84 // AUGUST 2018 #365 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
Luftstridsskolan
reconnaissance missions, air-to-air and air-
to-ground missions, NATO procedures,
and undertake a ‘Tour Europe’. The
latter is a flight to a European country,
and they are responsible for all planning,
co-ordination, approvals and permits.
Once the transport pilots leave
Malmen, the fighter pilots begin their
extended air-to-air training, involving
increasingly advanced solo flying.
In a relatively new concept, students also
go to Finland to take part in the final air-
to-air exercise at the Finnish flying training
school – a ‘Red Flag event’ for trainees.
The fighter pilots also go to the Flygvapnets
Luftstridssimuleringscentrum (FLSC, air
combat simulation centre) in Stockholm, for
familiarisation flights in the Gripen simulator.
The FLSC consists of eight simulators, all
linked, allowing them to complete a 4-v-4
sortie. This gives the candidates a taste of
what’s to come before they head to
the F 7 wing for JAS 39 training.
Rotary-wing
The rotary course is very different. Students
start their basic flying training in Bückeburg,
covering navigation, IFR (CPL), mountain
flying and basic night-vision goggles (NVG)
training. There is one Swedish qualified
flying instructor (QFI) based at Bückeburg.
The basic rotary flying training is longer
than for the fixed-wing aviators, as they
return to Bückeburg to continue this phase
when their fixed-wing counterparts go
back to Malmen for their advanced flying
training. Rotary crew fly 115 hours in
Germany before heading back to Malmen.
When the transport pilots leave Malmen
for Ljungbyhed, the rotary contingent begins
advanced flying training with Malmen’s 3rd
squadron. Here, 14 QFIs instruct on the HKP- The advanced course consists of low-
level flying, mountain flying, formation training,
advanced NVG and finally solo flights.
The rotary students stay at Malmen for 11
months of advanced flying training, gaining
an additional 110 hours. Once done with
their training, they leave the 3rd squadron
to gain their CRT. HKP 14 (NH90) pilots
receive their CRT in France, HKP 15 pilots
stay at Malmen, and HKP 16 (UH-60) pilots
go to the United States. Once they have
their CRT, they’ll join their future squadron.Instructor courses
Besides the pilot tuition, the Luftstridsskolan
also runs other syllabuses, one of them being
the QFI course for pilots from different frontline
Swedish squadrons. The Swedish QFI syllabus
also takes a different approach to those in many
other countries. The most noticeable variance
is in the first two segments. Here there’s a lot
of theoretical training around psychology and
pedagogy as well as a ‘live practice’ segment,
which pushes the future instructors to their limit.
It’s important the instructor pilots (IPs) don’t
judge a student for having a different personality
to their own. This ensures they are as objective
as they can be. If a sortie is ‘failed’, it’s as muchBelow: Students return from a training sortie at Malmen. In 2001 it was decided to relocate the
Luftstridsskolan to Linköping-Malmen. Due to reconstruction works at its new base, the school
temporarily relocated to Uppsala. Operations began at Malmen in July 2003. Right: While the SK 60 is
normally equipped with two side-by-side ejection seats, these can be exchanged with four fixed seats
for liaison purposes. In this configuration, limitations apply in terms of maximum g-loads and flight
manoeuvres.