killed by Gorbachev who was working with the KGB. As more evidence comes to light, it looks like it was a coup d'état by Gorbachev with the backing of the KGB. But we must take the time to look at each piece of evidence that comes to light, and go over with it a fine tooth come.
But it is known that a number of full and junior members of the Politburo were forced into retirement soon after Gorbachev came to power. This brought in a young group of communist party members, who is given the credit to helping the Soviet Union to turn itself economically later in the 80s. But this is for another class.
The first thing Gorbachev did was telephone Soviet Ambassador to the UN Ambassador Oleg Troyanovsky to agree to the cease fire agreement with Sweden that had been put forward on the 31st. Then Gorbachev ordered the military of the Soviet Union to follow the cease fire, and recall the Baltic Fleet and all aircraft currently over the Baltic.
The Swedish agreed to the cease fire. They were tried, and knew they had no hope of beating the Soviets.
In the course of the Soviet-Swedish War of 1981, showed military planners that a number of ideas of their work or didn't work. The main one was the level of munitions expenditure is much high than anyone thought. The Swedish, even with the missiles given to them by NATO nations, only had enough air-to-air missiles for two or three more days of combat. The Soviets have never issued any hard numbers on the munitions expenditure of its forces turning the war, but it has been reported they when on a crash building program after the war was over to rebuild their stocks.
It also show the attack helicopters such as the Mi-24 Hind were very vulnerable to MANPADS systems and fighter aircraft. This showed that you needed heavier armor than you could put on a helicopter. It also clearly show that a modern air force couldn't take control of the sky if they are facing off against a modern air force. Once Swedish pilot after the war, his name was lost to the pages of history that during the war, the sky only being to the dead. This statement was very true, even when the Swedish Air Force was down to a faction of its pre-war size, the Soviets couldn't gain control of the skies.
On the naval front, the patrol of HMS Nacken showed older naval units had no business in combat. All of the diesel submarines sunk by HMS Nacken was over 20 years old, and not the first one had ever seen an refit. Only one of the submarine sunk in the war had been commissioned in the past five years. It show that fire control and sonar systems were keys in a modern navy.
The Soviet-Swedish War of 1981 was one of the deadest in modern history. In six days over 35,000 people died. Most of these deaths were because of the Battle of Gotland.
The Treaty of Berlin which ended the war was signed in early 1982. In the treaty, the SOviet admitted the S-363, which was the submarine that touched off the war, was order into Swedish territorial waters, and was caught. The treaty also made it clear were the Swedish EZE and territory bounties as well as the Soviet's were. The Soviets agreed to pay 75,000 US dollars per each civilian who died turning the course of the war. But the sticking point in the treaty was that of POWs. The Soviets only held 21 Swedish POWs, where the Swedish held close to 600. 99 of these POWs held by Sweden asked for asylum in the west. The Soviets wanted everyone of their POW forced back to the Soviet Union. After some work, a team made of Indian, Japanese, and Brazilian diplomatic meet with the POWs on both sides. They found that the 99 Soviet POWs who asked for asylum wanted to stay in the west of their own free will. So the Soviets gave in on the point, with the damage it had done to itself in the war, it couldn't afford more damage.
In the after math of the war Sweden, started the path to join NATO. Sweden did join NATO in 1985. It also started to rebuild it's broken air force and navy to NATO levels. They became only the third nations, after the US and Iran to operator the F-14 Tomcat fighter. They also became a very focus on submarine warfare. But they did operator a pair of Charles F Adams destroyers for some time, before buying into the British Type 23 frigate program in the early 90s.
The Soviet-Swedish War also caused a shake up within the Soviet Union. This shake up was on all levels. Gorbachev who knew the Soviet economic couldn't keep going on like it was, started a system like the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. He started to reform the Soviet system so it could feed itself. At the same time, he started a whole sell retirement of military officers he thought cause the Soviet-Swedish War. He also told the military to start retiring old equipment, this was don't because in the war the new Swedish equipment had ran circles out the old Soviet equipment. He then sold this equipment to third world nations who were more than willing to buy this old equipment for their own uses.
At the same time he started a new path for the Soviets in Afghanistan. This would lead to the Black War that would spread to other areas in Eastern Europe in the mid 80s. But the Black War is for next class.
[thread=244791]Discussion thread here.[/thread]
AMH-5540 Modern Western Military History
University of South Florida
Professor John Smith
April 23 2020
This is a reading of the material cover in class. The First few minutes are not covered because they deal with house keep and attended.
Class today we are covering the Soviet-Swedish War of 1981, which is a part of the wider Cold War which we have been covering for the past few weeks. Though never officially a war, since neither side officially declared war against each other, it was war in all but name. The Swedish-Soviet War saw the highest casualty rate every seen outside the Indian-Pakistan War of 1999 in the short wars of the late 20th century and early 21st century. The war started on October 27 1981 and lasted till a UN back cease fire when into effect on November 1 less than a week later.
It lasted a total of six days, not even a week, but it was those six days that brought a world to a halt. Many of you are too young to remember the war, or even the after math of it. But let me say this, as a young sergeant with 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment which was stationed inside West Germany, this war put everyone was one edge. It was the only time that US forces within Germany had ever been on DEFCON 2 alert. Everyone from the lowest private to the highest general believed it was only a matter of time before Ivan and the Warsaw Pact would kick off World War 3 and come across the Fulda Gap, with thousands of tanks and APCs.
To this day we don't know who fired the first shots of the war at the Battle of Karlskrona, but is what we do know for sure. The Soviet submarine S-363 an old Whiskey class submarine that was on a reconnaissance mission ran aground just outside the main Swedish naval base at Karlskrona in the early morning hours of October 27 1981. It surface soon after. This was well within Swedish territory waters, and the Swedish soon learned of this breach of neutrality.
Soon after this, the Swedish Navy sent out an unarmed officer to speak to captain of the S-363. The captain of the S-363 claimed his boat had simultaneous failures of his navigational equipment, despite the fact he had to cleared a series of treacherous rocks, straits, and island to get to where he was. The Swedish Navy then offered to help S-363 leave the area, which was turned down by the captain of the S-363. After this meeting both the Swedish officer and the captain of the S-363 radio higher headquarters to let them know what was happing.
After the radio message the Soviet Baltic Fleet put together a large rescue task force to help the S-363. This task force was made up of ocean going tug boats, destroyers, and frigates. The increase radio traffic was picked up by a Swedish Air Force Caravelle ELINT aircraft. Then a Saab 105 light attack aircraft visually spotted this task force in international waters. This information was quickly passed on to then Swedish Prime Minister Thorbjorn Falldin. On learning of the Soviet Task Force he gave his famous "Hold the Border" order.
Once the "Hold the Border" order reached all of the Swedish military units, they when on to high alert. The Air Force armed their strike fighters with their most advance anti-ship missiles, and their fighters with anti-air weapons. Their anti-ship batteries were fully man, and their radars were turned on operating on peace time single band frequency.
At 17:31 hours local time, the Soviet task force reached the 12mile territorial limit of Swedish waters, at which time the Swedish radar operators when to their war time radar frequency hopping mode. We don't know if this was to scare the Soviets away or if they were getting ready fire on the Soviets. As I said before no one knows who fired first.
But as the first missiles was launched all sides started to fire more missiles. Aircraft from both sides were scrambled to cover their brothers in arms. It ended minutes later the Soviet Fleet withdrew with heavy losses. But the Soviets also gave it back to the Swedish. But it was the Swedish who were the clear winners at Karlskrona. The Swedish lost 3 radar sites, a missiles battery, and four mobile gun batteries. The Soviets lost a Kashin Class destroyer with all hands when her magazine blew. The Soviets also lost 2 Mirka Class frigates, a pair of their ocean going tugs, and five more ships were damage to one degree or another.
The first sign of trouble was picked up by an USAF E-3 Sentry orbiting near Hamburg. The crew of the E-3 picked up the sortie of Swedish Air Force around 0921 local time. The crew of E-3 were trying to make since of the Swedish sortie. When they radio in to command about the Swedish sortie, they were order to fly north and take up an orbit near Copenhagen to learn more about this Swedish sortie. They were met in route to their new station by a pair Danish Air Force F-16s. What they were about to watch on their radar scopes was the first meeting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Forces or the war.
The Swedish had sortie their Saab 37 Viggen fighters. They were either with Shyflash and SIdewinder missiles. They also sent in their Saab 35 Draken fighters, but with this one they kept a squadron in reserve in case the Soviets did something else. They also held back their attack for Saab 37 and 105 aircraft. They Swedish didn't want this to turn into a war, so they were taking defense measures only. The Soviets sent in fighters to cover the withdraw of their fleet, as they got ready for a counter strike against Sweden. These aircraft included the MiG-25 Foxbat, Mig-21 Fishbed, and the Su-15 Flagon.
Now it should be noted what rules of engagement each side was operating under. The Swedish had told their pilots, that they were not to fire unless fired on. As I said before, the Swedish had no wish of turning this naval skirmish into a full scale war. The Soviets on the other hand, were to say it plainly being dicks. The Soviets who were flying were told, if it looked like the Swedish were a threat to blow them out of the sky.
At 0948 local time, the Soviets when active with their targeting radars. This cause the Swedish pilots to start a series of rapid maneuvers to break this radar lock. The Soviets taken these rapid maneuvers to be a threat, fired a salvo of their AA-3 Anab and AA-6 Acrid medium to long range air-to-air missiles. As the Swedish pilots realize they were under fire, they returned fired. They also radio high headquaters to let them know what was going on.
Then the Soviet Navy joined into the fray. They started to launch their surface to air missiles. But they failed to take the time to pick out friend from foe in the airspace above them. This fact so when after the war, it was shown the Soviets downed more of their own aircraft in this battle than Swedish.
In this first meeting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Forces, it showed to schools of thought. The Soviets believed in large ground control networks to control their fighters. The Swedish on the other hand believe in give their pilots the initiative. In this first meeting, the Swedish Air Force score a 4 to 1 kill ratio over the Soviets. 18 planes were also downed by SAM missiles, but 11 of these were Soviets.
As all of this was happing the S-363 which had cause all of this, was being boarded by a team from the Swedish Army. The Soviet sailors fought the Swedish off long enough to set off the scuttling charges within the S-363. This killed most everyone on board the boat at the time. Only 2 Swedish soldiers and 3 Soviet sailors came out alive, badly wounded but alive.
The shocked crew of the E-3 Sentry couldn't believe what they were watching on their scopes. They were relaying this information in real time to NATO command in Brussels. Who in turn passed this information on to Washington, London, and Paris.
As both the Swedish and Soviets forces withdrew from the Battle of Karlskrona, both sides were figuring out where to go from there. For the Swedish, all they cared about was maintaining the border And they might of been willing to agree to a cease fire with the Soviets and work out the problems in front of the United Nations in New York. But Swedish government did issued a new ROE for their military. Any Soviet military aircraft or ship found inside Swedish territory was now free game and they could fire without warning. Outside Swedish territory, their military was only to fire if fire on.
Some had said over the years, if the Swedish had kept to their ROE of only fire, if fired on, for all of their military forces this could kept the war from blowing up like it did. I say these people refuse to look at the cold hard facts of what happen next in the war.
The Soviets, they wanted to so they were the masters of the Baltic. And with the losses they took in the Battle of Karlskrona, showed they were weak something the Soviets didn't want. At 1632 Leonid Brezhnev order two squadron of Tu-16 bombers armed with anti-shipping missiles to take off and sink the Swedish Navy. Brezhnev also ordered the submarines of the Baltic Fleet to attack Swedish warships.
As this was going on, news of the Battle of Karlskrona was reaching President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and President Francois Mitterrand. The three nuclear leaders of NATO were worried about what the Soviets were doing in the Baltic and Sweden. But since neither government had any kind of defense treaty with Sweden, they could do nothing more than offer support to Sweden. And put limited pressure on the Soviets to back down. But they also took steps to keep from being caught with their pants down. Reagan put his strategic force on DEFCON 3 alert, and the rest of the US military on DEFCON 4 alert. The British and French followed suit and raised their threat levels.
When the two Squadron of Tu-16 were taking off the Soviet Submarine B-103, a Foxtrot class submarine ran across the Swedish submarine HMS Sjoormen. We only have a general idea of what between the two submarines, because both were lost with all hands turning the course of the war. But what we do know is HMS Sjoormen was on patrol in the Baltic, and knew of the current ROE for the Swedish military. The B-103 also knew of their orders from what we know. We believed the B-103 was able to fired first and one of the torpedoes it fired found the HMS Sjoormen.
But with radar warning of the incoming Tu-16 squadrons, Swedish fighter once again took off, to fly CAP for their navy, which was inside Swedish waters. The two squadrons of Tu-16s were guided by a single Tu-95 maritime reconnaissance plane. At a range of 70 kilometers, the radars on the Tu-95 went active. Seconds later with the targeting information plugged into the 32 AS-6 Kingfisher missiles carried by the squadron of Tu-16. Moments later all 32 AS-6 Kingfisher were fired at the Swedish navy up and down the Baltic.
With the Tu-16s well out of range, the bulk of Swedish fighters fired their Skyflash missiles at the AS-6 Kingfishers missiles with the hopes of downing the Kingfishers. This was not a mission the Skyflash were designed for, and it showed. Only 3 of the AS-6 Kingfishers were downed out the 60 Skyflash missiles that were fired that day. The four Ostergotland class destroyers were equipped with the Sea Cat SAM system, but other than this the Swedish navy had no SAMs to fight off the AS-6 Kingfishers. The four Ostergotland fired their Sea Cat missiles, in the hope of downing the Kingfishers, they downed two.
What happened next has been called the death of the old Swedish Surface Navy. All of the destroyers in the Swedish Navy took multi hits by the Kingfisher missiles fired that day. Only HMS Gastrikland was able to return port. One of its Sea Cat missiles was able to down on of the Kingfishers. Of the two that made it past the Sea Cat missiles, one of the two Kingfishers fail to explosive, which was the only thing save the ship from sinking on that day. But she was to damaged to be repaired and she was scrapped after the war ended. But most of the destroyers in the Swedish Navy when down with all hands. Only 93 Swedish sailors that were not onboard HMS Gastrikland lived to see another day.
After the raid by Tu-16s, the Swedish changed their ROE once again. Every Soviet ship and airplane in the Baltic was now a target for the Swedish air force and the submarines of the navy. They were royally pissed off at the Soviets, is the only words that comes to mind to state the Swedish state of mind after the death of the old Swedish surface navy. The Swedish booted the whole Soviet diplomatic mission to Sweden out of their nation. They declared the Soviet ambassador a persona non grata. Then they recall their diplomatic staff and ambassador from the Soviet Union. The Soviets soon after declared the Swedish ambassador a persona non grata.
For the rest of the night and in to the next morning there was only a few small dog fights between the Swedish and Soviet Air Force. For the first time since the end of the World War 2, all passenger traffic on and over the Baltic sea came to a stop. All ships on the Baltic made for the nearest friendly port for fear of being caught in the cross fire.
Then the Swedish submarine HMS Nacken started its famous war patrol. In the early morning hours of 28 found the old Foxtrot class submarine B-103. At this time no one knew the HMS Sjoormen, but she would be avenged. The crew of HMS Nacken fired of a signle torpedo which found and sunk the B-103. This was the first victory for the Nacken, but by no means the last victory for the Nacken.
Mean time at the UN headquarters in New York City, the Soviet Ambassador there delivered a message to the Swedish Ambassador. To this day, we do not know what this message said, but its been reported by multi people who worked in the United Nations in 1981, that the Swedish Ambassador told the Soviet Ambassador to go straight to hell with that message. But the general believe is the Soviet message, said the Swedish government would pay for all the damage cause so far to the Soviet military as well of given other economic measures that would help the Soviets.
At the same time this was going on, President Reagan order the air force to get ready to perform an Operation Nickel Grass like operation to resupply the Swedish incase this when on for any length of time. Reagan didn't want to see the Swedish fold to Soviet pressure. Reagan also ordered the CIA to help out any way possible, short of getting the US in the middle of this pissing match.
The 28 for most part was a low in the action. Mostly it was small scale dog fighting between the Swedish and Soviet Air Force. There was also the naval side, HMS Nacken sank a Whiskey class submarine in the early afternoon. Another Whiskey submarine was sunk by HMS Sjohunden. But this low, would only last this day only, on the 29 the war would chance yet again.
As the Soviets realize the Swedish were not going to back down, the Soviets decided to strike Swedish Naval and Air Bases. They hoped this would force the Swedish to back down and take Soviet terms. They made the call to use their ageing fleet of Il-28s and Tu-16s to keep this from looking like a massive strike on NATO. But in all told the Soviets sortie over 100 bombers in the early morning hours of the 29, with a fighter escort over 400 hundred fighters.
As Swedish radar picked up the incoming the raid and saw the size of the raid, the Swedish order every fighter into the air to defend Sweden. As the Swedish Air Force formed up in the early hours of the 29, the Saab 37 were order to clear a path for all of the other fighters that were taking off on this massive sortie. With the scale of this raid, it forced the Swedish Air Force to place all of its front line fighters into the air. For the Swedish, if they lost the war would be over.
When the two sides meet over the Baltic in the early morning hours they started the Bar Room Brawl. The Bar Room Brawl was the largest dog fight or the war. The Swedish had more kills than the Soviets in this dog fight, but the Soviets had far more in numbers. It was through numbers alone, that allow the Soviets to reach their targets. The Swedish Air Force gave as good as it caught, but it wasn't enough. In the course of the battle they lost 25% of its remaining straight in the fight. Soviet losses in the Bar Room Brawl was even worse than the Swedish, taken a loss of 41% the aircraft flown in this mission. The Famous Swedish fighter pilot Bengt Olausson who just retired after serving as the chief of staff for the Swedish Air Force said after he landed his Saab 37 fighter, "It was a bar room brawl in dawn light.." This is what give the dog fighter its name in later years. In Bar Room Brawl over three hundred aircraft of all sides were shot down.
Olausson would go on to finish the war with 29 air to air kills against the Soviets, the second highest scoring ace of the Swedish Air Force of the war. And highest scoring ace to see the end of the war.
But thanks to effort of the Swedish Air Force the bombing by the Soviets did not had the effect the Soviets hoped for. All but one of the Swedish air force bases would be operation within 12 hours of the raid.
The Bar Room Brawl change the course of the war with again. The Swedish began a total mobilization. They started to bring out of storage old Saab 32 and 29 fighters. They even armed their Saab 105 in their training squadrons with AIM-9 Sidewinder to help make up for the losses in the front line fighter units. The Swedish were not about to bow down to Soviet terms, and they were doing everything they could to keep their air force in the fight.
Leonid Brezhnev, decided to show the Swedish that they could be crushed after the Bar Room Brawl. He ordered an Airborne Division to take Gotland. He believe one Gotland was under Soviet control, the Swedish would come to the peace table, and agree to Soviet terms. Since this type of operation would take a day or two to get ready, he spent the rest of the day working on were terms he would give the Swedish. No one knows what these terms would been, because they were lost in the aftermath of the war, but the general believe is they would make Versailles look like a fair peace treaty.
In the meant the US, UK, France, and PRC all order the boomers to put to sea. There were a number of case in the American and British navy of the Blue and Gold crew mixing because of the quick orders to put to sea with all possible haste. America Strategic and forces within Germany went to DEFCON 2, and all other American force when to DEFCON 3 alert. The British, French and Chinese all follow suit with higher states of alert.
Reagan also order the start of Operation Freedom Ring to start. Freedom Ring was a massive airlift of military equipment that the US was given Sweden in her time of need. But unlike Operation Nickel Grass of eight years prior, Freedom Ring was more design to improve the anti-air abilities of the Swedish. Some notable equipment the Americans gave the Swedish, is the M247 Sergeant York Anti-Aircraft vehicle. There was only one prototype that was being tested. The M247 would prove to be a total failure, and the program was cancel soon after the war ended. But other equipment would prove much more useful to the Swedish, such as the MIM-23 Hawk, FIM-43 Redeye, and FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missile systems. The American also send in 400 plus air-to-air missiles to help the Swedish. Because by the 29, even thought the air war between Sweden and the Soviet Union had been going on for three days, the Swedish Air Force had used or loss in combat 45% of its total pre-war air-to-air missile stock. The British also took part in Operation Freedom Ring. The British sent on to Sweden 100 air-to-air missiles. The Brits also sent on Blowpipe MANPADS system to the Swedish army.
As this was going on, the NSA satellite KH-14 was making a pass over the Soviet Union. It saw the airfield used by the 76th Guard Airborne Division preparing for a massive operation. This important moved at speed not normally seen by intelligence agency, and was bring shown to President Reagan only 3 hours later. This information was them passed on to Sweden 30 minutes after that.
The race was on.
But it needs to be noted that Operation Freedom Ring, wasn't the only military assistance operation to Sweden during the war. The Danish gave the Swedish 27 F-100D Super Sabre fighters. The F-100 was due to be retired by the Danish Air Force the following year, and there for the Danish were willing to give them up. The Swedish couldn't train any of their pilots quickly enough to fly the Super Sabres in the war. But in the aftermath they would give the Swedish a fighter would be a stop gap till they could get more advance fighters into their front line units. The Swedish wouldn't retire the Super Sabre till 1991.
Now I know there had been talk over the years, that if the Danish gave the Swedish their Saab 35, the Swedish had been able to down even more Soviet fighters. Now you have to understand at the time, many in NATO thought the Soviet would be crossing the Fulda Gap at any time. And they didn't want to give up anything more advance aircraft out of the fear they would need them shortly. But the F-100 Super Saber was still able to go toe to toe with the MiG-21s, MiG-25s, and Su-15 the Soviets were using. The MiG-21 was only a few years older in design than the F-100. The MiG-25 and Su-15 was a high speed fighter interceptor that had no business trying to dog fight.
The French also send on a dozen Dassault Mirage III fighters to Sweden. They also send four Roland 1 launchers and 60 missiles for these launchers. Like the Danish F-100s, the Mirage IIIs wouldn't see combat in the war and would play the same role as the F-100s. The Swedish wouldn't retired their Mirage IIIs till 1994. But the Roland 1 launchers were put to use within the war defending Swedish air fields and naval bases. They would claim a total of 14 Soviet aircraft in the remaining days of the war.
But there was another thing that no one accounted for when this war start. That was the possibly of Soviet pilots defecting to the west. Ever since Viktor Belenko flew his MiG-25 to Japan and defected to America, the Soviets had limited the gas they had given to pilots so they couldn't defect to the west. But after the Brawl Room Bar, Major Ivan Paechnik, who had been passed over promotion in 1980, and had just been given the news his wife had died in labor decided to defect to the west. He was leading a flight of four Su-24s to attack the Swedish Naval Base at Karlskrona in a follow on attack. Sometime turning this flight, he pulled out a small hand gun and killed his weapon system operator. He then broke hard as the flight made its run at Karlskrona. He started his run to freedom.
Paechnik's Su-24 was picked up by a USAF E-3 in orbit over Copenhagen at a range of 70 miles. The Danish scambled six of their new F-16 to pick up this lost Su-24, and need be shoot it down. Somehow Paechnik was about to let the Danish know he was defecting, at which point the F-16s began to escort Paechnik's Su-24, yet at the same stood by to shoot him down in case he decided to do something other than defecting. He landed at the main Danish Air Force Base outside Copenhagen, with his bombs still on the pylons. The four AS-10 Karen missile on Paechnik's Su-24 gave the NATO a good look at what Soviet smart weapon technology looked like in the early 80s. The Su-24 also gave up many technology secrets before be handed back to the Soviets in mid 82 in 34 crates, along with the body of the weapon system operator. Paechnik was tried by the Soviets in absentia, and sentence to death. Paechnik did spend two years in a low security prison in the US for the murder of his weapon system operator , before be given his freedom and US citizenship.
Paechnik's defecting was the only defecting till the last day of the war, when Junior Lieutenant Victor Krotkov flew his Su-17 to the same base that Paechnik had landed add days before. But unlike Paechnik, Krotkov was given US citizenship and his freedom right away. The two AS-11 Kilter and two AA-8 Aphid missiles gave the NATO power an even better understand of Soviet smart weapons, and so a way to counter them. The Su-17 also gave up its own secrets as the NATO took it apart for information.
HMS Nacken by the 30th, had an outstanding war patrol by any book. She had sunk two Whiskey Class, a Foxtrot Class, a Romeo Class submarine, a Zulu Class submarine and a Grisha class corvette. But by this stage in the war HMS Nacken only had six torpedoes left, but she had a lot of fight left in her.
HMS Nacken was on patrol near Gotland, to counter a possible amphibious landed by the Soviets. This would prove to be a stoke of good luck for Sweden in her time of need. The Soviets had plan to land an armor regiment of T-62 tanks to support the 76th Guard Airborne Division in their mission to take Gotland. HMS Nacken found this sufrace task force which was made up of the following: 3 Alligator Class LSTs, 4 Ropucha Class LSTs, and 4 Grisha class corvettes acting as escorts.
The captain of HMS Nacken knew when he saw this surface task force that this could only be a landing force to take Gotland. So at great risk to his submarine, he moved his submarine to fire at the LSTs of this task force. He detail two torpedoes to each ship, then he fired all six of his remaining torpedoes at 2 Alligator and one of the Ropucha LSTs in under a minute.. He then took his boat to right off the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
The sounds of six torpedoes in the water got all four Grishas to take notice that a submarine was in the area. They began firing their RBU rockets, and what would became the heavy use of the weapons in the war. The main problem with the Grishas and RBUs was the elections used. The RBUs were unguided weapons, and the Grishas sonar was well behind the standards used in Western navies. Even with HMS Nacken driving at flank speed, they could barley pick her up. When they returned to their escort screen positions 25 minutes later, they had fired off over 300 RBU rockets, and not the first one hit HMS Nacken. They caused a lot of shock damage on the Nacken, but the Nacken was able to return port where she would spend the rest of the war.
But the six torpedoes fired by HMS Nacken ran hot straight and true. They sank one Alligator and the Ropucha LST, and caused so much damaged on the other Alligator that she sunk after hits by a single 500 pound bomb from a group of seven Saab 105 attack planes sent after the surface task force. They missed the main task force, but they found the damaged Alligator and the single Grisha left behind to escort it back home. The seven Saab 105 attack birds also sunk the Grisha but at the cost of two of Saab 1005 sent after it, and a third Saab 105 damaged.
But as the battle for control of the Sea was on going, the battle for control of the air was also on going. The Soviets launched the transports of the 76th Guards Airborne Division, with a fighter escort of over 400 planes. This was the second biggest dog fight of the war, after the Bar Room Brawl. If the Swedish Air Force would of been the same size when the war started on the 27th, this dog fight would been even larger, but the Swedish Air Force was down to about 55% of its pre war strength, and it through everything it had into this battle. And when I say everything, I mean everything. It was basically if it could carry a Sidewinder it was thrown into battle.
In this dog fight, the Swedish didn't worry about the Soviet fighters, and only shot them down when they had no choice but to shoot the Soviet fighters down. Their targets were the Soviet transports being used to bring in the 76th Guard Airborne Division.
Each side took their licks in this battle, but at a range of five miles off the coast of Gotland, what was left of the Swedish Air Force broke off from battle. The Swedish Air Force was now down to 43% of its pre war strength, but the Swedish Army was about to help out and thin the ranks of the Soviet Air Force.
Since the war had started, the home guard on Gotland had been mobilization. Even the home guard cadets were doing what they could to help the older men in case the Soviets came to Gotland. The air force had been using their C-130s and transport helicopters to move the Livregementets husarer (cavalry) and Luftvarnsregement(anti-air) regiments out to Gotland to help defend her from the Soviets. So far the Soviets had been keeping away from Gotland, to keep away from the possibly of SAM batteries station there. Once the Swedish Air Force broke off at the five mile limit, this was proven to be a wise call.
As the Swedish Air Force broke away, the operators of the MIM-23 Hawk radar systems flipped on their radars. Seconds later when given the weapons free command they began to fire at the Soviets. A few hit Soviet fighters by mistake. The Hawk missile operators had been told to take out the transports, and they did that, and when the fighter escorts came in to attack the Hawk radar systems, they were in for a rude shock.
The Swedish had a large number of FIM-43 Red Eye missiles, and a very small number of the new FIM-92 Stinger missiles they had been given to them by the Americans, as well as the Blowpipe missiles by the British. These MANPADS systems ate into the fighter-bombers that came in that day. But the Soviets also did manage to knock out about quarter of the Hawk Radar systems on Gotland in the first day of the land war.
By the time the first Soviet paratrooper's boot touched the ground, the losses taken by the 76th Guards Airborne Division were high. About 40% of the division was lost to Swedish fighters and Hawk missiles. Then in a stroke of good luck for the Swedish, later that day, they shot down the division commanders' Mi-17 Hip transport helicopter with a Blowpipe missile, as it tried to land in a LZ control by the men of the 76th Guard Division. This lost of command would affect the 76th till the last day of the war, till the new commander was able to reach Gotland only hours before the cease fire.
The Hell of Gotland had just begun and would last till the end of the war on the first of November.
As this was going on, high stakes talks were on going on at the UN headquarters in New York City. These talks were very heated for all sides. Finally in the early hours of the 31st of October the four permanent members of the security council that were not taking part in the war put forward a very fair cease fight agreement for both sides.
This cease fire agreement, would require both the Soviet and Swedish warships to put into harbor for a period of two weeks. It should be noted, that this cease fire agreement was agreed on by the Soviets and Swedish on the first of November to end the war, would had only effected the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Neither side would sortie any military aircraft into the Baltic for this two week period. A third party nation (Finland) would be used to remove the Soviet troops on Gotland and return them to the Soviet Union. This was to be done within 72 hours of the cease fire agreement going into effect. As the cease fire was in effect both size would be take part in seven nation talks to forge a peace treaty. The other three nations, that were agreed on were India, Brazil, and Japan.
But only 30 years after the fact are we starting to learn the truth of why the Soviets didn't agree to these terms for a cease fire on the 31st. Much of it has to do with the timely death of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. We don't know if he stuffed a heart attack like, (redacted) said, or in fact he was killed by (redacted). But whatever the reason, the blood would keep flowing for about another 39 hours before the cease fire was agreed to.
As the Soviets refuse to agree to a cease fire, Gotland was fast became hell on Earth. Even with the fact 40% of the 76th Guard Airborne Division had been destroyed even before, a single paratrooper touched ground, and with no one landing in the LZ they were putting up one hell of a fight. Finally about four hours into the hell that was Gotland, a battalion size unit of Soviet paratroopers finally formed up.
It was this area were the division commander of the 76th tried to land late on the 30th, only to be shot down by a MANPADS. The MANPADS was to prove the key weapon in the Battle of Gotland. Both sides had them. The Soviets were equipped with SA-7 and SA-14 launchers, and the Swedish were equipped with the FIM-43 Red Eye, FIM-92 Stringers, and Blowpipe missiles systems. These missile downed close air support aircraft launched by both the Swedish and Soviets in alarming numbers.
As it looked like the Swedes were getting the upper hand in the Battle of Gotland, the four remaining LSTs from the Soviet surface task force landed on Gotland. What limited artillery the Swedish had on Gotland, shifted fire from the battalion of paratroops that had been able to form up to the bridgehead the Soviets were forming on the east side of the island.
In armor warfare, the Centurion tanks used by the Swedish Army would prove to be more than a match for the Soviet T-62 main battle tank. The Swedish by the end of the war would have a six to one kill ratio in the ground war. The reason is simple, the two tanks used on Gotland matched up very evenly on paper, but what made the difference was the training the two nations put into training their troops. The Swedes more far more time and money into training than the Soviets, and it showed.
But because the Soviet Paratroopers were dropped all over of Gotland, there wasn't any part of the island left untouched by the battle. In a number of places, combat was hand to hand, with at least one case of a 55 man who retired from the army a few years before, picking up an AK-47 off a dead Soviet paratrooper who's parachute didn't open and killing at least five Soviet paratroopers, with one of those being with the bayonet of the AK.
But the Battle of Gotland, saw a large number of civilian deaths. Before Gotland, only a small number of Swedish civilians had died in this war. The Swedish government did everything it could to remove children and the elder from Gotland before it became hell on Earth. Even using its C-130s on the return flights to get the children off the island. But it wasn't enough. At 2231 local time, a flight of four Su-17 carrying a mix load of general purpose bombs and napalm, attacked a shelter being used to house most of the remaining children on Gotland. Over 500 children died that night.
The news of the shelter that was housing the children being bombed spread like wild fire. This filled the Swedish troops on Gotland with rage. And they began to fight ever harder than before. But all told, over 1,500 civilians died in the Battle of Gotland.
When the cease fire was broadcast on all radio nets at 1348 local time, Gotland had become a wasteland of high tech weapons and bodies of the dead. The 76th Guards Airborne Division as a fighting unit was finish, with only 27% of soldiers of the Division still being combat effect. The armor regiment, was in even worse shape than the paratroopers. They had a told of 9 combat effect tanks left on Gotland. The Swedish also took their licks. They were down to only 59% combat effect troops on Gotland. And it should be noted that combat effect, is troops who could still fight. About 5% of these number included walked wounded.
In Moscow sometime on the first of November, Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev died. To this day we don't know if it was a heart attack like, Mikhail Gorbachev said it was, or it he was killed by Gorbachev who was working with the KGB. As more evidence comes to light, it looks like it was a coup d'état by Gorbachev with the backing of the KGB. But we must take the time to look at each piece of evidence that comes to light, and go over with it a fine tooth come.
But it is known that a number of full and junior members of the Politburo were forced into retirement soon after Gorbachev came to power. This brought in a young group of communist party members, who is given the credit to helping the Soviet Union to turn itself economically later in the 80s. But this is for another class.
The first thing Gorbachev did was telephone Soviet Ambassador to the UN Ambassador Oleg Troyanovsky to agree to the cease fire agreement with Sweden that had been put forward on the 31st. Then Gorbachev ordered the military of the Soviet Union to follow the cease fire, and recall the Baltic Fleet and all aircraft currently over the Baltic.
The Swedish agreed to the cease fire. They were tried, and knew they had no hope of beating the Soviets.
In the course of the Soviet-Swedish War of 1981, showed military planners that a number of ideas of their work or didn't work. The main one was the level of munitions expenditure is much high than anyone thought. The Swedish, even with the missiles given to them by NATO nations, only had enough air-to-air missiles for two or three more days of combat. The Soviets have never issued any hard numbers on the munitions expenditure of its forces turning the war, but it has been reported they when on a crash building program after the war was over to rebuild their stocks.
It also show the attack helicopters such as the Mi-24 Hind were very vulnerable to MANPADS systems and fighter aircraft. This showed that you needed heavier armor than you could put on a helicopter. It also clearly show that a modern air force couldn't take control of the sky if they are facing off against a modern air force. Once Swedish pilot after the war, his name was lost to the pages of history that during the war, the sky only being to the dead. This statement was very true, even when the Swedish Air Force was down to a faction of its pre-war size, the Soviets couldn't gain control of the skies.
On the naval front, the patrol of HMS Nacken showed older naval units had no business in combat. All of the diesel submarines sunk by HMS Nacken was over 20 years old, and not the first one had ever seen an refit. Only one of the submarine sunk in the war had been commissioned in the past five years. It show that fire control and sonar systems were keys in a modern navy.
The Soviet-Swedish War of 1981 was one of the deadest in modern history. In six days over 35,000 people died. Most of these deaths were because of the Battle of Gotland.
The Treaty of Berlin which ended the war was signed in early 1982. In the treaty, the SOviet admitted the S-363, which was the submarine that touched off the war, was order into Swedish territorial waters, and was caught. The treaty also made it clear were the Swedish EZE and territory bounties as well as the Soviet's were. The Soviets agreed to pay 75,000 US dollars per each civilian who died turning the course of the war. But the sticking point in the treaty was that of POWs. The Soviets only held 21 Swedish POWs, where the Swedish held close to 600. 99 of these POWs held by Sweden asked for asylum in the west. The Soviets wanted everyone of their POW forced back to the Soviet Union. After some work, a team made of Indian, Japanese, and Brazilian diplomatic meet with the POWs on both sides. They found that the 99 Soviet POWs who asked for asylum wanted to stay in the west of their own free will. So the Soviets gave in on the point, with the damage it had done to itself in the war, it couldn't afford more damage.
In the after math of the war Sweden, started the path to join NATO. Sweden did join NATO in 1985. It also started to rebuild it's broken air force and navy to NATO levels. They became only the third nations, after the US and Iran to operator the F-14 Tomcat fighter. They also became a very focus on submarine warfare. But they did operator a pair of Charles F Adams destroyers for some time, before buying into the British Type 23 frigate program in the early 90s.
The Soviet-Swedish War also caused a shake up within the Soviet Union. This shake up was on all levels. Gorbachev who knew the Soviet economic couldn't keep going on like it was, started a system like the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. He started to reform the Soviet system so it could feed itself. At the same time, he started a whole sell retirement of military officers he thought cause the Soviet-Swedish War. He also told the military to start retiring old equipment, this was don't because in the war the new Swedish equipment had ran circles out the old Soviet equipment. He then sold this equipment to third world nations who were more than willing to buy this old equipment for their own uses.
At the same time he started a new path for the Soviets in Afghanistan. This would lead to the Black War that would spread to other areas in Eastern Europe in the mid 80s. But the Black War is for next class.
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