Bofors Test Center (BTC) has a long history of being more than a proving ground for Swedish munitions and armaments. ‘Hell for your product. Heaven for your investment’ has been the centre’s message, strapline, and mission for almost 15 years. Visitors to defence expositions will have seen the company displays and videos branded with the ever-unique strapline: ‘Welcome to Hell’, conveying the vigour with which BTC verifies and certifies defence materiel.
Since 1886 BTC has used vast tracks of land, lakes, and airspace, complete laboratories and advanced test equipment ahead of its peers to test everything from defence solution components to complete weapon systems. Based in Karlskoga, Sweden, BTC performs tests for both defence manufacturers and civilian companies from around the world.
The centre as a company is currently run by three owners: Saab Dynamics, which holds 61% of BTC; BAE Systems Bofors, which holds 30%; and Eurenco Bofors, which holds 9%
As BTC is perhaps the most established and innovative private institution of its kind, European Security & Defence (ESD) had a chance to catch up with its out-going president, retired colonel Stefan Krol, and benefit from his views and experience.
ESD: What is your view on potentially increased industrial co-operation opportunities for Sweden now that it is an official member of NATO?
Stefan Krol (SK): Personally, I don’t see the NATO membership as a huge game-changer; Sweden’s defence industry already delivers to a lot of customers within NATO. Our products are damn good!
However, it will be simpler to do business within a NATO contest and the outcome can be some expansion of Swedish defence business, especially since there have been some doubts regarding Sweden’s will to fulfil contracts due to heavy weapon export restrictions.
It would be odd to restrict export to other allies, no matter who wins the next election in Sweden. The term ‘Swedish free’ will hopefully vanish. It’s an outdated term that reflects woeful, wilful ignorance in political thinking and rhetoric that ignores the reality that the world is not always a very nice place. Not to forget recent Russian incursions into Swedish air and maritime space.
Armaments are a necessity to protect our people and support our allies against extra-regional aggression.
ESD: Which types of products/systems do you find BTC testing more than others?
SK: Right now it seems as if the focus is on delivery of existing products. Development capacity has been halted. The kind of products that are most frequently tested are large and mid-calibre ammunition, for obvious reasons.
ESD: How might this have something to do with sales, promises, and deliveries to Ukraine?
SK: Everything … but also the fact that many nations can see the floors in the ammo storage depots mean more is required. Sweden might not be at war with Russia, but like other NATO countries’ defence industries, we are in ‘wartime production’ mode to replenish out stocks.
ESD: Where do you see more growth in various new types of weapon systems and how is BTC evolving to cope with new advances – from electronic warfare (EW) to directed-energy weapons, for example?
SK: So far, the growth is mainly producing ‘old’ stuff. We have not seen any new stuff yet as the main focus is on producing what is most needed now.
However, laser weapons against smaller drones is something that I believe will be hot. The challenge in ‘peace’ is not to kill the drone; it is to be sure that you don’t point the laser towards an aircraft 300 km away. This means that you will have to have a 3D command-and-control system with live-feed data from air traffic control: the same information they have in the control towers. It is solvable, but it will not be so easy.
To demonstrate and test such a system is no problem on a test range with closed airspace, but it should work in a big city too – like protecting an Olympic stadium against terrorists. EW works towards remote-controlled stuff, and GPS-based navigation, but they could be programmed and have an inertial navigation system [to avoid being jammed].
ESD: Who or what are the drivers for growth in the testing profession?
SK: Considering all things that we’ve covered, I expect that BTC will have much to do in the next 10 years. We don’t live – can’t live – in a vacuum. Events beyond our borders will keep us and others busy proving old and new material.
ESD: How sustainable is the future for BTC, its colleagues and its peers?
SK: Look at it this way: the whole process of defence materiel acquisition is a very heavy and slow but accurate process – especially when it comes to weapons, ammunition, missiles, and other things connected to the use of energetic materials.
It normally starts with an analysis of a possible threat from a potential future enemy and ends as a demilitarisation project many, many years later. I have spent 25 years working in the Swedish armed forces, of which for 15 years I was deeply involved in that process.
It is often a hellish challenge, and every step forward is normally followed by half a step backwards. However, there are actually some really fun and truly interesting occasions within this mass of work; that is when we’re busy testing. That is what we are doing – all the time.
When it is time to test the products, we find these occasions as opportunities to grow and increase our customers’ knowledge base. We get to see how materials and materiel respond. Can they cope with their requirements in spite of being put through hell? After being heavily mistreated, shaken and stirred, cooled and heated, dropped and launched, slammed and bashed etc, it is heaven for the client when – after all this hellish abuse – the thing still works as planned!
And, we have gigabytes of high-speed data to understand why something didn’t survive ‘Hell’.
Over my past two decades at the helm here at Bofors Test Center, working with a team of brilliant scientists and technicians – a good number with military backgrounds – has made me smile.
All of this ‘Heaven and Hell’ and finding truth, facts, and results in between those two existential places is the reason we are enthusiastic about our work. I tell potential clients this is why we smile, and they should bring their materiel here and smile with us.
ESD: Thank you, sir, it has been ‘Heaven’.
