Farks

If my knowledge is correct, all of the numbers and insignias would be removed/painted over if war came.

Fixed. Thanks!

A while back I found an information film from the '80s about the Bas 90 system here, but for some reason it's unlisted on YouTube. So I decided to re-upload it and add an english translation to it! Some background: As many of you probably know, the swedish air force had a doctrine of dispersed basing during the cold war. This concept was concieved in the 1950's and was called "Bas 60" and several air bases were built across the country, including road runways as backup bases to the regular ones. "Bas 60" was primarily dimensioned around the nuclear threat, so when long range attack aircraft (such as the Su-24) emerged as a threat in the 1970's and '80s a new and improved system was needed. The result was "Bas 90". (turn on subtitles in the bottom right corner) I would like some feedback on the translation, mainly the military terminology but also ze grammars and spellings. I will keep the video unlisted until any potential errors are corrected. EDIT: Video is now public.

Didn't you apply to have the 1984 edition of tactical instructions for strike squadrons declassifed as well? Or am I misremebering?

Swedish air base doctrine during the cold war revolved around dispersing aircraft over many bases and having backup runways available (such as road bases). It was first concieved in the '50s as "Bas 60" and later developed into "Bas 90" during the '80s.

If I'm not misstaken, a squadron in the air consists of eight aircraft. The rest are spare or on rotation.

The closest thing we have right now is the tactical manual for the A 32A Lansen. Yes, it's the wrong aircraft but much of the doctrine and tactics remained unchanged when the Viggen took over the attack role. And it's a swedish manual.

Yes! Excellent post!

For most of the duration of the cold war the soviets didn't have any fighters with enough reach to do missions over Sweden in any meaningful capacity. At least not until the Su-27 was in widespread service, but by then the cold war was pretty much over. Someone made an analysis of what the soviet air force had available in northern Europe during the later stage of the cold war in this very thread, perhaps someone can dig it up? So the main concern for the swedish air defense was bomber, attack and transport aircraft. As I understand it, the military expected the fighter squadrons to survive as long as possible since it was decided in the 1970 air defense resolution that the air force was the main caretaker of air defense, rather than ground based AA units. Which is why the Bloodhound system was scrapped along with a few other anti-air projects.

It's problary more iconic in Sweden than anywhere else, since it's the only country that operated it. But that's also what makes it stand out in an international context I suppose. A country of less than 10 million people decides it's a good idea to fund and develop their own combat aircrafts, and for its own purposes first and foremost. Exporting the things was a secondary priority. So it's an aircraft designed around swedish military thinking and doctrine of the time; STOL capability in order to use road runways and other short landing strips, ease of maintenance so it could be served by a crew of conscripts and made ready for a new sortie within 10-20 minutes after landing, among other things. And SAAB was on the vanguard of technology as well. The AJ 37 was one of the first combat aircrafts with an onboard computer and the JA 37 was the first fighter aircraft with a data link. So it represents the capability of a neutral but small state in northern Europe, and that's what makes it iconic.

Was the 04E constructed from scratch or were they updgraded versions of the existing 04D?

I hate to be that guy, but hasn't this thread kind of served its purpuse now that the general forum finally is here?

+1

Tactical instructions is my vote as well.

Nice work. But "Första Flygeskadern" doesn't translate into "First Attack Squadron", it would translate into something like "First Air Group" or "First Attack Group".

Fantastic writing renhanxue! If the Falklands Wars and other engagements with ASM's are any indication of their effectiveness, E1 (the AJ 37 squadrons) would have been a major threat even for a military super power. And let's not forget the west-german Marineflieger which was of similair size and had the same mission as E1.

And this begs the question, any plans to feature the Bas 90 system in DCS? So the thrust reverser can be put to good use.

The JA 37 had the advantage in the air-to-air role over the initial versions of the F-16. Which is unsurprising considering it was optimized entirely for that role.

The Viggen was offered for export to Norway and all the other NATO nations that ended up buying the F-16. It was marketed under the name "Eurofighter" and would have been based on the JA 37.

The Viggen has been described as "fulsnygg", which roughly means "ugly in a good looking way" or "attractively ugly". If that makes any sense. It's most certainly not a sleek looking aircraft but it does look menacing and powerful. I think the same applies to the F-4.

Renhanxue, since you like to dig in archives, would you happen to know anything about the swedish evaluation of the F-4 Phantom (as mentioned )?

The WP would have a few main reasons. One would be occupying southern Sweden (as seen above) as a part of securing the Öresund straits, another would be to open a second front towards Norway and the NATO forces in that region (either going through northern Finland and Sweden or cutting through central Sweden), and yet another would be to move forward their air defense. Denying NATO the use of swedish territory would problary be a reason as well, seeing how the soviets apperently didn't trust swedish neutrality. There are people more knowledgeable about the WP's war plans and strategic thinking than me, but that's the gist of it as far as I know.

Correct, but as those maps show occupying southern Sweden was a potential part of those plans.

Those marines job would be to sieze a bridgehead so the main force (a few motorized regiments at least) could be shipped over safely, not face the entire swedish army on their own. And 3-4 days doesn't sound realistic, even in a worst case scenario. I'm no expert on logistics and troop movement, but shipping over the necessary reinforcements to starting advancing inland from the bridgehead(s) would likely take a few days at a minimum. Looking at other seaborne invasions, it has typically taken the attacker weeks to start really pushing out of the bridgehead.