The National Audit Office has carried out two audits of the Armed Forces to examine logistics, healthcare and how the defense manages the agency's resources.
The reports are critical on several points.
"The availability and endurance of the military units has developed at a slower rate than would otherwise have been possible," writes the National Audit Office in the one review that deals with logistics and healthcare.
- This is a complex area to work with, but the Swedish Armed Forces need to put the puzzle together in a better way, says Sascha Sohlman, audit director.
The war units are the Swedish forces that can be mobilized in case of high alert and war. The units include professional soldiers, the Home Guard and conscripts trained in the country's regiments.
Sascha Sohlman states that the defense has a shortage of "certain supplies and certain materiel", but for confidentiality reasons the audit does not elaborate on this in detail.
The National Audit Office's overall criticism is that the Armed Forces had difficulty dimensioning, planning and organizing logistics and healthcare.
Military logistics is a very large field. This includes, among other things, the soldiers' personal equipment, such as uniforms and helmets.
But logistics is also the entire system that should enable combat and defense. A network of infrastructure, everything between trucks, rail, ships and personnel.
As a member of NATO, Sweden is a country that must manage its own and foreign troops, ammunition and weapon systems - all that must be brought forward against imagined fronts in countries such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
But the National Audit Office believes that a combination of deficiencies in personnel, material, long lead times and inefficient working methods have created problems in defense logistics and healthcare.
For example, there is a lack of exercises that focus on logistics, according to the audit.
- If we are actually at war, it may not be possible to drive on all roads. What do you do then? What to do if fuel stocks are not available? The training business lacks that kind of adjustment and flexibility, says Sascha Sohlman.
The National Audit Office wants to see more realistic exercises for both logistics and healthcare.
- The greater the risk and the more serious the security situation, the more important it becomes to have logistics and healthcare in place, says Sascha Sohlman.
The National Audit Office also calls on the government to point out which geographical areas and social functions the Swedish Armed Forces should focus on defending. Today, there is no such prioritization from the government.
- These are issues that affect Sweden's sovereignty and survival as a nation. Then we judge that it is reasonable for the government to take that responsibility, says Sascha Sohlman.
The second review concerns how the Armed Forces manage their resources. The report shows that the Swedish Armed Forces' management has shortcomings that risk leading to delays and reduced efficiency.
Appropriations for military defense have increased radically in step with a deteriorating security situation in the outside world. In 2026, the sum is SEK 175 billion.
But the National Audit Office states that the Armed Forces do not have documentation that shows how much different activities cost in relation to what they achieve.
- You don't follow what things cost and find it difficult to measure what your abilities actually are. This means that you don't know if you are doing the right things for the right costs, says Marcus Pettersson, audit director.
The review also draws attention to the fact that the Armed Forces have a great many rules and governing documents. But they have no order of priority, and this means that it is difficult for the staff to know which rule should apply if they conflict with each other.
- Then the governing documents become an obstacle rather than a help. You can get two different answers in the organization depending on where you look, says Marcus Pettersson.
