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| | The '''Swedish Air Force''' (Swedish: ''Flygvapnet'', literally "The Flight Weapon") is the air force branch of the [[:Category:Military of Sweden|Swedish Armed Forces]], the military of [[Sweden]]. | | The '''Swedish Air Force''' (Swedish: ''Flygvapnet'', literally "The Flight Weapon") is the air force branch of the [[:Category:Military of Sweden|Swedish Armed Forces]], the military of [[Sweden]]. |
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| - | ==History==
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| - | 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.
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| - | 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.
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| - | ===Expansion===
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| - | 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.
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| - | 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.
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| - | ===War Service===
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| - | The Swedish Air Force has fought in two wars, the Finno-Soviet Winter War in 1939-40 and in the Congo Crisis 1961-64.
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| - | ====Finland 1940====
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| - | 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.
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| - | ====Congo Crisis====
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| - | 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.
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| - | ==Inventory==
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| - | *25 squadrons of Saab JAS Gripen multirole fighters
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| - | **14 squadrons of JAS 39A
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| - | **3 squadrons of JAS 39B
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| - | **7 squadrons of JAS 39C
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| - | **1 squadron of JAS 39D
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| - | *10 squadrons of Saab 105 trainer/light attack aircraft
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| - | **6 squadrons of SK 60C
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| - | **4 squadrons of SK 60W
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| - | *5 squadrons of MBB Bo 105 light utility helicopters
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| - | **2 squadrons of Bo 105LS A3 "Superlifter"
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| - | **2 squadrons of Bo 105P
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| - | **1 squadron of Bo 105M
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| - | *8 squadrons of CH-46 Sea Knight cargo helicopters
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| - | **2 squadrons of Hkp 4A
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| - | **2 squadrons of Hkp 4B
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| - | **2 squadrons of Hkp 4C
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| - | **2 squadrons of Hkp 4D
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| - | *5 squadrons of Eurocopter Super Puma utility helicopters
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| - | **3 squadrons of AS 332B
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| - | **1 squadron of AS 332F
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| - | **1 squadron of AS 332M
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| - | *5 squadrons of NHI NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters
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| - | *4 squadrons of Agusta A109LUH SAR/utility helicopters
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| - | *3 squadrons of Lockheed C-130H Hercules STOL transports
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| - | *1 squadron of Saab S-100B Argus AEW aircraft
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| - | [[Category:Air forces]]
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| - | [[Category:Military of Sweden|Air Force, Swedish]]
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pw0eOK Major thanks for the article post.Thanks Again. Really Cool.
mAn9tu I am so grateful for your blog article. Want more.
