As the US and the Soviet Union were engulfed in an unprecedented arms race after World War 2 ended, there was another country that wanted to outdo the Soviets during the Cold War: Sweden.

The Swedish Navy had developed the RB 08 anti-ship missile for its Halland-class destroyers in the early 1960s. However, it lacked the range and versatility of its Soviet counterpart, the older P-15 Termit. As such, the European nation was forced to buy American-made Harpoon missiles to face a possible Soviet threat.

The solution, however, was temporary. As early as 1978, Sweden started developing a new generation of state-of-the-art fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missiles: the mighty RBS 15.

The ambitious design promised a unique and formidable anti-ship missile that would not only surpass the P-15 Termit, but would even outdo the American harpoon, drawing Sweden closer to military weaponry independence.

In a bold move, Sweden canceled a large order of US Harpoon missiles in the early 1980s. Instead, it ordered its own domestic mighty RBS 15. Only time would tell if the ambitious Swedish technology was ready to perform in the big leagues…

свернуть