For many years, the Swedish military aircraft were used only for training or reconnaissance missions. During the neutrality guard during the First World War, no Swedish aircraft were armed. 

In the beginning, the reconnaissance aircraft had a crew of two - pilot and observer. The observer was mostly an officer with special education. In 1914, cameras began to be used. The cameras were large and heavy. It was a hard work by the observer to handle the camera - leaning out of the cockpit, holding the clumsy camera in his hands and still take good photos. 

During the Second World War, long-range reconnaissance aircraft began to be used in the Swedish Air Force. They were twin-engine aircraft with a crew of three of four. Their main mission was to determine a possible aggressor’s intentions. Several Swedish reconnaissance aircraft were shot down during WWII.  

After the war, the Air Force procured the very capable Spitfire PR Mk XIX. It improved the long-range reconnaissance capacity in a considerably way. But soon the jets took over. The SAAB fighters 29 ”Tunnan”, 32 Lansen, 35 Draken and 37 Viggen were also made in reconnaissance versions. The new JAS 39 Gripen is a true multi-role aircraft, where the ”S” in the designation stands for ”Spaning” (Reconnaissance). 

An important step was when radar became available. The first aircraft fitted with such equipment was the SAAB S 18A in 1949-1950. The SAAB S 32C Lansen had both cameras and a radar which could discover targets at sea. ”Long-range reconnaissance” changed name to ”Sea Surveillance”.  

Since the beginning of the Cold War, the Air Force have operated ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) aircraft. Some of these aircraft is designated as transports (Tp) and are described in the chapter ”Transport Aviation”. 

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S  26 – North American P-51D Mustang (1948-1954)

Updated 2011-09-20