Swedish security and defence policy has seen major shifts since the end of the Cold War. Entrance into the EU and enhanced stability provided the conditions to change from an invasion defence to a mission based armed force. However, air power has always remained essential to the defence of Swedish territory.
The aim of this thesis is to study the evolution of how Sweden aimed to use air power between the period 2005 and 2014. By use of the two dominating air power theories at the time (Warden’s and Pape’s) as the framework, the Swedish air power doctrines are analyzed to evaluate if, and if so what, changes has occurred during this eventful time.
The result of this paper shows that there was a predisposition towards Warden’s theory during the period 2005-2014, although Sweden lacked the capability to execute strategic bombing operations without assistance. However in 2014 there was a change and the new doctrine corresponds higher with Pape’s theory than Warden’s. Even though the Swedish Air Force still aims to use system paralysis as a means to defeat the enemy, the paper concluded that there is as high focus on coercion through denial of Swedish territory.
Erasmus