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Budget Squeeze Prompts Swedish Army to Go 9-To-5
Swedenâs armed forces will operate only during office hours for the rest of the year to cut costs, military headquarters said on Friday. They will also cut fighter plane patrols to a minimum, keep navy ships in port, mothball armored vehicles and stop using large caliber live ammunition during exercises. The center-left Social Democratic government has told the military to cut spending by 450 million crowns ($54.89 million) this year as part of an overall effort to keep the budget from falling into deficit. Militarily non-aligned Sweden spends just over 40 billion crowns per year on defense, or some 1.6 percent of gross domestic product. A parliamentary defense commission said in a recent report that the likelihood of Sweden facing a military threat in the foreseeable future was very small. Itâs not like you were going to use it anyway. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17753 |