Bofors is a Swedish arms manufacturer

History: Bofors is over 350 years old but only started producing arms at the end of the thirty years war. The company was acquired by Alfred Nobel in 1894 which led to beginning of a new era for Bofors. During the 90s Bofors was bought up by United Defense, an American arms manufacturer. The most famous Bofors weaponsystems are the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun and the m/86 Anti-tank weapon (Called AT4 in the US).

Company Structure: Bofors is divided in to two main parts, Bofors Defence and SAAB Bofors Dynamics. Bofors Defence is mainly involved in designing and producing ammunitions, combat vehicles, air defense systems, gun systems and artillery systems. SAAB Bofors Dynamics is a collaboration by the two biggest defense contractors in Sweden. They are the producers of the AT4 and several other infantry weapons and missile systems.

The Scandals: Sweden has for many years had a law stating that no arms may be exported to countries which are on the Amnesty blacklist. Bofors however have been able to circumvent this law by saying that they are only exporting spare parts and support equipment. This has caused an outrage against the company in the press and amongst group like "Plogbillsrörelsen" which have even attempted to stop some of the export by breaking in to airport and harbors where they suspected such arms to be held.