F 17 Kallinge

F 17 Kallinge, Blekinge Flygflottilj, Blekinge Air Force Wing, or simply "F 17", is a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Ronneby in southern Sweden. It is one of the three remaining wings in Sweden and currently has two squadrons of multirole aircraft. F 17 in the south and F 21 in the north are the two wings remaining to have operational squadrons. F 7 is a school where pilots begin their training in the JAS 39 Gripen. After that the pilot's training is moved out to the two operational wings there they learn their final skills.

History of the airbase

F 17 was established on the Bredåkra moor in 1944 under the name of Kungliga Blekinge Flygflottilj, The Royal Blekinge Air Wing. The moor had been used as a military training ground since the 19th century. The wing was at first mainly used for marine operations, such as torpedo and naval mine deployment. In 1947 the wing was reorganized with bomber squadrons. In 1954 the first jet planes entered service at the wing, as a part of the Swedish Air Force's transition to jet aircraft.

Kallinge

Kallinge is a locality situated in Ronneby Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 4,561 inhabitants in 2010. It is an industrial and garrison town and is situated about 5 km north of Ronneby.

The settlement grew up around an ironworks in the latter half of the 19th century.

Since 1944 Kallinge has had an air force base (F 17 Kallinge). It is also an airport for civil aircraft called Ronneby Airport.

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