Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

In this study an attempt is made to put forward ideas about how logistic support to the Armed Forces of the future will be dealt with, based on a sur­vey of current social, military and economic trends. The aim is to identify those logistic matters, which it would be relevant to simulate within a 10 to 15-year period. The study has been carried out with the aid of NATO logis­tic doctrine and a qualitative method, which is closely comparable to idea analysis.

One of the findings of the study is that the Swedish Armed Forces could be one module, amongst many (e.g. police, rescue services and aid organisa­tions), tailor-made for a particular peace support operation, led by a national HQ. It can also be taken that civilian actors, to a much greater extent than today, will be part of the logistics system and that this system could resem­ble the “IKEA model”, i.e. small stores of equipment that can quickly be put together to meet different needs. All this will require a greater degree of specialisation and coordination, both in Sweden and in other countries.

Those logistic matters identified as being relevant for simulation within a 10 to15-year period have been brought together in a summary. The main con­clusion of the study indicates that it is of the utmost importance to simulate a model of the complete logistic chain. In the meantime, in order to carry out the simulation, the collection of experiences and lessons learned must be systemised and recorded. If this does not happen, it is doubtful that the simulation can be used as a system to support decision-making.