Swedish Air Force

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Royal Swedish Air Force
Coat of arms of the Swedish Air Force.
Founded	July 1 1926
Country	Sweden
Part of	Swedish Armed Forces
Engagements	Winter War Congo Crisis
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Jan Andersson
Insignia
Roundels
Aircraft flown
Attack	Bo 105
Fighter	JAS 39 Gripen
Trainer	Saab 105
Transport	C-130 Hercules, Bo 105, A109, NHI NH90, Eurocopter Super Puma , CH-46 Sea Knight

v • d • e Swedish Armed Forces Army | Navy | Air Force | Home Guard

The Swedish Air Force (Swedish: Flygvapnet) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.

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 1990s - restructuring 1.4 Future 2 List of aircraft 3 Organization 3.1 Fighter units 3.2 Helicopter units 3.3 Aircraft 3.4 Retired aircraft 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] 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 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 U.S. 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.

[edit] War service

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Congo 1961-64

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 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.

[edit] 1990s - restructuring

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

[edit] Future

The future of the Swedish Air Force is today uncertain. With the collapse of the only military threat, the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, massive budget cuts have been made in the Swedish armed forces. The Swedish government have also 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. Saab have also joined the EU project for the unmanned future stealth plane Dassault nEUROn.

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In May 2008 new cuts in the Swedish armed forces was announced. Soon after this the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Håkan Syrén, stated that even more Gripen fighters could be retired. The suggested number of future fighters in the Swedish air force is now about 60.^[1]. If this will become a reality the Swedish air force will have 144 excess Gripen. The price for one Gripen multirole fighter in 2006 was 76.1 million US$. This means that the Swedish armed forces has spent more than 1.1 billion dollars on aircraft that never will be used. Also one of Sweden's three existing fighter wings could be closed. F21 in Luleå or F17 in Ronneby is in option for this ^[2] .

[edit] List of aircraft

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[3]	Notes
JAS 39 Gripen	Sweden	multirole fighter	39A 39B 39C 39D	98 15 41 12	24 C And 4 D Gripens are leased to Czech Republic and Hungary and will return around 2016[4]. Plans to reduce the number of Gripens is in progress.
Saab 105	Sweden	jet trainer light ground attack	Sk60[4]	42
S-100B Argus	Sweden	AEW	S100B[4]	6	all aircraft now delivered[4]
Bo 105	Germany	Light utility helicopter	Hkp9[4]	18	To be replaced by Agusta A109
CH-46 Sea Knight	United States	transport helicopter	Hkp4[4]	14	To be replaced by NHI NH90 in 2008/09
Eurocopter Super Puma	France	transport helicopter	Hkp10[4]	10
NHI NH90	European Union	transport helicopter	Hkp14[4]	0	18 on order
Agusta A109	Italy	transport helicopter	Hkp15[4]	5	20 on order 8 shipbased, 12 landbased
C-130E Hercules	United States	transport	Tp84[4]	8
Gulfstream IV	United States	VIP	Tp102[4]	2
SPERVER	France	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle	UAV Ugglan[5]	3
Saab 340	Sweden	Transport	Tp100	2
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III	United States	Cargo	?	0	3 on order [6]

[edit] Organization

[edit] Fighter units

There are three wings of fighters:

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

[edit] Helicopter units

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),

[edit] Aircraft

The Air Force 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 has ordered 204 Gripen aircraft. 28 of those, however, are leased to the Czech and Hungarian Air Force (14 each), with an option to acquire them when the lease period expires. Furthermore, six aircraft will be sold to the Royal Thai Air Force in 2011, with a possibility of another six later on.

[edit] Retired aircraft

• Saab 37 Viggen (1972-2005)
• Saab 35 Draken (1960-1999)
• J-34 (1955-1969)
• Saab 32 Lansen (1956-1978)
• Saab 29 Tunnan (1950-1972)
• J-28 (1946-1956)
• J-26 (1945-1950)
• Saab 21 (1945-1951)
• Saab 18 (1945-1957)
• Saab 17 (1942-1968)
• J-20 (1941-1945)
• J-11 (1940-1945)
• J-8 (1938-1947)
• J-7 (1930-1940)
• J-6 Jaktfalken (1932-1941)
• J-4 Heinkel (1928-1937)
• J-3 (1928-1943)
• J-2 Nieuport 28 (1926-1930)
• J-1 FMV/Phönixwerke D.III (1919-1933)

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

• History of the Swedish Air Force (Swedish)
• Information on Swedish military aviation
• Sunneberg - Information on swedish aircraft (Swedish)

[edit] External links

• Swedish Air Force - Official site (Swedish)

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