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It's a cool sport - I really enjoy those events where you have to hone several skills. There's an enjoyable all-year offspring called orienteering biathlon - land navigation (map & compass) combined with rifle shooting. Orienteering is already an energy management sport, constantly weighing advantage of distance saved vs. difficulty of passing certain terrain. Quite cerebral. Adding an element of reserving energy (breath) for shooting is a nice touch. I'm surprised it's not a popular sport in the US.
In the summer we do summer biathlons, either running or mountain biking. Increasingly in the winter too, due to the lack of snow cover in southern New England we haven't had a groomed ski course in probably 2 years.
Two of the junior girls in our club just went to the Juniors World Biathlon Championship in Estonia and one was at the Junior Olympics in January in Korea.
Due to Sweden's geography and strong military, I would say Sweden does not need NATO in a defensive war with Russia. In any case, Sweden brings a lot to the alliance.
Swedes are pretty much the master race as a result of decades of eugenics.
We can glean from the Ukraine war and guess how well Russia would do if they invade Sweden. With all the advantages Russia has on Ukraine in term of quantity and quality of men and equipment, Russia has only achieved modest success at a great cost of lives and materials.
The flat terrain in Ukraine is ideal for the Russian meatwave tactic they have been using against Ukraine. This strategy would fail in the clustered, forested islands in Sweden. Sweden air defense is magnitude better than what Ukraine had. The Russian air force would not be able to achieve what they did in Ukraine. Sweden's air defense would destroy most incoming Russian aircraft. Additionally, Sweden's Gripen fighter jets would neutralize both ground and air threats from Russia.
While Ukraine had no navy, Sweden has a navy that is the envy of its neighbors. If Ukraine, without a navy, can render the Russian Black Sea fleet irrelevant, imagine what Sweden's navy can do to the Russians.
While Russia's superior number of men somewhat works in Ukraine, it won't work against modern, ready, and capable Sweden.
Sweden has a navy that is the envy of its neighbors
Swedish navy
2000 men
7 corvettes
9 mine countermeasure vessel
5 diesel submarines
14 patrol vessels
You guys know why biathlon is still an Olympic event, right? It's so the Russians will remember how they did against the Finns in the full-contact version.
This is Sweden before the Northern War against Russia.
Where are Finns and Ukrainians?
I wonder why Putin has been making numerous threats against Finland and Sweden?
Sweden was neutral during WW2. Finland fought the Soviet Union courageously for over three months in the Winter War.
From Wikipedia:
"The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union."
It's call geo politics. Both sides make threats. It's the same politics as our internal politics.
Nice you read Wikipedia history. I know very well the Russians by spending my military career hunting and tracking down their nuclear submarines all over the Pacific. They don't care how many they lose, they just keep on coming and wear you out. Go ask the Germans about that. Thank God We never went to war with them because I can tell you as a Veteran, NO way We would win that war and this is coming from a U.S. Naval loyalist of admitting We have the best fleet in the world and it wouldn't make a difference. Our Fleet would get wiped out in a Nuclear war with Russia.
If you think Russia is afraid of Finland in a war, then you don't know much about the Red Army. They don't care how many people they lose, they just keep on coming and they have the 2nd best nuclear fleet next to ours and a bunch of nukes.
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