Ukraine now receives several types of weapons and materiel from Sweden. The most important is perhaps what Ukraine has long asked for – the Archer weapons system.

Archer artillery system. Archive image.
Stefan Jerrevång/TT
Archer artillery system. Archive image.

Archer

Archer is a self-propelled artillery system, with eight meter long cannon pipes mounted on trucks. It has been used by the Swedish defense since 2013. It can be quickly moved, quickly fired and has great precision. Sweden has 48 Archer pieces. The latest one was delivered as late as November last year.

Archer is, according to the Defense's website, a developed version of the artilleri fern Haubits 77B, where the superlave of the play has been mounted on a heavy terrain wagon.

The maximum range for Archer is 30 - 50 km.

Combat vehicle 90. Archive image.
Johan Nilsson/TT
Combat vehicle 90. Archive image.

Combat vehicles 90

The combat vehicle 90 is a band-going combat vehicle. It has a tower that is fully pivotable all the way around. The combat vehicle 90 is manned by a wagon manager, a driver and a shooter. Furthermore, up to seven soldiers can ride in a space at the back, according to the defense description on the website. In the combat vehicle there are advanced computer equipment to aim and shoot even in motion and when the visibility is limited.

Swedish armored shooters with AK5, Pansar Shot 86 and Missile 57 practicing ground combat. Archive image.
Johan Nilsson/TT
Swedish armored shooters with AK5, Pansar Shot 86 and Missile 57 practicing ground combat. Archive image.

Armored missile 57, also known as NLAW

According to the Swedish Armed Forces, the missile is the terror of the tanks. It is also called NLAW, an abbreviation of the English Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon.

It is originally developed by Saab in the early 2000s on behalf of the British Armed Forces. The missile has been further developed after that. It can be fired by a single soldier and thrown away after use. Missile 57 can be fired from short or long distances with different tracks, and can be fired even from within buildings and narrow spaces.

The missile can be fired from a distance of 20 meters up to 800 meters.

The defense's artilleripjäs Archer is mounted on a terrain wagon, weighs 35 tons and is manned by three to four people.
Anders Humblebo
The defense's artilleripjäs Archer is mounted on a terrain wagon, weighs 35 tons and is manned by three to four people.

Weapon support so far

Sweden has so far sent weapons to Ukraine with an estimated value of SEK 5 billion.

The latest package, estimated to be worth three billion dollars, included an air defense system with qualified ammunition, qualified ammunition for another air defense system, off-road cars, body protection for soldiers and winter equipment, such as snowsuits, heat stoves, tents and masking.

In previous packages, Sweden has sent 15 000 armor shots, other anti-tank weapons and naval missile 17 to Ukraine.