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DN may reveal that the Armed Forces publish maps that reveal where many of Sweden’s top secret and top secret military installations are located. With maps, a standard computer, and search services like Eniro and Google, these protected objects are easy to find.
In the 21 counties of Sweden, there are areas with confidential facilities drawn on the maps.
– This is serious, says Johan Wiktorin, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Military Sciences and a former lieutenant colonel in the Armed Forces.
– Even if the maps do not provide a complete picture, the Armed Forces provide tools that make it much easier for an actor to collect this information. You get a decent overview and picture of all of Sweden, says Johan Wiktorin.
– This is not OK. These are areas you definitely don’t want others to know about and have access to information about, says retired Colonel Anders Emanuelson.
The colonel has been the boss for the P 7 armored regiment outside Lund. DN shows him the map of the Swedish Armed Forces of Skåne County, which shows ten areas with facilities that are secret.
– It is strange that this type of information is there. Didn’t you run a confidentiality check before posting it? This one should have been protected, absolutely, says Anders Emanuelson.
Anders Emanuelson, retired colonel.
Photo: Lisa Mattisson
DN’s review shows that a large number of areas across the country are marked on the Swedish Armed Forces ‘National Interests for the military part of total defense’ maps. These are facilities that are located outside of known units and ranges. Areas with protected objects are marked in dark purple and the letter “Ö”, which means “other area of influence”.
In openly denounced areas, there are protected objects whose location and activities are secret. “It can be assumed that it harms the country’s defense or in other ways represents a danger to national security if the information is disclosed,” the Swedish Armed Forces write.
Despite reports The authority fully opens a catalog with examples of what may be in the form of command, intelligence, weaponry or storage centers and facilities.
Wilhelm Agrell is a senior professor of intelligence analysis. It points out that with regard to espionage crimes, the legislation is aimed at those who systematically collect information on protected objects.
– Sweden is fantastic and the Armed Forces are even more fantastic. Here you are given systematic information with good maps of all the counties. It is a gateway to protected objects. Rather than searching all of northern Skåne, you can search three concentrated areas. Saves a lot of work, says Wilhelm Agrell.
Wilhelm Agrell, Senior Professor of Intelligence Analysis.
Photo: Anders Hansson
These national interests were listed previously in secret documents. But now the Armed Forces publish the information on maps on their website and it has also been moved to the map of national interests of the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning. This is even more detailed. This makes it easy to search for secret facilities with Google.
This is confirmed by a simple random check of a randomly selected area that DN has carried out somewhere in Sweden. It led to a forest road with a simple roadblock. A few hundred meters from the road, it is blocked across its width with gates and a barbed-wire fence. Yellow signs warn that it is a protected object. No one was around, but the cool grooves indicate that the facility is in use.
Inside the fence: a concrete military storage room with strong steel doors and prohibition signs.
Yellow signs indicate that the object should not be photographed or measured. But Lantmäteriet’s free service “My Map” shows not only the position of the store, but also the dimensions and area in square meters. Historical aerial photographs also show that it was built between the years 1960 and 1975.
Fence in object of military protection: access prohibited, cannot be represented or described without special permission.
Photo: Lisa Mattisson
The storage room was easy to findDespite the fact that the Armed Forces write that such warehouses “are of crucial importance for the planning and defense of the nation” and their geographical location is “worthy of protection.
Swedish officials confirm to DN that they can find large facilities, reconnaissance stations and functions for various branches of defense.
– They are objects very worthy of protection. A person who has received two hours of intelligence analysis training can easily make a list of Sweden’s most secret facilities, says one official adding:
– Probably the Armed Forces have not understood what they have given away. It’s scary and it’s strange. This is at least as serious as the Swedish Transport Agency.
Satellite image of a building in one of the areas designated by the Armed Forces.
Photo: Google maps
The IT leak from the Swedish Transport Agency, which DN revealed in 2017, was caused by the authority saving money, after which its IT operations ended abroad. This led to the exposure of Swedish secret police officers, security police and the army.
The fact that the Armed Forces openly publish similar information makes it highly interesting for unauthorized actors of various kinds.
– Foreign intelligence can track changes over time. They can direct their satellite reconnaissance and human sources in designated areas. Even more important is that they can confirm your intelligence image, says Johan Wiktorin, who adds:
– They can also be extremist organizations or serious organized crime who want to know where there may be access, for example, to weapons. The most dangerous thing is that they come across transports with weapons and ammunition.
Johan Wiktorin, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Military Sciences.
Photo: Lisa Mattisson
– Of course, there is a risk that serious criminals will attack the authorities with resources from the arsenal of the Armed Forces. You can also do great damage by sabotaging these objects, says Wilhelm Agrell.
During the cold war Maps were washed in all military information and aerial photographs were reviewed. Today, satellite technology and digitization make it difficult to hide facilities.
– The Armed Forces make this overview with a good purpose, and do not describe in detail what there is. But they haven’t considered the risk that someone behind the wheel might find out much more. Understand how information can be misused by individuals or groups for purposes that threaten security. You always have to watch out for that, says Agrell, who explains:
– It is completely unnecessary to offer things like this. This is the same kind of misconception as in the case of the Swedish Transport Agency. The Armed Forces must know how to protect their own facilities. Somewhere, there is a gap in security thinking, says Wilhelm Agrell.
Dagens Nyheter has contacted the Swedish Armed Forces prior to this publication to give them the opportunity to take comprehensive action due to the information.
