The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History The Swedish Air Force was created on
July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because
of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was
reorganized and expanded from four to seven squadrons. When World War II broke
out in 1939 further expansion was initiated and this substantial expansion
was not finished until the end of the war. Although Sweden never entered the
war, a large air force was considered necessary to ward off the threat of
invasion and to resist pressure through military threats from the great powers.
By 1945 the Swedish Air Force had over 800 combat-ready aircraft, including 15
fighter divisions. A major problem for the Swedish Air
Force during World War II was the lack of fuel. Sweden was surrounded by
countries at war and could not rely on imported oil. Instead domestic oil
shales were heated to produce the needed petrol.
= Expansion during the Cold War= The Swedish Air Force underwent a rapid
modernization from 1945. It was no longer politically acceptable to equip
it with second-rate models. Instead, the air staff purchased the best it could
find from abroad, e.g. P-51D Mustangs, De Havilland Mosquito NF.19 night
fighters and de Havilland Vampires, and supported the development of top
performance domestic models. When the Saab 29 Tunnan fighter was introduced
around 1950, Sweden suddenly had planes that were equal to the best of the Royal
Air Force, the Soviet Union's VVS, and the U.S. Air Force.
During the 1950s the air force started to build road bases after an idea taken
from Germany. Built under the BASE 60 distributed airfield scheme, the bases
were ordinary highways constructed in such a way that they could also serve as
landing strips. In the early eighties road number 44 was rebuilt to contain
four short runways. Along the road a large number of turn-around-sites for
rearming and refueling were built. These short runways are still used today for
training, landing and taking off with Gripen and Hercules as preparation for
international operations under adverse conditions.
During the Cold War large amounts of money were spent on the Swedish Air
Force and domestic airplane production. In 1957 Sweden had the world's fourth
most powerful air force, with about 1000 modern planes in front-line
service. During the 1950s, it introduced fighters such as the Saab J 29 Tunnan,
Saab A 32 Lansen and Saab J 35 Draken. In June 1952 the Swedish Air Force lost
two aircraft on Cold War operations, in what became known as the Catalina
affair. A signals intelligence Douglas DC-3 was intercepted by Soviet MiG-15s
over the Baltic, and shot down with the loss of three aircrew and five civilian
technicians. A PBY Catalina rescue seaplane was then also downed, the five
man crew being rescued from the sea by a freighter.
= War service= The Swedish Air Force has seen
involvement at some level in three wars, the Finno-Soviet Winter War in 1939–40,
in which volunteers took part, the Congo Crisis, 1961–64, and in the 2011 Libyan
civil war. Finland 1940
When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in November 1939, Sweden came to its
neighbour's assistance in most ways short of joining the war outright. A
Swedish volunteer infantry brigade and a volunteer air squadron fought in
northern Finland in January till March 1940. The squadron was designated F 19
and consisted of 12 Gloster Gladiator fighters and four Hawker Hart
dive-bombers. Congo 1961–1964
The Swedish Air Force saw combat as part of the United Nations peace-keeping
mission ONUC during the Congo Crisis in 1961 to 1964. It established a separate
air wing, F 22, equipped with a dozen semi-obsolete Saab 29 Tunnans, which
performed well under the rugged conditions in central Africa. The
secessionist adversaries possessed only a small number of aircraft with poor
combat capabilities, e.g. Fouga Magister trainers.
= 1990s – restructuring= The end of the Cold War saw the Swedish
Armed Forces undergo a massive restructuring process. During that time,
several air bases were deemed unnecessary and closed. In 1994 the air
force had over 400 fighters, by 2005 the number had sunk to fewer than 150.
= Libya 2011= On March 29, 2011, the Swedish prime
minister announced that eight Saab JAS 39 Gripens would be deployed to support
the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya. The announcement was made in response to
a request by NATO for assistance. The Swedish fighters were limited to
supporting the no-fly zone and were not authorized to engage in ground attack
sorties. The deployment was approved by the Swedish Riksdag on April 1, 2011 and
the first jets departed for Libya on April 2. Accompanying the fighters was a
C-130 Hercules for mid-air refueling. = Future=
The Swedish Air Force is today being adapted to new future tasks. With the
collapse of the only military threat, the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold
War, budget cuts have been made in the Swedish armed forces. The Swedish
government decided to cut back on the Air Force and its fighters. Today about
80 Gripen C/D fighters remains in service. Some orders have been made on
the helicopter side and about 40 new units will join the air force in the
next coming years. Saab AB has also joined the primarily French project for
the unmanned future stealth plane Dassault nEUROn.
In 2008 as well as in 2010, the Swedish armed forces wanted to retire even more
fighters and close air-bases to relocate money to other branches. However,
because of negative response from the public and pressure from the Swedish
government, no cuts have so far been made.
Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors responded to the Russian purchase of Mistral-class
amphibious assault ships by saying that the Swedish Air Force would need "sea
targeting capabilities". In 2013, the USMC introduced Swedish
helicopter units to the forward air control airborne mission for better
air-ground coordination. In the same year, a further 60 Gripens from the
modified E class was orders with the first plane to join the airforce in
2018. In April 2014, the Swedish government proposed another 10 fighters
making the total order of 70 planes. Aircraft inventory
= Weapons= Organization
= Fighter units= There are three wings of fighters:
Skaraborg Air Force Wing Located at Såtenäs outside Lidköping,
operates JAS 39C/D. Blekinge Air Force Wing
Located at Kallinge in Ronneby, operates JAS 39C/D.
Norrbotten Air Force Wing Located at Kallax in Luleå, operates JAS
39C/D. = Helicopter units=
The aviation units that were formerly under the Swedish Army and the Swedish
Navy have been merged with the helicopter units of the Air Force to
form the single Helicopter Wing for the entire Armed Forces. The wing has been
placed under the authority of the Air Force and consists of:
1st Helicopter Squadron Kallax in Luleå, operates Hkp 10.
2nd Helicopter Squadron Malmen in Linköping, operates Hkp 14,
Hkp 15 and Hkp 16. 3rd Helicopter Squadron
Kallinge in Ronneby, operates Hkp 10 and Hkp 15.
Såtenäs, operates Hkp 10. = Aircraft=
The Air Force is currently deploying the Saab Gripen for service. Gripen,
designated JAS 39 Gripen—the designation JAS stands for Jakt, Attack and Spaning,
and means every Gripen can fulfill all three mission types—is a modern
multi-role fighter designed to replace Draken and Viggen. Capabilities of
Gripen include a short runway requirement, advanced data link
equipment, and canard delta design with lateral instability and fly-by-wire.
Sweden originally ordered 204 Gripen aircraft. Out of these 80 remain in
service in the Air Force today and an additional 28 are leased to the Czech
and Hungarian Air Force, with an option to acquire them when the lease period
expires. Furthermore, 12 aircraft were sold to the Royal Thai Air Force.
See also Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences
List of air forces List of military aircraft of Sweden
Swedish Air Force Museum Swedish Air Force Historic Flight
= People= Bengt Nordenskiöld
Lars Olausson References
External links Swedish Air Force – Official site
Swedish Air Force Historical Flight, SwAFHF
History of the Swedish Air Force Information on Swedish military aviation
Sunneberg – Information on Swedish aircraft