In 1958, Sweden’s armed forces established a then secret air base in the remote far north of thecountry. The purpose was to create a suitable location to test the AIM-4C (Rb 28) and the AIM-26B (Rb 27) Falcon air-to-air missiles intended for the Saab J35 Draken fighter. It was assumedthe base would be closed after that work was completed but the air force recognised Vidsel’spotential as a test site for such programmes in the future. Instead, the base and itssurrounding ranges were developed and today the centre is at the heart of the process bywhich Sweden tests, evaluates and acquires its defence equipment. It was also the venue forthe 2008 Gripen live-firing exercise.

Text and photos: Emiel Sloot

Gripen TTE exercise over the Vidsel Test and

Evaluation Range

Situated 95 km west of the city of Luleå, in theSwedish part of Lapland, Vidsel Air Base and itsnearby test and firing range fall within one ofEurope’s least inhabited areas. Coupled with anabsence of commercial air traffic overhead it is anideal location for flight-testing aircraft, mannedand unmanned aerial vehicles, and for conductinglive-fire trials of weapon systems. Today, the airbase and Vidsel Test and Evaluation Range isknown locally as the Robot Försöksplats Norrland(RFN), which translates to Missile Test CentreNorrland. Jokingly, the acronym is also said tostand for ‘Real Far North’. It is maintained by theSwedish Forsvarets Materielverk (FMV / SwedishDefence Material Administration), a civilianagency run by the Ministry of Defence. The rangestretches 70 km in one direction and 35 in theother, and lies to the northwest of the air basesurrounded by Restricted Area R02. However,permission was recently given to add anadditional section at the western edge that willextend the range by another 1,680 square kmand allow long-range weapons to be tested there.Within the current range perimeter five areascurrently exist to handle static or dynamic targetsmoving on rails. These targets can be custommade, depending on requirements.

Available for air-to-air missile testing is aBeechcraft MQM-107B drone, locally designatedRb 06B, which can be configured as required andtow up to four targets to maximise its efficiency.The drone and targets are launched into therange from a point just north of the air base andsubsequently recovered by parachute. On someoccasions an Mu-2 or Learjet supplied by a localcontractor is used to tow targets as well becausethe FMV has not had an aircraft fleet of its own

since retiring the last of its J32 Lansens in 2000.All movements over the range, includingdeployed weapons and drones, are monitored bythe control centre at the air base using atelemetry system comprising five fixed and onemobile site equipped with P-, S- and L-bandtransceivers. In addition, surveillance andtracking radars (C- and X-band) scan the area;one having a bore-sight digital video camera forvisual tracking and recording. Suchinstrumentation facilitates detailed debriefs andthorough evaluations of the tests.

VisitorsSome foreign countries that recently used theresources of the base and range include France,which tested the MBDA Storm Shadow cruisemissile using a Mirage 2000D); and Germanywhose WTD 61 test unit has been conductingtest-firings of the Taurus KEPD 350 stand-offweapon from one of its Tornados. The MBDAMeteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile forthe Saab Gripen has also been undergoingSwedish trials of late, as has a one-sixth scalemodel of the EADS Phoenix space shuttle.Additionally, Raytheon has made a number ofvisits related to its AMRAAM missile, particularlyto establish the envelope for sub-variantsincluding the latest AIM-120C5. Withtemperatures dropping across the range to minus35 degrees Celsius in mid-winter, the facility isalso in demand from aerospace companieswishing to determine the cold-weatherperformance of their products.One of the earliest foreign air arms to deploy tothe Vidsel range was the Swiss Air Force in 1977,with Mirage IIIS and F-5E aircraft. Several Swissvisits have followed since, as have deploymentsby RAF Tornado F.3s, Finnish Hornets, CzechGripens and L-159 ALCAs, Austrian Drakens andF-16s from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlandsand Turkey. Still, the primary user of the facility byfar is Sweden’s armed forces.In accordance with Sweden’s ‘Base 90’ conceptdeveloped in the 1980s, Vidsel has three short‘highway’ strips each measuring 800 by 17meters in addition to the main 2,300 m runway.These auxiliary airstrips were constructed nearby,two of which are situated within the perimeter ofthe air base. The outlying strips have dispersedparking positions near them that enable a pilot to

reach an alternate runway in the event onerunway should be out of action. It should be notedthat Vidsel was never intended to be anoperational air base. Instead, the facilities serveprimarily for training purposes.Ever since the start of the JAS39 Gripen’sdevelopment phase Saab and the FMV havemade use of the RFN base for weaponsintegration. Additionally, operational Gripen wingsannually deploy to Vidsel for two weeks.

Gripen TTP exerciseOn 5 May 2008, a detachment from 1.Division ofthe Ronneby-based F17 Blekinge Wing deployedto Vidsel for ten days with six JAS39C, oneJAS39D two-seater and 18 pilots. They werejoined for the exercise by a sizeable contingentfrom the Gripen Operational Test and Evaluation(OT&E) Unit (Taktisk Utprovning JAS39) based atLinköping-Malmen. The unit brought ten pilots,three JAS39Cs and one JAS39D to Vidsel for theevent, and borrowed two JAS39As from F21Norrbotten Wing based at nearby Luleå-Kallax.F17 operated from the Vidsel base itself, but theGripen OT&E operated from a wooded area 2 kmwest of the base. Its aircraft were parked indispersals along a road-like taxiway, connected tothe main base by one of the highway airstrips.The Spring 2008 campaign was dubbed theGripen TTP exercise and included new tacticstraining, aimed in particular at front-linesquadrons in accordance with the Tactics,Techniques and Procedures (TTP) set forth in theGripen’s tactical manual. However, there wasanother reason for the meet. An important goal ofthe ten-day exercise was to prepare crews fortheir July 2008 participation in Red Flag at NellisAFB, Nevada. Accordingly, the Nellis weaponsrange was replicated at the RFN to make trainingand practice for the event as realistic as possible.A variety of missions including COMAO and‘aggressor’ flying were conducted at Vidsel inwhich Gripens from F21 wing participated fromtheir home base, along with Norwegian F-16AMsflying from Bodø. Within the exercise area threeimaginary ‘Red Air’ bases were established calledDirt, Range and Highway, to act as re-entry pointsfor ‘downed’ Gripens emulating adversary MiG-29and Su-27 fighters armed with AA-10A/Cmissiles. For Sweden, Nellis represented itssecond participation in a large-scale exercise

involving Gripens: the first being Red Flag Alaskain 2006. The RF 2008 detachment was lead byF21 but included elements of F17 as well as theGripen OT&E.

The Vidsel exercise had three specific goals. Firstof all, it represented an excellent opportunity fortest pilots to refresh their tactical skills,particularly in light of the reduced flight-hoursavailable to them in 2008. The cut-back has beenin response to budget overruns caused byfunding for the armed forces’ Nordic Battle Group.The lack of available funds this year and probablynext year as well, means less flying time for pilotsacross the board. Concentrating available hoursinto periods of intense flying helps maintain skillsto a point. Thus, both the Vidsel and Red Flagcampaigns were significant to the overall picturein that regard.

Secondly, the Vidsel event enabled refinement bycrews of electronic warfare procedures for theGripen’s onboard EWS 39. This complex systemhas numerous modes, and the specific setup

parameters must be loaded from its ‘library’ priorto each mission. This library controls the radarwarning receiver, the way information ispresented to the pilot and how the variouscountermeasures like chaff, flares and jammingwill be used. Fine-tuning requires a skilled groundcrew and systematic testing, especially as theEWS 39 is still relatively new. It can be configuredto neutralise ground and air threats but the focusof the 2008 campaign was on the latter. Jamming‘enemy’ radars and simultaneously trackingtargets proved demanding since most radarsoperate on the same frequency band. Much wasachieved with the system at the Vidsel exercisehowever, and the Swedish air force feels wellequipped today to participate in internationalexercises and operations with its JAS39s.

Thirdly, the exercise evaluated the concept ofhaving a forward air controller (FAC) in thebackseat of a JAS39D. The purpose was to

examine the feasibility of such a solution in theevent a ground-based FAC is unable to establishvisual contact with the target because of terrainmasking, or because operations occur in areastoo remote for a FAC to be effective. Plannednew software for the JAS39D (Edition no.19),scheduled to be available in 2010, will includededicated functionality for such missions althoughmore flight-testing will be needed first.

The live-missile launches conducted during thecampaign included four AIM-9L (Rb 74)Sidewinder ‘attacks’ on 9 May. These were madesequentially by four Gripens against an MQM-107B drone towing four flares. No AMRAAMswere fired during the event but that missile wastested the following week by the FMV, althoughno more such tests are planned until 2009. ForAIM-120 events, more air arms are typicallyinvolved and Raytheon, the missile’smanufacturer, is on hand for backup and dataretrieval purposes. In the air-to-ground arena, twoGBU-12 bombs were dropped for the exercise on13 May, targeted by a Litening III pod by F17crews. The outcome was monitored and recordedat the control centre.

On 14 May a few practice landings wereconducted at one of the short highway airstrips,as well. While such activity was common duringthe late 1990s, such landing practice has becomesomething of a rarity today being possible at justa few locations in Sweden. However, it is quitelikely that future UN and Nordic Battle Groupdeployments might call for Gripens to deploy toareas with less sophisticated runway facilities.

That could mean training in short runwayoperations might have to be increased. Vidsel iscertainly well-placed and equipped to meet thatneed.

Open for businessThe FMV is keen to attract more ‘customers’ tothe Vidsel facility. One party that might complainabout a higher tempo of operations is the Samipeople, however, who have economic interestslike reindeer herding within the live-fire areas.Before any such activity, the defence ministrytemporarily evacuates them and payscompensation. So far this agreement seems to beworking to the benefit of all parties involved inand around the once secret base. ■

The author would like to thank Major Hans Einerth, C/O Gripen OT&E Unit, and his staff for their kind assistance in preparing this article.

It has been completed for publication in International Air Power Review (UK/USA – Vol.25) while similar features were included in Pilots and Planes Military (NL – No.3) and Ptisi (greece – No.274) magazines. Furthermore images were used by Combat Aircraft (UK – Vol.11 No.12) magazine as well as Saab Aerospace for official presentations.

© 2008