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Swedish Air Force
Coat of arms of the Swedish Air Force.
Founded	July 1 1926
Country	Sweden
Part of	Swedish Armed Forces
Battles/wars	Winter War Congo Crisis
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Jan Andersson
Insignia
Roundels
Aircraft flown
Fighter	JAS 39 Gripen
Trainer	Saab 105
Transport	C-130 Hercules

The Swedish Air Force (Swedish: Flygvapnet, literally "The Flight Weapon") is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Expansion during the Cold War 1.2 War Service 1.2.1 Finland 1940 1.2.2 Congo 1961-64 1.3 Restructuring 2 List of aircraft 3 Organization 3.1 Fighter units 3.2 Helicopter units 3.3 Aircraft 4 Future 5 See also 6 External links 7 Sources

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 4 to 7 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 Two 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.

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 and de Havilland Vampires, and supported the development of top performance domestic models. When the SAAB Tunnan fighter was introduced around 1950, Sweden suddenly had planes that were equal to the best of the Royal Air Force, Soviet Union and the US Air Force.

During the 1950s the air force started to build road bases after an idea taken from Germany. The bases were ordinary highways constructed in such a way that they could also serve as landing strips. During the Cold War large amounts of money (including all that had been reserved for Swedish nuclear weapons) 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 800 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.

The Swedish Air Force has fought in two wars, the Finno-Soviet Winter War in 1939-40 and in the Congo Crisis 1961-64.

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 4 Hawker Hart dive-bombers.

The Swedish Air Force saw combat as part of the UN 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 Tunnan fighters, which performed well under the rugged conditions in central Africa. The secessionist adversaries possessed only a small number of aircraft with poor combat capabilities.

During the 1990s the Swedish Armed Forces went through a massive restructuring process in which some air bases were closed.

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[1]	Notes
JAS 39 Gripen	Sweden	multirole fighter	39A 39B 39C 39D	138	Future number will be around 100
Saab 105	Sweden	trainer light attack		?
Bo 105	Germany	transport helicopter (attack)		18	To be replaced by Agusta A109
CH-46 Sea Knight	Japan	transport helicopter		14	To be replaced by NHI NH90 in 2008/09
Eurocopter Super Puma	France	transport helicopter		10
NHI NH90	European Union	transport helicopter		~5	18 on order
Agusta A109	Italy	transport helicopter		~5	20 on order
C-130E Hercules	United States	transport		8
S-100B Argus	Sweden	AEW		2-5?	total 6 on order

There are three wings of fighters:

• Skaraborg Air Force Wing (F 7)
  • Located at Såtenäs outside Lidköping
• Blekinge Air Force Wing F 17 Kallinge
  • Located at Kallinge in Ronneby
• Norrbotten Air Force Wing (F 21)
  • Located at Kallax in Luleå

The aviation units that formerly were under the Swedish Army ("Arméflyget") and the Royal Swedish Navy ("Marinflyget") have been merged with the helicopter units of the Air Force to form the single Helicopter Wing (Hkpflj) for the entire Armed Forces. The wing has been placed under the authority of the Air Force and consists of:

• 1st Helicopter Squadron (1. hkpskv)
  • Located at Boden (former Army Aviation unit) and Östersund (at F 4)
• 2nd Helicopter Squadron (2. hkpskv)
  • Located at Berga (former Navy Aviation unit) and Uppsala (at LSS)
• 3rd Helicopter Squadron (3. hkpskv)
  • Located at Ronneby (at F 17)
• Helicopter Squadron Malmen (Hkpflj/Malmen), former 4th Helicopter Battalion (4. hkpbat)
  • Located at Linköping/Malmen (former Army Aviation unit)
• 5th Helicopter Squadron (5. hkpskv)
  • Located at Gothenburg City Airport (former Navy Aviation unit) and Såtenäs (at F 7),

It is currently deploying the Saab Gripen for service. Gripen, designated JAS 39 Gripen - the designation JAS stands for Jakt (Air-to-Air), Attack (Air-to-Surface) and Spaning (Reconnaissance), 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 very short runway requirement, advanced data link equipment, and canard delta design with lateral instability and fly-by-wire. Sweden currently has ordered 204 Gripen aircraft.

The future of the Swedish Air Force is today uncertain. With the Cold War over and the collapse of the Soviet Union, massive budget cuts have been made. The Swedish government have decided to cut back on the Air Force and its fighters. Of the now 138 planes in service about 100 will form the future Swedish Air Force. Some orders have been made on the helicopter side and about 40 new units will join the air force in the next coming years. Swedish Saab have also joined the EU project for the unmanned future stealth plane nEUROn.

• Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences
• List of air forces
• List of military aircraft of Sweden
• Swedish Air Force Museum

v • d • e Lists relating to aviation
General	Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
Military	Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents and accidents	Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
Records	Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

• Swedish Air Force - Official site (Swedish)

• History of the Swedish Air Force (Swedish)
• Information on Swedish military aviation

v • d • e Swedish Armed Forces
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