The Quest for Relevant Air Power

290 │ Swedish Air Force
streamlined. In the early 1990s, the four air defence sectors were
superseded by three air commands, and in July 2000, these air
commands were replaced by a single air force command. 58 The
SwAF thus shifted from a decentralised command structure to a
centralised one. Moreover, the command and control battalions
were reduced from 11 in 1990 to three in 2005, with only one
planned for 2006. 59 The streamlining process within the SwAF was
part of a larger streamlining process of the Swedish armed forces
as a whole. In 1993–94 a major organisational reform was initiated
which elevated the position and authority of the supreme
commander and relegated the formerly independent peacetime
commanders of the single services to inspectors. For this purpose,
the joint armed forces headquarters was established in September
1993, replacing the separate staff functions of the three services. 60
Initiating Sweden’s most fundamental defence reform in the
post–Cold War era in 1999 had a significant impact upon the organisation
of the SwAF. Yet already prior to 1999, a certain shift
away from the primacy of air defence can be noticed. As such, the
inspector general of the SwAF announced in 1998 that a planned
midlife update of approximately 60 JA 37 air defence Viggen fighters
was likely to be reduced or even cancelled. Instead, requirements
for international operations would be investigated. 61 In
1999 plans for the reorganisation and reduction of the wartime
and peacetime air bases were decided upon. 62 Moreover, the
ground support units were to experience considerable cuts. 63 A
particularly significant step was the disbandment of all JA 37 air
defence Viggen squadrons by 2005, which led to a substantial reduction
of the air defence capability in quantitative terms. 64 These
cuts can be directly related to the positive security assessment in
Sweden’s immediate neighbourhood.
With Sweden’s increasing thrust towards international operations
across the spectrum of military force, interoperability became
a specifically important issue and had a far-reaching impact
upon the SwAF’s force inventory. Only Gripen squadrons equipped
with the NATO interoperable JAS 39C/D version have been considered
operational from 2005 on. The remaining squadrons,
purely equipped with the JAS 39A/B version, lost operational
squadron status and were either disbanded or have been used for
conversion training and tactical evaluation. Accordingly, the