After the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, two state commissions were appointed that looked over Sweden counter-terrorism capabilities. As a result, the government gave the task to the Swedish National Police Board to organize the "Standby Force Against Terrorism" within the Stockholm County Police Authority in 1990. The group was soon renamed Nationella insatsstyrkan and became also a resource for the whole of Sweden. The right to make decisions about when they were used was delegated by the government to the Swedish National Police Board. After a parliamentary decision in 2002, the NTF was transferred from the Stockholm County Police Authority to the National Criminal Police. In connection with the reorganization of the police in 2015, the NTF was placed under the National Operations Department.
Tasks & operations
The NTF is meant to handle extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as terrorism and hostage situations. The main tasks of the unit includes:
Securing evidence in complex or high risk situations
The unit also conducts intervention tasks in cities too remote for the reinforced regional task forces of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö to reach, and too complex for the regional task forces of the non-metropolitan regions to handle. The NTF has participated in international operations in an advisory role. They regularly accompany the personal protection details of the Swedish Security Service abroad, providing a CAT capability. They were also deployed aboard the Swedish Coast Guard vessels participating in the EU-led border security operation Triton, acting as a boarding party. The difference in the day-to-day intervention tasks between the NTF and the reinforced regional task forces is small and often blur.
Organization
The NTF has one head of the unit with a number of subordinated coordinators, and a staff of experienced police officers from the unit. Under this management group the force is divided into 8 groups:
Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Fox
Golf
Hotel
The NTF is part of the National Intervention Concept. Launched in 2015, this concept standardized and regulated the employment, structure and capabilities of the Swedish police's tactical units. The NIK divides the various tactical units into three levels of capabilities: National capability: Provided by the NTF Reinforced regional capability: Provided by the RRTF in regions Stockholm, West and South. General regional capability: Provided by regional tactical teams dispersed throughout their respective region. This capability exists in regions North, East, Mid and Bergslagen..|267x267px
Selection
The unit recruits operators bi-annually. To be eligible for service with the NTF the applicant is required to have completed either:
Applicants who meet the basic requirements are then tested on their physical and psychological stamina during two 2 day periods. If successful they're invited to attend a grueling 10 day selection course in the field, At the end of the recruitment process an average of 6-10% of the candidates remain and progress to the roughly 6 months long operator training course. Candidates not already serving as police officers undergo a shorter, compressed police training roughly 18 months in length prior to attending the operator training course.
Service
Members of the NTF work full-time in the force. At the units inception the operators used to work two weeks on the unit followed by two weeks of regular police work, but as the need for them increased they changed it to full-time to cope with the demand and the need for more training. Most members have prior military service and as of recently direct application from the military to the unit is possible. The NTF has a close and active cooperation with the military, they have aviation support via the Air Force'sUH-60 Black Hawks and regularly train with their military counterpart, the Special Operations Task Group. The NTF also has an active cooperation with several equivalent units in Europe in place via the ATLAS counter terrorism network, especially with other Nordic units such as the Danish AKS and the Norwegian Emergency Response Unit. For maritime operations the NTF is supported by the Coast Guard whose National boarding group operate Rigid-hulled inflatable boats.
Armament & equipment
The NTF are issued a wide variety of weapons, namely being the MP5submachine gun, assault rifles such as the G36, which have since been replaced by the LWRC M6 as well as shotguns. In addition, all operators are equipped with the SIG Sauer P226 pistol as a sidearm, which is the standard sidearm used by all Swedish police officers. Snipers are equipped with the L96A1 AW sniper rifle, HK417, and according to pictures taken during US President Barack Obama's visit to Stockholm in September 2013, the new Sako TRG M10 Sniper Weapon System in.338 Lapua Magnum. The special equipment of the NTF is significantly different from that of the ordinary police. Operators are equipped with different radios, as wells as vest and uniforms from American manufacturer , ballistic Ops Core helmets and AN/PVS-31 night vision goggles. They distinguish themselves from other Swedish police by the green uniforms worn while operating in uniform.
