Copyright © Hans Högman 2024-06-04
Helicopters in the Swedish
Armed Forces
Introduction
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and
thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors.
A rotor can be likened to two or more rotating
wings and it is this design that gives the helicopter
its most unique flight characteristic, hovering. This
allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically,
to hover, and to fly forward, backward, and
laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be
used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-
wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and
landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing
(STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway.
A helicopter flies by the lift it generates with its
main rotor(s). The main rotor consists of several
rotor blades, unlike an airplane that has fixed
wing(s). The tail rotor is the most common solution
and is used on helicopters with a main rotor. It is a
smaller vertical rotor at the rear of the helicopter.
A helicopter has a capability that significantly
distinguishes it from an airplane in that it can stand
still in the air, hovering. This allows the helicopter to
perform many tasks that would be difficult or
impossible to perform with an airplane, such as
landing on oil platforms or picking up personnel in
rough terrain.
A helicopter can only fly at a relatively low speed (a
few hundred km/h) and this is due to its rotor
system. The problem is the speed at which the air
meets the rotor blades during forward flight.
A helicopter cannot lift as much cargo as an
airplane of similar size and weight. This is because
an airplane wing is better at generating lift than a
helicopter's rotor blades and lift is equal to the
amount of cargo you can take. A helicopter has the
unique ability to take off/land vertically, hover and
fly slowly.
Swedish Armed Force’s Designations on
Military Aircraft/Helicopters
Swedish military aircraft have a designation that
has a prefix consisting of one or more letters
followed by 2 digits and ending with a suffix that is
also a letter.
The prefix indicates the type of aircraft in terms of
its use. The numbers are the model designation
and the suffixes are the version of the aircraft.
Helicopters: The prefix used for the Swedish
helicopters is hkp (short for Helikopter -
Helicopter in English).
Sometimes the full name is used, in this case,
Helikopter. So, for example, the Sikorsky Black Hawk
is listed either as Helikopter 16 (Sikorsky UH-60M
Black Hawk) or Hkp 16 in the Swedish Defense.
Military Helicopter Types
•
A transport helicopter is a helicopter primarily
used to transport personnel or material and they
are divided into classes: light, medium, and
heavy, depending on how much they weigh/can
lift. The light transport helicopters are usually
used as air assault helicopters, and designed to
move an infantry squad or section and their
equipment and are generally armed for self-
protection in the form of door gunners.
Medium transport helicopters are generally
capable of moving up to a platoon of infantry.
•
An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter
with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with
the offensive capability of engaging ground
targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles,
and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament,
they are sometimes called helicopter gunships. An
attack helicopter is often equipped with an
automatic cannon, rockets, and anti-tank
missiles. They also usually have some form of
ballistic protection.
The Swedish Armed Forces have not had pure
attack helicopters, but test trials and studies
have been conducted during the 1990s with AH-
64 Apache and Mi-28.
•
A utility helicopter is a helicopter designed to
transport troops but is versatile in performing
various combat roles. It is often a helicopter that
was not originally designed to carry weapons
(usually a transport helicopter) but has
subsequently been equipped with a weapon
system (mainly anti-tank missiles). The weapon
system is easy to remove, making it possible to
convert the helicopter into a transport
helicopter. As a rule, this type of helicopter does
not operate independently but supports ground
units with fire support. Their ability to adapt to
different mission requirements contributes
significantly to the success of military objectives.
An example of a utility helicopter in the Swedish
defense is the German Bölkow Bo 105, which
was used in Sweden under the designation Hkp
9.
•
An anti-submarine helicopter is a helicopter
used for anti-submarine warfare whose main
task is to locate and attack submarines.
Secondary tasks can be surface reconnaissance
and anti-surface warfare.
Various types of sensors are used to locate
submarines, mainly sonar (active anti-submarine
warfare) and hydrophone buoys (passive anti-
submarine warfare). Anti-submarine torpedoes or
depth charges are then used to target the
detected submarine.
In surface reconnaissance, the main sensor is
radar to detect surface ships, the task can then
switch to anti-surface warfare where the weapon
system is the anti-ship missile to sink the surface
ship.
Anti-submarine helicopters are usually converted
transport helicopters where the cargo hold is
used for the sensor and weapon operators and
their equipment.
Swedish Armed Forces - Helicopter Units
The organizational affiliation of helicopters in the
Swedish Armed Forces has varied over the years.
Before 1998, the helicopters belonged to the
respective branches of defense: Artillery
Aviation/Army Aviation (Army), Naval Aviation
(Navy), and the Air Force's air rescue groups
(FRÄD). Since 1998, however, all helicopters have
belonged to the Helicopter Wing and thus from
2003 to the Air Force. The Helicopter Wing is
located in three places in the country, with its
headquarters at Malmen in Linköping. Other base
locations are Ronneby and Luleå. Organizationally,
the Helicopter Wing belongs to the Air Force. The
task of the Helicopter Wing is to provide the
Swedish Armed Forces with helicopter resources
that can be used for missions at sea or on land, in
Sweden and abroad.
The unit brings together all of the Armed Forces'
helicopter resources and supports the three
branches of defense both nationally and
internationally through four helicopter squadrons:
1.
First Helicopter Squadron, land operations,
Luleå, helicopter types: hkp 14.
2.
Second Helicopter Squadron, land operations,
Linköping, helicopter types: hkp 15, hkp 16
3.
Third Helicopter Squadron, sea operations,
Ronneby, helicopter types: hkp 14, hkp 15
4.
Special Helicopter Group, special operations,
Linköping, helicopter types: hkp 15, hkp 16
The above information is from 2024. The head of
the Helicopter Wing in 2024 is Colonel Mats
Antonson.
Helicopters in the Swedish Armed Forces:
Swedish Helicopters
Helicopters in the Swedish
Armed Forces - 1
