The Swedish armed forces doctrine does not disclose where the knowledge about the use of airpower was acquired. Earlier research supports the fact that doctrine needs to contain theory to support its legitimacy.  The purpose of this study is to examine whether the doctrine contains air power theory. The author believes that increased internationalization may have caused international air power theories to have been integrated in the doctrine.  The research was conducted as a qualitative research of the Swedish air force doctrine documents. The research intended to see if the air power theories of John Warden and Shaun Clark have influenced the doctrine.  The result of this study shows that the ideas of Shaun Clarke had a much higher presence than the ideas of John Warden. The study has shown that the Swedish air force doctrine has theoretical support. The study concludes that internationalizing has affected but not to the point where the Swedish air force blindly copied air power theories without it suiting the Swedish air force.

During the last decades, air defense has been the core mission of the Swedish Air Force. This has come at the expense of offensive strike capability. However, this may be about to change. In the coming defense bill it is proposed that the Swedish Air Force will acquire cruise missiles during the 2020´s. With the aim of ensuring that this new capability will generate the maximal operational effect for the Air Force, this essay has examined how the current Swedish air doctrine,TR LuftOp 2017, views offensive strike operations today and how this possibly may change with the new capabilities offered by cruise missiles.  This has been done through a qualitative text research method where John A. Warden´s and Robert A. Pape´s theories of offensive air power have been used as the theoretical framework. The result shows that the Swedish air doctrine today closely resembles Robert A. Papes theory, with the exception of some signs of Warden´s thoughts. However, most signs suggest, and it is this essays conclusion, that the acquisition of cruise missiles probably will result in the Swedish air doctrine adopting more of Warden´s theory at the expense of Pape´s theory.

This study examines how Argentina’s failure to obtain control of the air during the Falklands war can be explained based on the theories of John A. Warden and Philip S. Meilinger. The failure is problematic due to the numerical superiority and geographical advantage of the Argentinian Air Force. Previous studies have focused on the absence of airborne early warning, air-to-sea warfare and the perspective of Clausewitz theories. The purpose of this study is therefore the to develop a theory-based explanation of the Argentinian failure from the perspective of two air-warfare theories. The first day of the war (May 1) and the landing on the shores of San Carlos constitute crucial parts of the air war. The paper utilizes a theory consuming approach to explain the two cases and then comparing them to develop an aggregated explanation of the Argentinian failure. The result of the analysis is that Argentinian failure to identify and attack Britain’s aircraft carriers/landing ships, failure to concentrate the offensive operations and selective British air defence are key parts of the explanation. The results contributes to a deeper understanding of a perspective of the Falklands air war that has not been analysed in previously analysed in earlier academic studies.

Through several wars, Israel has proven itself capable of standing up against superior foes, and the Israeli Air Force has always played a significant role in these successes. During the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli forces faced a new threat in the form of superior anti-aircraft weaponry when Egypt and Syria launched an attack on October 6, 1973. The Israeli Air Force was forced to stray from its established doctrine, yet they still managed to once again achieve victory. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of the factors that contributed to Israel achieving victory during the Yom Kippur War and how a small state can defeat a superior foe. The actions of the Israeli Air Force during the Yom Kippur War were analyzed through the theoretical perspectives of John A. Warden and Robert A. Pape. The analysis shows that neither theory can provide a clear-cut answer to why Israel ended up victorious, but several aspects of them are prominent enough to help explain how Israel managed to get into an advantageous situation. A more extensive study that looks into factors such as the combined effort of the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Army would be required to reach a more definitive conclusion.