The Quest for Relevant Air Power

296 │ Swedish Air Force
This development stood in clear contrast to the Cold War era,
when a linkage between Sweden’s security and the Americandominated
NATO had been carefully avoided in public statements.
91 Swedish NATO membership was, however, not aspired to
during the 1990s. A reason was that Swedish or Finnish NATO
membership would with certainty have been viewed negatively by
Russia and therefore would not have contributed to stability in the
Baltic Sea region. 92
Nevertheless, Swedish rapprochement towards NATO took place,
particularly when the country joined the Partnership for Peace in
May 1994 and when it established a formal national delegation, in
fact a NATO embassy, within the NATO headquarters in Brussels
in the late 1990s. 93 The tight bonds between Sweden and NATO
were again underlined in the 2004–5 defence bill that called for a
continuation and reinforcement of Sweden’s cooperation with the
alliance through PfP. 94 In relation to NATO, Sweden’s ambition is
to be seen as a non-ally that is ready to “give and not only to take.” 95
When the Baltic states were invited as NATO membership candidates,
this development was clearly welcomed by Swedish decision
makers. The enlargement of NATO in 2004 was considered to
be conducive to sustaining a long-term American commitment to
northern Europe, which had been a key issue for Sweden throughout
the 1990s. 96
Against the backdrop of a reasserting Russia, the Swedish Ministry
of Defence declared in early 2009 that the country would show
solidarity with other EU member states or Nordic countries in case
of a military attack, and it implicitly stated that Sweden would expect
reciprocal assistance. 97 This represents a cautious attempt at
formulating an informal Nordic collective defence framework.
Alliance Policy and Its Impact upon the Swedish Air Force
Sweden’s alliance policy has indeed influenced the SwAF. Nowadays,
it can be regarded as one of the most important factors dominating
force transformation. With Sweden’s commitment to PfP
and especially the ESDP, Swedish combat aircraft have been made
available for international operations since the turn of the century.
Furthermore, the SwAF started to participate in and to conduct
international exercises. This has enhanced interoperability with
other air forces on a tactical level. Sweden’s alliance policy and