The Swedish armed forces have been hit by a major equipment problem, according to reports. Flimsy military brassieres are unable to stand up to the strains imposed when female Swedish troops perform "rigorous exercises", routinely bursting open or even catching fire - so forcing busty young conscripts to hurriedly strip off in the field.

The revelations come courtesy of the Gothenburg Post and English-language Swedish journal The Local. The Post reported yesterday on concerns raised by the Swedish Conscription Council, an organisation concerned with the rights of conscript troops in the Swedish forces.

Council spokesperson Paulina Rehbinder told The Local that government-issue military brassieres supplied to young female soldiers have long been unfit for combat.

According to the paper:

The women complained that the bras’ fasteners have a tendency to come undone when the women performed rigorous exercise, forcing the female soldiers to take off all of their equipment in order to refasten the brassieres.

The Post apparently brought the related bosom-combustion issue to light, noting that bras can catch fire during combat and then "melt onto conscripts’ skin".

“Our opinion is that the Swedish Armed Forces should have ordered good, flame-proof underwear,” Rehbinder said.

“There should be suitable apparel for women.”

Rehbinder reportedly added that the problems have persisted for twenty years, with generations of young Swedish womens' tophamper routinely breaking free of confinement to oscillate wildly during army PT sessions and field exercises - presumably often followed by impromptu stripteases as the more jubtabulously fortunate female troops sought to re-fasten their flimsy government lingerie.

The problems would apparently be easy to sort out. Unaccountably, however, it appears that the male-dominated Swedish military hierarchy has failed to act.

Rehbinder reportedly - though perhaps mistakenly - believes that change is on the horizon. She told The Local that 2,000 new young female recruits are to enter the Swedish forces next year, and that top brass had been informed of this recently.

"That got them moving,” she said. ®