Norrbotten Wing ( sv, Norrbottens flygflottilj), also F 21 Luleå, or simply F 21, is a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

with the main base located in

Luleå Airport Luleå Airport is located about 7 km (4.3 mi) south-southeast of Luleå, Sweden, near the village of Kallax. The airport had a total of 1,177,443 passengers in 2015, and is thus Sweden's fifth largest airport. It is the largest airport ...

in northern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. It is one of the three remaining wings in Sweden and currently has two

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

s of

multirole aircraft A multirole combat aircraft (MRCA) is a combat aircraft intended to perform different roles in combat. These roles can include air to air combat, air support, aerial bombing, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and suppression of air defen ...

. F 21 in the north and F 17 in the south are the two wings remaining to have operational squadrons. F 7 is a school where pilots begin their training in the JAS 39 Gripen. Once completed the pilot's training is moved out to the two operational wings where they acquire their final training.

History

Parts of the Swedish helicopter forces are today stationed at F 21 with

MEDEVAC Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

in subarctic climate as its main task. The wing uses the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Luleå as the emblem. F 21 currently operates two HKP 10B in Afghanistan. F 21 figures in the crime novel ''The Red Wolf'' by

Liza Marklund Eva Elisabeth "Liza" Marklund (born 9 September 1962) is a Swedish journalist and crime writer. Her novels, of which most feature the fictional newspaper journalist Annika Bengtzon, have been published in forty languages. Marklund is the co-owne ...

. Current fleet: *

JAS 39 Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

(HKP 14)

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

The unit's first coat of arms, used by the Royal Norrbotten Air Base Corps was used from 1941 to 1963.

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: "Azure, powdered with estoiles or, the provincial badge of

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the provi ...

, a reindeer courant argent, armed and langued gules". The unit's second coat of arms, used by Norrbotten Wing, was used from 1963 to 1994. Blazon: "Argent, the town badge of Luleå, two keys azure in saltire, sinister inverted." The current coat of arms has been used since 1994. Blazon: "Argent, the town badge of Luleå, two keys azure in saltire, sinister inverted, a chief azure charged with a winged two-bladed propeller or". File:Norrbottens regemente vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1941 to 1963. File:HMS Luleå vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1963 to 1994. File:Norrbottens flygflottilj vapen.svg, Coat of arms used from 1994.

Colours, standards and guidons

The colour was presented to the then Royal Norrbotten Air Base Corps (F 21) at

Barkarby Barkarby is a district of Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden and part of the contiguously built-up Stockholm urban area. Barkarby has a station of the Stockholm commuter rail network. 1912 Summer Olympics During the 1912 Summer O ...

by His Majesty the King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

on 17 September 1944. The colour is drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand in insertion technique by the company Libraria.

: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper, all in yellow. In the first corner the town badge of

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

; two white keys in saltire, the left inverted." On 2 September 2014 His Majesty the King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Du ...

presented a new colour to wing commander colonel Fredrik Bergman. As a tradition-bearing unit of previously disbanded wings, the new colour added traditional heritage from

Jämtland Wing Jämtland Wing ( sv, Jämtlands flygflottilj), also F 4 Frösön, or simply F 4, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located at Åre Östersund Airport outside Östersund on Frösön in the middle of Sweden. History The airbase ...

(F 4) and

Hälsinge Wing Hälsinge Wing ( sv, Hälsinge flygflottilj), also F 15 Söderhamn, or simply F 15, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Söderhamn in northern Sweden. Heraldry and traditions Coat of arms The first coat of arms of ...

(F 15) in the form of each

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

's coat of arms. The town badge of

, two white keys in saltire can also be found in the new colour. File:Members of the Swedish Honor Guard wait to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour File:A member of the Swedish Honor Guard waits to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour File:A member of the Swedish Honor Guard waits to greet Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, Commander U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa (2).jpg, Honor guard with the wing's colour

Medals

In 1996, the ''Norrbottens flygflottiljs (F 21) förtjänstmedalj'' ("Norrbotten Wing (F 21) Medal of Merit") in gold (NorrbffljGM) of the 8th size was established. The

medal ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

is blue with red edges and a yellow stripe on the middle. File:Norrbottens flygflottiljs förtjänstmedalj.svg, Ribbon bar of the medal of merit.

Commanding officers

From 1941 to 1963, the commanding officers was referred to as ''kårchef'' ("corps commander") and had the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. From 1942, the corps commander had the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. From 1942 to 1957, the commanding officer of F 21 was also commanding officer of Upper Norrland Air Base Area (''Övre Norrlands flygbasområde'', Flybo ÖN). When the wing organization was introduced in 1963, the commanding officer was referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and had the rank of colonel. From 1976 to 1994, the wing commander was referred to as ''sektorflottiljchef'' ("sector wing commander") and had the rank of senior colonel. From 1 July 1994, the commanding officer is again referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and has the rank of colonel.

Corps, wing and sector wing commanders

*1941–1942: Fredrik Adilz *1942–1946: Gösta von Porat *1946–1951: Lars-Erik Tornberg *1951–1957: Hugo Svenow *1957–1959: Gunnar Lindberg *1959–1965: Bengt Bellander *1965–1966: Jan Oterdahl *1966–1969: Tord Norlin *1969–1976: Rune Larsson *1976–1980: Hans Hansson *1980–1982:

Lars-Bertil Persson Major General Lars-Bertil Persson (born 19 November 1934) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. He served as wing commander of the Norrbotten Wing (F 21), as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, and as Director General of the National Aeronautica ...

*1982–1984:

Bert Stenfeldt Major General Bert Göran Stenfeldt (born 12 August 1933) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Stenfeldt served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1987 to 1990 and as the commander of the First Air Group from 1990 to 1994. Early life Lönnbom was born ...

*1984–1987: Carl-Johan Rundberg *1987–1991: Roland Magndahl *1991–1993: Kent Harrskog *1993–1994:

Curt Westberg Major General Curt Westberg (born 14 September 1943) is a retired Swedish Air Force officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Gotland Military District, Central Military District as well as Commandant General in Stockholm. ...

*1994–1998: Roland Sterner *1998–2001: Frank Fredriksson *2002–2005: Jan Otterström *2005–2008: Lars Jäderblom *2008–2011: Per Nilsson *2011–2015: Fredrik Bergman *2015–2018: Carl-Johan Edström *2018–2021: Claes Isoz *2021–: Carl-Fredrik Edström

Deputy sector wing commanders

In order to relieve the sector wing commander, a deputy sector wing commander position was added in 1975. Its task was to lead the unit procurement, a task largely similar to the old wing commander position. Hence he was also referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"). The deputy sector wing commander had the rank of colonel. On 30 June 1993, the deputy sector wing commander position was terminated. *1975–1976: Hans Hansson *1977–1979: Bror Larsson *1980–1984: Carl-Johan Rundberg *1984–1988: Karl-Göte Widén *1988–1990: Kent Harrskog *1990–1993: ?

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

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Web

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norrbotten Wing Wings of the Swedish Air Force Military units and formations established in 1941 Luleå Municipality 1941 establishments in Sweden