Swedish national service, delegated command, and Norwegian rearmament

Sweden's national-service system expects personnel to become proficient despite their relatively short time in uniform. Responsibility passes down the chain of command, so officers do not have to handle every small problem. That trust allows trained crews to operate complicated equipment and avoids overloading senior officers during exercises. A larger force of advanced Swedish ships would also change the naval balance in the Baltic. Swedish neutrality would not remove its influence on neighbouring defence policy: Norway would pay particular attention to what Sweden was building. Five years of wider naval competition could therefore draw medium and smaller powers into their own rearmament programmes.