![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
European air power is represented by a variety of air forces, each equipped with different capabilities and facing different limitations. Developing the former and making up for the latter requires resources and finances and is not always possible within a national capacity. It may be particularly problematic for smaller air forces, especially with the trend of shrinking defence budgets and increasing costs of the newest technological achievements. This article investigates the idea of multinational cooperation in Europe as a way to make up for these shortfalls and build collective European capabilities. In doing so, it focuses on two states, namely Poland and Sweden as examples of small air forces. By choosing these countries as case studies it also provides an opportunity to investigate the different forms of multinational involvement existing within and outside a major military alliance, namely NATO. The article explores the participation of the Polish and Swedish Air Forces in several multinational initiatives and investigates how such involvement increases (or not) their capabilities.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Maria E. Burczynska has recently defended her PhD thesis in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham where she is affiliated with the Centre for Conflict, Security and Terrorism. Her main areas of interest are European air forces and their participation in multinational operations and initiatives. She is also interested in the subject of disaster management as another dimension of national security.
Notes
1. These were: F21 Air Wing Luleå, F4 Air Wing Ostersund, F13 Air Wing Norrköping, F13M Air Wing Malmslätt, F16 Air Wing Uppsala, F10 Air Wing Angelholm, F17 Air Wing Ronneby, F6 Air Wing Karlsborg, F7 Air Wing Såtenäs, F15 Air Wing Söderhamn, F5 Air Wing Combat Flying School Ljungbyhed, F14 Air Wing Halmstad and F20 Air Wing Uppsala – Air Force Academy. See Bitzinger (Citation1991, pp. 11–14).
2. These are now: F7 Skaraborgs in Såtenäs, F17 Blekinge in Ronneby, F21 Norrbottens in Luleå and the Helicopter Wing. See Försvarsmakten, Flygvapnet.
3. Interview with a scholar at the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, 14 June 2016.
4. Interview with Fredrik Lindvall at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI, Stockholm, 13 June 2016.
5. Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Stefan Wilson, a scholar at the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, 17 June 2016.
6. Public support for re-introducing conscription in Sweden increased from 40% in 2013 to 62% in 2016. See Berndtsson et al. (Citation2017).
7. Interview with Colonel in the Polish Air Force and a scholar at the National Defence University, Warsaw, 30 June 2016.
8. Full list of AGS members includes Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the US.
9. Interview with Colonel in the Polish Air Force and a scholar at the National Defence University, Warsaw, 22 June 2016.
10. The 17 NATO members at the Geilenkirchen air base are: Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the US.
11. The 12 SAC members are: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the US.
12. The 14 SALIS members include: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK.
13. Interview with Colonel in the Polish Air Force and a scholar at the National Defence University, Warsaw, 22 June 2016.
14. The full list of MCCE members involves 28 nations, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US.
15. Also any other type of aircraft which the ATARES nations have in their inventories may be used once its equivalent factor is calculated using the cost of one EFH.
16. Interview with Colonel in the Polish Air Force and a scholar at the National Defence University, Warsaw, 30 June 2016.
17. Interview with Fredrik Lindvall at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI, Stockholm, 13 June 2016.
18. Interview with Lieutenant Colonel Stefan Wilson, a scholar at the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, 17 June 2016.
19. Among the participants of ACE 2017 were Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
20. The other two deliverables of EATF are the European Air Transport Symposium and the European Advanced Tactical Instructor Course. The EATF partnership started in 2009 and is currently gathering 21 countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Spain and Sweden. In 2016, 11 of these nations signed a Technical Arrangement establishing European Tactical Airlift Centre – a permanent training centre based in Zaragoza in Spain.
21. The list of EATT17 participants included France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the UK.