Huvudoperationerna

Huvudoperationerna is a term used in Swedish military doctrine to refer to the central, decisive set of actions within a campaign or operation, intended to achieve the principal objective. The concept distinguishes the main thrust from supporting or ancillary tasks and is commonly emphasized in planning documents, orders, and training.

In practice, the huvudoperationerna involve concentrating forces and resources at the time and place where they can have the greatest effect, coordinating movements and fires, and pursuing a decisive engagement. They are guided by strategic aims, intelligence, and the anticipated reactions of the enemy, with the goal of creating a favorable tempo and disrupting the adversary’s cohesion. The success of the main operations is typically seen as determining the outcome of the campaign, while supporting operations constrain, delay, or distract.

Historically and in modern doctrine, the term is used across levels of warfare—from theater-level campaigns to battlefield planning—and appears in exercises, simulations, and defense planning. It is also used in civilian strategic planning to describe central efforts that shape overall outcomes.

Etymology and usage note: huvud means main or chief, and operationerna means the operations. The definite form huvudoperationerna denotes “the main operations” as a specific, planned set of actions within a larger operation.