Swedish Armed Forces

The Swedish Armed Forces, called Försvarsmakten in Swedish, are the national armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. They consist of four military branches: the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard. Their history is traced to the early sixteenth century, when they were founded under the newly crowned Gustav I Vasa, and they reached their height in the seventeenth century during the Swedish Empire, fighting in wars that included the Thirty Years' War, the Scanian War and the Great Northern War. Since the nineteenth century they have helped maintain Swedish neutrality, especially during the Cold War, and units have taken part in several international operations. Sweden formally became a member of NATO in 2024.