Sweden is a country with a great aviation heritage and one of few countries still developing its own fighter jets. Every few years, one of its air bases opens its gates to the public, to get a taste of both. Raw power displayed with the SAAB 35J Draken, the ultimate development of what was once Europe’s most advanced fighter aircraft.
The Swedish Armed Forces have consolidated their helicopter force in a joint helicopter command. At Ronneby, the maritime helicopters are based like this Agusta-Westland AW109LUH, which is designated Helikopter 15B in Swedish service.
Its larger sister is the well-known NH-90. Sweden is the only country so far which has order the so-called High Cabin Version, enabling tall crew members to stand up straight in the cabin. This helicopter was reconfigured for naval tasks and is now called a Helikopter 14F, which shows its fire-fighting capabilities here.
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the local F 17 Blekinge Flottilj, this SAAB JAS 39C Gripen is adorned with anniversary colours and displays its agility to great joy and appreciation of the local public.
The new kid on the block is the Gripen E, which made its first public appearance at the 2019 Ronneby Air Show. Notable are the beefed up wing roots, air intake at the root of the vertical stabilizer and laser designator in front of the cockpit screen.
The Swedish Air Force Heritage Flight does a great job keeping the SAAB heritage alive and kicking, like this AJ 37 Viggen, a powerful Cold-War warrior which is displayed in true fashion!
Still used for training Swedish pilots, the Saab 105 is flown here in the colours of "Team 60", the now disbanded display team, that refers to its Swedish Air Force designation Sk 60.
A very rare aircraft marking the achievements of the Swedish aviation industry is the SAAB 17, with the only flying example in the world making a very welcome attendance at Ronneby.
Like many other countries after World War II, Sweden obtained huge numbers of North American Harvards/Texans, one of them is seen here in the air display.
Another World War II icon, the famous DC-3, in the colours of Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) arrived at Ronneby during the show. This is a former Swedish Air Force example.
Sweden bought a number of Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, which served very well in Afghanistan. One is seen here playing in a tactical scenario.