Swedish Air Force

The Swedish Air Force, known in Swedish as Flygvapnet, is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged into one service, and it grew from four to seven squadrons as international tension rose during the 1930s. Sweden stayed out of the Second World War, but a large air force was thought necessary to deter invasion, and by 1945 it had over 800 combat-ready aircraft. After 1945 it bought the best foreign aircraft it could find and backed top performance domestic designs such as the Saab J 29 Tunnan, Saab A 32 Lansen and Saab J 35 Draken, so that in 1957 Sweden held the world's fourth most powerful air force. Its war service covers Swedish volunteers in the Finno-Soviet Winter War of 1939 to 1940, the United Nations mission in the Congo from 1961 to 1964 and the 2011 no-fly zone over Libya. Its present fighter is the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, flown from wings at Såtenäs, Ronneby and Luleå.