During the heights of the cold war, Sweden was armed and ready for just about anything. The air force was one of the biggest in the world, countless secret underground bases (big enough to host factories and planes, ships and anything else you can think of) littered the country.
That was then. The bases are now largely abandoned and we can only dream of the days when politicians knew that having a good defense is a good insurance policy. The legacy can be seen on museums spread around the country though and a brand new one, Teknikland, opened up just outside of Östersund last weekend. Östersund used to have an air force base (now civilian), infantry and artillery, so it was a military town. This is now highlighted at Teknikland but not all is dedicated to the military, there´s also a veteran car club, an air model club (a small airfield is placed at the site) and plenty of old boys type activity. If you visit you will be busy for hours checking everything out. There are cannons, air planes, motor vehicles and so on just about everywhere you look, both outside and inside the buildings. Here is a few shots from the opening day on June 5th 2010. Enjoy.
In addition to these imiges, there´s two more of a Biggles exhibition on the snapshots page.
And here is a film I found on YouTube of the JAS 39 Gripen show on the day. The last minute or so is missing, at which the air craft shot straight up to the sky with incedible speed.
Full story in my magazine RETROFUTURE 3 2010.
So if you live in Sweden...
Mike Eriksson (c).
