The Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) commemorated its centenary on 1 July with a day of celebrations in Stockholm that combined military ceremonies, parades, concerts and a historic flypast featuring aircraft representative of different generations of the country’s military aviation. The events are part of a programme of activities that will run throughout 2026, culminating on 22\u201323 August with Flygdagarna 2026, an international air festival to be held at Malmen Air Base in Link\u00f6ping.<\/p>\n
X post from F\u00f6rsvarsmakten<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The centenary celebrations were led by official ceremonies at various locations across the Swedish capital, including the Aviation Monument at Karlaplan, the Royal Palace of Stockholm and Raoul Wallenberg Square. The programme included a commemorative ceremony for veterans, the traditional Changing of the Royal Guard, military parades and performances by the Air Force and National Guard bands.<\/p>\n
One of the highlights was the flypast over Stockholm, featuring both the current Saab JAS 39 Gripen and some of the most iconic combat aircraft in Flygvapnet’s history. According to the Swedish Armed Forces, the aerial formation brought together the Gripen alongside the historic Saab 37 Viggen, Saab 32 Lansen, Saab 35 Draken and Saab 29 Tunnan, offering a visual synthesis of the evolution of Swedish military aviation over the past century.<\/p>\n
X post from Flygvapnet<\/p>\n
In a message released to mark the anniversary, the Commander of the Swedish Air Force said: “I am immensely proud to belong to the Air Force and of what we represent and defend”, highlighting the role the institution has played in protecting the country since its creation in 1926.<\/p>\n
A century of technological evolution and air defence<\/p>\n
In the official centenary presentation, Flygvapnet noted that since its creation in 1926 the organisation has evolved from a small military branch into one of the most advanced air forces in Europe. Over these hundred years, the institution has played a central role in Sweden’s security and preparedness, while also becoming a symbol of technological development and the national aerospace industry.<\/p>\n
The commemoration also takes on special significance in the current context, marked by Sweden’s accession to NATO, the modernisation of its combat capabilities and the ongoing development of the Gripen family, including the introduction of the JAS 39E and projections toward future manned and unmanned air combat capabilities.<\/p>\n
Flygdagarna 2026 to bring together historic and modern aircraft from numerous countries<\/p>\n
The centenary celebrations will reach their peak on 22\u201323 August with Flygdagarna 2026, to be held at Malmen Air Base in Link\u00f6ping, considered the birthplace of Swedish military aviation for having hosted the flight school founded by Carl Cederstr\u00f6m and the origins of today’s Flygvapnet.<\/p>\n
Under the motto “Past, Present and Future”, the event will combine static displays and flying demonstrations of historic and modern aircraft, along with military and civil exhibitions, recruitment areas and public activities.<\/p>\n
Confirmed historic aircraft include iconic models such as the Saab B 17, J22, P-51 Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire, Douglas DC-3, de Havilland Vampire, Saab 29 Tunnan, Saab 32 Lansen, Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen, along with numerous trainers, helicopters and transport aircraft that marked different eras of Swedish aviation.<\/p>\n
Representing current capabilities will be the JAS 39E Gripen, NH90 (HKP14) and Black Hawk (HKP16) helicopters, drones and other assets currently in service.<\/p>\n
The international component will also have a strong presence. Confirmed so far are the Frecce Tricolori from Italy, the Red Arrows from the United Kingdom and the Midnight Hawks from Finland, along with demonstration teams flying the Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale B, F\/A-18, F-15 and F-35, as well as aircraft such as the C-17 Globemaster III from the Heavy Airlift Wing, the Airbus A330 MRTT, CH-53 and AS532 helicopters, among others.<\/p>\n
The organisation also plans to present a vision of the future of Swedish air power, including references to the Gripen F, new unmanned systems, satellites, the MH-60R helicopter and the C-390 Millennium transport, reflecting the technological evolution that will continue to define Flygvapnet during its second century of existence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) commemorated its centenary on 1 July with a day of celebrations in Stockholm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[83],"tags":[59673,59674,59672,57614,131,132,12442],"class_list":["post-120489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-stockholm","tag-base-aerea-de-malmen","tag-centenario","tag-flygvapnet","tag-gripen","tag-stockholm","tag-sweden","tag-swedish-air-force"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116846380101974656","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}