The Quest for Relevant Air Power

326 │ Swedish Air Force
risk perception. Limited strategic attacks against Swedish key
infra structure were considered a major threat scenario during the
1990s. To counter them, a good air defence and early warning capability
were considered crucial. Yet, with the thrust towards international
operations at the end of the century, air-to-ground
capabilities have become more important. Particularly against the
backdrop of the buildup of rapidly deployable Army units, the
SwAF had to develop from scratch an advanced CAS capability.
Due to its tradition of neutrality and the fact that most of its air
power assets were not interoperable throughout the 1990s, the
SwAF contributed only in a limited way to deployed operations. It
did this mainly through the provision of airlift at the lower level of
the spectrum of military force, which nevertheless entailed significant
risks for the crews involved. Since the turn of the century,
the SwAF has readied rapid reaction units for international operations,
also involving fighter-bombers. While SWAFRAP AJS 37
was primarily relegated to reconnaissance, the NBG Gripen detachment
is able to deliver CAS for ground troops. The capability
to act across the spectrum of military force in deployed operations
became a key criterion for the Swedish armed forces in general
and for the SwAF in particular. These requirements demanded a
high degree of professionalism, which was met by the SwAF’s
rapid reaction units.
Not only with regard to hardware and software but also in terms
of the intellectual mastery of air power, the SwAF has become increasingly
interoperable. Both the revision of the air power curriculum
at the SNDC and the air power doctrine development
process coincided with Sweden’s defence reform and hence reflected
the shift away from an emphasis upon autonomous territorial
defence towards a combined and expeditionary mindset. The
defence reform itself provided the necessary top-down backing
for these intellectual responses to the changing security environment.
Though the teaching of air power theory has heavily drawn
upon Anglo-Saxon concepts, the SNDC has been slowly emancipating
itself and has produced its own publications. It can therefore
be concluded that the SwAF has proactively responded to the
new intellectual challenges since the late 1990s. Though this process
has required top-down backing, individuals and personalities
at lower levels have played a key role.