Royal Strategic Forces of Skandinavia

Template:Infobox Military unit See:Skandinavia nuclear weapons program

The Kongelige Strategiskestyrker (Royal Strategic Forces) is the designation of the triad of air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons intended for deterrence. It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.

The strategic concept behind Kongelige Strategiskestyrker is one of countervalue, i.e., the capacity to inflict so much damage on a potential (and more powerful) adversary's population that the potential adversary will be deterred from attacking no matter how much destruction they themselves are capable of inflicting (see Mutual Assured Destruction). This principle is usually referred as Weak-to-strong deterrence.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Kongelige Strategiskestyrker to operationalize the directives of the Forsvaret under the leadership of a Commander-in-Chief who is a three-star rank officer. It will have the sole responsibility of initiating the process of delivering nuclear weapons and warheads, after acquiring explicit approval from the FvDp and finally by the Monark. The Monark has the final decision regarding the use of nuclear weapons at the proposal of the Forsvaret and only the Monark can authorize its use. The exact selection of the target area shall be decided by the Forsvarsoperative Hovedkvarter - SKFoH (Defense Operative Headquarters) through a calibrated, cumulative process involving various levels of decision-making, and with formal approval by the Monark.

The Kongelige Strategiskestyrker manages and administers all strategic forces by exercising complete command and control over nuclear assets, and producing all contingency plans as needed to fulfill the required tasks. Since its inception, the Kongelige Strategiskestyrker’s command, control and communication systems have been firmly established, and the command has attained a high state of operational readiness.

Components

Air-based component

Despite the fact that Skandinavia studied the possibility of obtaining strategic bombers during the early 80s, this option was discarded due to the lack of indigenous technology to build them and the difficulty of accessing them in the market. At that time it was decided to use aviation only to carry tactical nuclear weapons. In the Strategisk forsvarsplan SK2018 (Strategic defense plan 2018) the possibility of having strategic bombers has been raised again and is being studied.

In 2018 the air-based component of the Strategiskestyrker is formed by TAURUS KEPD 350 missiles that can carry a ATVH-53 nuclear warhead and be launched from the Saab 39 Gripen and F/A 18 Super Hornet fighters with a range of more than 500 km. The Luftforsvaret has about 600 units of TAURUS KEPD 350 and the Sjøforsvaret has about 120, of wich from 50 to 70 are equiped and stored with nuclear warheads.

Land-based component

During the 1980s, several silos were built for the launching of nuclear missiles in Scandinavia and also in Iceland. The location and quantity are still classified but it is believed that their number was between 8 and 12. Since 2008 all the silos have ceased to be operational.

At present, the land-based component of the Strategiskestyrker consists of about 20 aged U-13 Hammer and about 40 U-23 Storm type missiles developed in the 90s and improved in 2014. For deployment, the Strategiskestyrker have 12 TEL mobile launchers built by Scania.

Sea-based component

The sea-based component of the is formed today by 4 Eirik Raude Class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines equiped with K21 or K31 missiles and ATVH-53 warheads. The Skandinavian Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines armed with Submarine-launched ballistic missiles, in relation to their discretion in the various oceanic patrol zones, ensure a guaranteed retaliatory nuclear strike (second strike).

The mission of a Skandinavian Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine is simple: leave the designated port of attachment, in the most discrete possible way, remain undetectable all along the mission to be able at any moment launch a nuclear strike, under orders of the Monark.

Facilities

The command center of the Strategiskestyrker is located in Haakonsvern naval base, which is also the base of the nuclear submarines of the Eirik Raude Class.

Both the storage sites for nuclear weapons and the location of mobile launchers remain classified and vary over time.

Active missiles

Land-based ballistic missiles

Name	Type	Range (km)	Status
U-13 Hammer	Intermediate-range ballistic missile	4,000-4,500	Stored
U-23 Storm I	Intercontinental ballistic missile	6,500-7,500	Deployed
U-23 Storm II	Intercontinental ballistic missile	9,000	Tested successfully
U-33 Ragnarök	Intercontinental ballistic missile	12,000	Under development

Sea-based ballistic missiles

Name	Type	Range (km)	Status
K-21 Brynhildr	Intercontinental ballistic missile	6,000	Deployed
K-31 Hilda	Intercontinental ballistic missile	9,000	Tested successfully
K-41 Sigrdrífa	Intercontinental ballistic missile	12,000	Under development