Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

This thesis addresses the driving forces behind the Swedish state’s procurement of Helicopters 14 and 16 and the decommissioning of Helicopter 4. These actions have significantly affected the Swedish Armed Forces, especially the Helicopter Wing, in carrying out their operational tasks. On numerous occasions the Helicopter Wing has been unable to perform its tasks. For instance, the Nordic Battle Group 08 had no helicopters to exercise with and, until recently, Sweden had completely lacked the ability to hunt submarines with helicopters for almost ten years.

This thesis also aims to compare the decisions in 1999-2000 regarding Helicopter 14 with the decisions in 2010-2011 regarding the acquisition of Helicopter 16, to find if there is a general trend and how much the Armed Forces were able to influence decisions. This is done by using Graham T. Allison’s and Philip Zelikow’s models for explaining and analysing the factors behind a state’s decisions.

The analysis shows that the decisions were primarily compromises between the Armed Forces and Sweden’s government, where the government had the main influence. The decisions can be seen as rational, depending on whose point of view they are observed from, although they were not unanimously agreed between the organisations involved. It also shows that economic restrictions and the government’s involvement have had negative consequences for the Helicopter Wing organisation, that the acquisition of Helicopter 16 was a consequence of the procurement of Helicopter 14, and that further consequences will probably arise from the decision to acquire Helicopter 16.