The Swedes possessed a small, but reasonably modern and well-equipped air force (the Flygvapnet) when war broke out in 1939. It was equipped mostly with British or German aircraft, although some few planes of indigenous manufacture remained in service. As the Swedish-designed aircraft proved to be less than satisfactory, Sweden began to build many aircraft under license. These included the Hawker Hart biplane, the North American NA-16 trainer, and the Junkers Ju 86K bomber. The Swedes also built aircraft engines under license, something that was to help them immensely later on during the war years, as they labored to create an aircraft industry from virtually scratch.

All aircraft in Swedish service were designated with a code that consisted of one or two letters that represented the aircraft's intended role and a number that was (usually) unique to that type. These letters were J for Jakt [fighter), B (Bomber), A (Attack), Sk (Skola) [trainer], S (Spaning) [reconnaissance] and T [torpedo). There were a few exceptions, but by WW II the system was pretty well set. This can get confusing in the case of foreign imports where the aircraft are often referred by their Swedish designations in lieu of the manufacturer's designation.

A list of all foreign aircraft in service in the WW II era and their Swedish, US and manufacturer's designations follows.

Swedish Name, Manufacturer's Name, US Designation
T 2 Heinkel He 115A-2
B 3 Junkers Ju 86K
B 4 Hawker Hart
B 5 Douglas DB SA-1 A-17
S5 Heinkel He 5
B 6 Republic Guardsman AT-12
S6 Fokker C.V-E
J 7 Bristol Bulldog
J 8 Gloster Gladiator
S9 Hawker Osprey
J 9 Republic EP-1 P-35A
J 10 Vultee 48C Vanguard P-66
J 11 Fiat CR.42
S 12 Heinkel He 114
Sk 14 North American NA-16 AT-6, SNJ
S 14 Fiesler Fi 156 Storch
S 16 Caproni Ca.313
J 20 Reggiane Re.2000
J 26 North American P-51D Mustang

In September 1939 the RSAF numbered some 180+ aircraft, comprised of:

34 Fokker C.V-E army cooperation/reconnaissance aircraft
30+ Junkers Ju 86K medium bombers (all built in Germany with Swedish-built engines)
38 Hawker Hart light bombers
20 He 5 floatplanes
6 Hawker Osprey floatplanes
52 Gloster Gladiator fighters
3 Bristol Bulldog fighters
3+ J-6A/B ASJA Jaktfalk 11 fighters

These aircraft were formed into 5 flottilijer that were the equivalent of British wings, that is, each was made up of 2 or 3 divisioner (squadrons) and each flottilij usually only operated one aircraft type.

The Swedes sent the embattled Finns a small contingent of volunteers flying Gladiators and Harts in the winter of 1939-40 which proceeded to claim 6 Soviet fighters and 6 bombers while only losing 3 Gladiators and 3 Harts to all causes from January 1940 to the ceasefire in March. 3 J-6A/B biplanes and 3 Bristol Bulldogs were supplied to the Finns in addition to all the other war materiel.

Production of the 16 Ju 86s continued until January 1941 at a slow pace as it dawned on the Flygvapnet that the Ju 86 was obsolete in every way except structurally. As B- 18s were delivered from 1944 on, the Ju 86s were transferred to the maritime strike role with one division being equipped to carry torpedoes.

The 12 He 115 floatplanes had been ordered in 1938 and were delivered in the late summer of 1939. Due to the German desperation for hard currency, these aircraft were delivered before the Luftwaffe received any of its own.

The outbreak of war cut Sweden off from most of its traditional suppliers since the combatants needed the materiel themselves. Fortunately the Swedes had already begun to procure aircraft from the United States in the form of a license to build the Douglas DB 8A-1 attack aircraft that was an export version of the A-17 then in US service. These began delivery in mid-1940.

The Swedes had recognized the need to supplement their existing fighters and by October 1939 they had placed two orders for 60 Republic EP-1 fighters that were export versions of the P-35, along with 52 Guardsmen that were 2- seat derivatives of the EP-1, with double the bombload. They ordered another 60 EP-1s in January 1940. All 60 EP-1s of the first two contracts were delivered by August 1940, some by shipping them to the Finnish Arctic port of Petsamo and trucking them down to Sweden (the British had interdicted shipments of all war materials through the North Sea after the collapse of France).

To add to the Swedish woes the United States embargoed all war materiel destined for neutrals and seized the remaining 60 EP-1s in October 1940, designating them P-35As and sending most of them to the Philippines with manuals in Swedish and instruments that were calibrated in metric units. The Guardsmen were also seized and became AT-12 advanced trainers.

Because it was realized that the EP-1s and Gladiators would not be enough to adequately defend Sweden, more fighters would be needed from somebody who could deliver them rapidly. Fiat of Italy promised rapid delivery and 72 CR.42 fighters were ordered in January 1940. As promised, they were delivered beginning March 1940, but the last delivery was not made until September 1941.

Sweden ordered 54 Caproni Ca.313S twin-engined aircraft from Italy in early 1940 for reconnaissance and light bombing duties and this was gradually increased to 84 by the time deliveries began in November 1940. By the time deliveries were completed in early 1941, the Ca.313S demonstrated severe problems with its electric, hydraulic and fuel systems and the engines were characterized as "thoroughly unreliable", in a ' ddition to problems with engine fires caused by small fuel leaks. The Ca.313Ss spent most of 1941 and 1942 grounded and were essentially remanufactured as quality control at Caproni was very poor. However, serviceability remained low regardless. From 1942 they were transferred to the maritime reconnaissance role, being replaced by Ju 86s (which had themselves been replaced by B-18s in the bomber role).

144 Vultee 48C Vanguard fighters were ordered on 6 February 1940, but were embargoed in October 1940. They were delivered elsewhere between September 1941 and April 1942; most went to the Nationalist Chinese Air Force as the P-66 Vanguard.

Sweden ordered 18 Fokker G 1 twin-engined fighters on 30 March 1940 and exercised an option for 77 more a month later, including 12 strategic reconnaissance versions with a large ventral bathtub for the observer. Discussions regarding licensed production were terminated by the occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940. The Swedes spent a lot of time conducting diving trials with the prototypes in the Netherlands, so it may be inferred that they were more interested in the attack capabilities of the G 1 than its abilities as a fighter.

14 Heinkel He 114B floatplanes were delivered in the summer of 1941 as replacements for the ancient Hawker Ospreys on board the cruiser Gotland.

Somewhat in a panic over the disruption of their acquisition plans by the US embargo, the Swedes began searching for combat aircraft from any available source. Only Italy was in a position to sell aircraft despite being a belligerent. 60 Re 2000s were ordered on 28 November 1940 with deliveries to be completed by June 1941. Problems arose with the delivery schedule--the first 8 aircraft completed were sequestered by the Italian government and the remainder suffered delays, with deliveries not commencing until the end of 1941. The Piaggio engine of the Re 2000 was extremely unreliable and at one point in June 1943 only 2 Re 2000s were serviceable. It was so bad that the aircraft's designer commented that "the granting of an airworthiness certificate to this engine was beyond credibility". A contract for a further 60 aircraft powered by a pirated copy of the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp was contemplated by the Swedes, but was not made as it was decided to proceed with the indigenous J-22 fighter powered by the same engine.

As an aside, it should be noted that the Swedes copied the Twin Wasp illegally from a DC-3 as the US refused permission to license build it in Sweden because of the arms embargo. However, the scrupulous Swedes placed the appropriate royalties in escrow and paid Pratt & Whitney after the end of the war.

Design of the Saab B-17 started in 1938 as part of the Swedish effort to develop the capacity to manufacture their own combat aircraft with the assistance of American engineers. A major snag occurred when a license for the Twin Wasp engine could not be obtained. Time was needed to copy it and place it in production.

Meanwhile, the Pegasus engine was in production for the Ju 86 and the B- 17 was adapted to take this engine as the B-17B. 38 floatplane variants were produced as the S-17BS for service in the maritime reconnaissance role. Another 18 were built to replace some of the C.V-Es in the army cooperation role as the S-17BL. The pirated Twin Wasps became available in 1942 and 132 B-17As were built with that engine. As the Twin Wasp was also in high demand for the B-18 and J-22 programs, 77 aircraft were completed as the B-17C with the same Piaggio engine used by the Re 2000. The B-17 was a true dive bomber, complete with dive brakes and dive- bombing sight.

60 B-18As were built to replace the Ju 86s and entered service in the summer of 1944. In an effort to increase the merely adequate performance of the B-18A, a license for the Daimler-Benz DB 605B engine was negotiated with Germany. The addition of 40% more horsepower turned the B-18B into one of the world's fastest attack planes with a cruising speed that was 9 mph faster than the maximum speed of the B-18A. The B-18B did not enter service until 1946.

The J-21 was an radical fighter design that resembled the P-38 with its twin-boom layout, but placed the DB 605 engine behind the pilot with a pusher propeller. It was one of the first aircraft to have an ejection seat as no one wished to bail out into the propeller. Remarkably, it was one of the few successful conversions from a piston engine to a jet engine in the late 40's. At any rate, the J-21A also didn't enter service until 1946.

The J-22 was hurriedly designed and placed into production by the Flygvapnet itself after the US fighters were embargoed, as Saab had its hands full with the B-17, B-18, and J-21 projects! The J-22 was actually designed rather quickly, but its entry into service was delayed because the Twin Wasp engines that were to power it were not yet available. Few of the J-22A model with 2x 13.2mm and 2x 7.9mm machine-guns were built before being replaced on the production line with the J-22B armed with 4x 13.2mm machine-guns.

World War Two Order of Battle

At Start, Sep I 39
1x Ju 86K 2SB22-4/17
1x Glad 3F30/8
1x Hart 1A2 1/8

Nov I 40
From the United States:
1x P-35A 4F4 1/17

Mar I 41
. 1x DB 8A-1 2A3 1/17

Jul I 41
From Italy.
1x CR.42bis 3F3 0/8

Nov I 41
Convert. 1x Hart 1A2 1/8 to: 1x DB 8A-1 2A31/17

Sep I 42
From Italy:
Convert. 1x Glad 3F3 0/8 to. 1x Re 2000 3F5 0/9

Jan I 43
1x B-17B 3B4 4/15

Nov I 43
1x B-17C 3D44/19

Jan I 44
Convert. 1x DB 8A-1 2A31/17
to: 1x B-17A 3B4 3/20

Jul I 44
Convert. 1x DB 8A-1 2A3 1/17
to: 1x B-17A 3D4 3/20
Convert., 1x CR.42bis 3F3 0/8
to: J-22B 5F5 0/10

Jan I 45
1x B-18A 2A4 3-3/24
1x J-22B 5F5 0/10

May I 45
Convert 1x Re 2000 3F5 0/9.
to: J-22B 5F50/10

Jul I 45
From the United States:
1x P-51D 1OF10 2/22 (This is an estimate only!)

Objective: Sweden Scenario

Recommended Summer 1943 OB
1x Ju 86K 2SB22-4/17
1x CR.42bis 3F30/8
1x P-35A 4F4 1/17
2x D13 8A-1 2A3 1/17
1x B-17B 3B4 4/15
3 permanent airfields