Introduction – Military Aviation
Swedish military aviation was born with the introduction to the Army of balloon observation during the late 1800s. The first powered military aircraft were introduced around 1910. Sweden, originally operating a Navy and Army aviation corps, joined them to form the Royal Swedish Air Force (RSAF) in 1926. Between the end of WWII and the first half of the 1950s, the Royal Swedish Air Force had developed into an air force ranked among the world’s largest and best equipped.

Swedish Military Flying before 1926
The first powered military aeroplane in the Swedish forces was donated by private initiative from business organisations in 1911, to the Navy. This was a British-built Blériot-type called “Big-Bat”. In 1912, the Swedish Aeronautical Society provided the Army with one plane, as did the Swedish Government. This latter aircraft formed the basis of the Aviation Unit (“Flygkompaniet”) of the Army Telegraph Corps. The first military flight school was formed in 1913, but as Sweden was isolated from the rest of the world by neutrality during WWI, flight training remained at a basic level due to a lack of tactical experience. Flight operations consisted of reconnaissance and, to some extent, manual bombing training.

However, interest in military aviation increased dramatically and during 1917, the number of Army aircraft was 42 and Naval aircraft, 22, rendering a total of 64 military aircraft (of which 29 were provided by private donations). After the WW1, a number of surplus aircraft were bought, and fighters were for the first time included in the Swedish fleet of combat aeroplanes. Even at this early stage of Swedish flying, Swedish-constructed aircraft were among the types used.

The Birth of the Swedish Air Force
Among the first ten countries to have a separate Air Force, Sweden formed the Royal Swedish Air Force in 1926, as a result of the Swedish defence decision of 1925. The Air Force (four air corps and one flight training unit) was composed primarily of the Air Company of the Army, but Naval aviation was also incorporated in the new organisation. The officers and personnel were recruited from the previously existing military branches, and the cadre was to a large degree made up by former Army or Navy officers. This was actually initially considered to be an advantage, as it helped the officers understand each others’ operational perspectives and the Air Force could be best used in conjunction with the other forces.

1930s: Build-Up Phase
The first class of directly inducted Air Force officers graduated in 1936, being the result of the forming of the Swedish Air Force Academy earlier that year. At this time, the number of aircraft had only grown to less than 100 - a considerably lower number than the 229 prescribed in the defence decision of 1925. Reflecting world developments as well as new goals for a reinforcement of the Air Force, the four air corps were to grow to seven, and the older and newly formed units were also to be operationally redefined into wings (“Flottiljer”), each holding three squadrons (one Swedish squadron holds 8-12 aircraft). Inspired by the Italian General Douhet’s thoughts on tactical use of aircraft and also as a result of visits to American bomb training units, there was a clear focus on bombing and dive-bombing divisions. This was perhaps also influenced by the fact that Germany, due to the Versailles-Treaty restrictions, had placed the development of the Junkers Ju87 Stuka in a Swedish aircraft construction facility. The fighter divisions were few, as the use of these tactical aircraft had not yet been effectively proven to the Swedish decision makers.

Sweden bought aircraft from abroad, but also started licensed production of aircraft types such as the Junkers Ju86 K, the Hawker Hart, the Northrop 8 A-1 Nomad, and the North American NA 16. Sweden’s SAAB also started the development of their own dive bomber, SAAB 17, a successful all-metal construction which even featured retractable ski-gear for winter purposes.

An incident which had no political consequences, but is merely presented as an interesting side note is that the Royal Swedish Air Force had ordered American aircraft from Seversky Republic, but when the USA became involved in WWII, 23 of the ordered Seversky Republic E Guardsman fighters, ready for delivery to Sweden, were reassigned to be used by the US Army Air Corps instead. In the first days of combat, these “Swedish” Republic Guardsman aircraft fought the Japanese in the Philippines – all flying with Swedish markings, with a single American flag painted on the rudder.

WWII – War Volunteers and Neutrality Watch
As a result of Germany’s attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, Sweden declared itself neutral – just as it did in 1914. The Swedish Prime Minister assured the Swedish people that “…our preparedness is good” – but regarding the Air Force, the air territory of Sweden, stretching 1572 km (975 miles) from north to south and 499 km (310 miles) from east to west, was to be defended by means of a total force of 40 medium bombers (mainly Junkers Ju86s), 30 light bombers (mainly Hawker Harts), 50 fighters (mainly Gloster Gladiators), 50 reconnaissance planes (mainly Fokker C.V.E.s) and 10 torpedo planes – making a total of 180 aircraft… However, despite the lack of equipment, the flying personnel were well-trained and of high quality by international standards; also the introduced system of geographically dispersed “war air bases” all over Sweden gave room for a highly flexible air force.

When Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in November of 1939, Sweden declared itself “non-belligerent” instead of “neutral” in the Finno-Russian war, as feelings for the sister country were strong as a result of hundreds of years of common history. The national efforts to help the Finnish people, under the motto “Finland’s cause is our cause!”, were mostly of a civilian character, but many Swedish volunteers fought side by side with the Finns against the Russians, and infantry weapons were shipped over the Baltic Sea. Moreover, eight aircraft were initially donated to the Finnish Air Force, and support in the form of a flight wing was organised and made operational. RSAF air wings, “flottiljer”, of that time, fully operational as well as planned, were numbered “F 1” to “F 18”, and the voluntary wing sent to Finland was called the F 19 Wing. The wing was put under Finnish command, and consisted of twelve fighters (Gloster Gladiators), eight light bombers (Hawker Harts), three transport aircraft and 250 air force volunteers.

In January of 1940, the F 19 wing was fully operational (as “Flight Regiment 5” in the Finnish war organisation). Until the armistice of what was called “the Finnish winter war”, the Swedish Wing fought well against the Soviet Air Force, and the air crews’ experiences provided valuable input for the further development of the Royal Swedish Air Force.

Sweden imported some 200 fighters from Italy and the USA. The Swedish wood-and-metal fighter FFVS J 22 (constructed and built during the war, first flown in 1942), together with the dive-bomber SAAB 17 (first flown in 1940) and the medium bomber SAAB 18 (first flown in 1942) were all successful Swedish-built military aircraft of WWII. Thus, the Swedish neutrality watch was undergoing heavy progress during the war and the Swedish air defences were eventually a powerful force to defend Sweden from any possible hostilities. In terms of aeronautical technology, the Swedish aircraft industry was well-ahead regarding new inventions: the nose-geared, push-engine J21 fighter (first flown in 1943) necessitated the development of one of the first jet-driven ejection seats in operational use.

Even though Sweden never took actual part in the hostilities, the Swedish Air Force saw combat in terms of defending neutrality and guiding straying Allied and German aircraft to safe landing grounds. In this role, the RSAF proved especially useful in the southern parts of Sweden during the last years of the war, when Allied bombing routes were drawn increasingly closer to Swedish air territory. It is worth noting that no less than a total of 342 foreign military aircraft landed in Sweden during WWII, of which about 200 were American or British aircraft with varying degrees of battle-damage. To many Allied air crew in crippled Lancasters, B-17s and B-24s, Sweden provided a “haven of refuge” instead of ditching at sea or in German-occupied countries, although the air crews were detained in Sweden. There were special internment camps built and/or organised (Allied and German soldiers were kept in separate places), and although run by Swedish military personnel, the conditions were in many cases more like a spa than those of an imprisonment camp.

At the end of the war, the strength of the Swedish Air Force had changed drastically from its status of 1939: in 1945 it had over 800 aircraft ready to pursue a combat role, including 15 fighter divisions (200 aircraft, of which the most modern were the newly acquired P-51s); 3 long-range reconnaissance divisions (30 aircraft); 5 short-range reconnaissance divisions (50 aircraft), and 6 naval reconnaissance divisions (40 aircraft). Among the most frequently used combat aircraft in the Swedish Air Force during WW2 were the following: Fighters: Gloster Gladiator (J8), Seversky Republic EP-1 (J9), Fiat CR42 (J11), Reggiane 2000 Falco (J20), SAAB 21 (J21), FFVS J 22 (J22), NA P-51 Mustang (J26); Bombers: Junkers Ju86 K (B3), Hawker Hart (B4), Northrop 8 A-1 (B5), Caproni Ca313 (B16), SAAB 17 (B17), SAAB 18 (B18); Torpedo aircraft: Heinkel He115 A2 (T2), Junkers Ju86 K (T3), Caproni Ca313 (T16); Reconnaissance aircraft: Heinkel He114 (S12), Fokker C.V.E. (S6), Hawker Osprey (S9), Fieseler Fi156 Storch (S14).

The Jet Era
The first jet aircraft in use in the Royal Swedish Air Force was the De Havilland Vampire (J28), although the push-engine Swedish-built SAAB 21 fighter was reconstructed and fitted with a jet engine at about the same time. During the 1950s, the most commonly used jet aircraft was the SAAB 29 Tunnan (the “Flying Barrel”), a type that in later versions was equipped one of the first jet engines that made use of afterburner technology. The SAAB 29 was also used by the Austrian Air Force. Sweden had developed a successful aircraft industry of its own during WWII, with the SAAB (Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, “Swedish Aeroplane Ltd.”) company being the leading manufacturer, and the SAAB constructions have dominated the Swedish Air Force ever since, with aircraft such as the SAAB 32 Lansen (“the Lance”), the SAAB 35 Draken (“the Dragon”), also exported to Austria, Finland and Denmark; the SAAB 37 Viggen (“the Thunder flash”) and the SAAB 39 Gripen (“the Griffon”). However, the RSAF has also used fighter jets such as the De Havilland Venom (J33) and the Hawker Hunter MK4 (J34).

Due to the Swedish aircraft industry’s specific circumstances of providing aircraft to the non-alliance affiliated Sweden, the SAAB aircraft have mostly been of the multi-role type, where the same basic aircraft filling the roles of Attack and Fighter aircraft (e.g., the AJ 37 Viggen), Fighter and Attack aircraft (e.g., the JA 37 Viggen), Photo Reconnaissance (e.g., the SF 37 Viggen) and Trainer (e.g., the SK 37 Viggen). The most modern Swedish combat aircraft, the JAS 39 Gripen, is a multi-role aircraft capable of easily switching from the role of interceptor to attack or reconnaissance.

Army and Navy Aviation
Even though the separate aviation units of the Army and the Navy were united in the Swedish Air Force in 1926, the combat roles of Army-related liaison and reconnaissance aviation as well as Naval reconnaissance and sea rescue continued to be executed by flight units closely affiliated with the Army and the Navy respectively. In 1939, a Royal Swedish Air Force wing, the F 3 wing, was assigned to perform army reconnaissance duties, using Fokker (S6), Fieseler Storch (S14), and later also Junkers Ju86 (B3), Handley Page Hampden (P5), Caproni Ca313 (S16) and SAAB 17 (S17). After the war, Swedish army aviation grew to become a separate unit within the Swedish Army organisation with (today) primarily helicopter-based units, performing liaison/transport, reconnaissance, alpine rescue and ground attack/anti-tank tasks. Swedish Army pilot training started in 1960.

During WWII, the Swedish Air Force F 2 wing served as a liaison unit with the Swedish Navy, operating in torpedo attack, reconnaissance and sea rescue roles, flying aircraft such as the Heinkel He114 (S12), Fokker C.V.E. (S6), Hawker Osprey (S9), Junkers W34 (Tp2), SAAB 17 (S17) and the (formerly German Luftwaffe) Dornier Do24 (Tp24). The Aviation unit within the Swedish Navy was organised as an integrated part of the Royal Swedish Navy in the early 1960s, when sea rescue helicopters were introduced. Swedish Naval aviation units are primarily performing sea rescue and anti-submarine roles.

A reorganisation was carried out in 1999, when the separate helicopter units of the Air Force, the Army and the Navy are unified in the Helicopter Wing of the Defence Forces (Försvarsmaktens Helikopterflottilj), with Head Quarters in Malmen, Linköping and organised in four battalions, stationed in Boden (1. Hkpbat/Norrland), Stockholm (2. Hkpbat/Svea), Ronneby (3. Hkpbat/Göta), and Linköping (4. Hkpbat/Östgöta).