Airpower throughout history struggled with the same weakness regarding the ability to protect its flying assets on the ground. At a time when the West waged wars against low-tech adversaries, one easy solution was to distance the airbases and the operational area. Now with an emerging threat that cannot be distanced the airbase security is again an issue at stake.
This thesis examines airbase security and threats towards airbases in the Swedish Airforce through the lens of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The results show that military personnel see protection of their airbases as overlooked, facing a potential aggressor. There is a need for a better understanding of the threat on a lower organizational level and problem areas such as infrastructure can be explained by an absence of a potential threat. The findings strengthen the Swedish Armed Forces view that there is a need of better security for the Airforce airbases