HKP4 & its role in Naval Aviation
In the early 1960s, the first Boeing Vertol 107 (BV 107) helicopters were procured and delivered to the Swedish Armed Forces. The type was developed by Boeing for the American military as a medium-duty transport helicopter.
The procurement initially included a total of 14 individuals, of which the first ten were delivered to the Air Force and the remaining four to the Navy.
The Swedish Armed Forces gave the helicopter system the designation “HKP4” – Helicopter 4.
In the service of society
During the Cold War, HKP4 became something of an icon in society, not least in connection with the Russian Whiskey-class submarine U-137’s grounding in the Blekinge archipelago, when it was featured as the “submarine hunter” in the media.
The helicopter was also used as a resource for civil society and assisted with, among other things, water bombing of forest fires and for medical transport.
The helicopter and its crew performed heroic actions during its service, not least during the fire aboard the Scandinavian Star where it flew firefighters and equipment to the ship, and during the Estonia disaster where nine HKP4s and their crews participated in the rescue work.
HKP4-A/B/C/D
De 14 första helikoptrarna som levererades till Flygvapnet och Marinflyget fick beteckningen HKP4A och HKP4B.
Sedermera köptes ytterligare åtta stycken helikoptrar in, som vid den här tidpunkten licensbyggdes av Kawasaki Heavy Industries för Boeing. Beteckningen på dessa åtta individer blev då HKP4C och de tillföll Marinflyget.
Flygvapnet använde HKP4 främst som en räddningshelikopter (FRÄD) medan Marinflyget nyttjade helikoptern i huvudsak till ubåtsjakt och ytspaning med radar.
Totalt tjänstgjorde 22 stycken HKP4 i Flygvapnet och Marinflyget under perioden 1963 till 2011, då helikoptertypen pensionerades.Brödtext med vertikal accent.
The Y70 helicopter
The Y70 was delivered to the Navy in 1973 and entered service in 1974. She was based at the 2nd Helicopter Division, Säve, for most of her service.
After her retirement from the Armed Forces in 2006, she was transferred to the Swedish Air Force Museum, which deposited her with an end-user certificate at the Aeroseum in Gothenburg.
As part of the Aeroseum organization, the 2nd Helicopter Division was recreated in 2013 by former officers and civilians who had belonged to the original 2nd Helicopter Division, before its closure in 2006.
They took on the task of getting the Y70 authorized into the Swedish civil aviation system.
On November 14, 2018, the helicopter received a national flight permit and has also been classified as an aircraft of cultural and historical value since 2022. Further proof of how unique the helicopter is.
Brief facts about the Y70
Mission
- Submarine hunting
- Surface reconnaissance
- Firefighting
- Troop transport
- Medical transport
- Flight rescue
- Sea rescue
Capacity
- 11 tons maximum takeoff weight
- maximum speed 270 km/h
- Range approx. 1100 km
Technical facts
- Two Rolls Royce Gnome H1400 engines of 1400 shp each
- Total power 2000 kW
Arming
- Torpedo 42
- Torpedo 43
- Torpedo 45
- Depth charge 11
- Depth charge 51
- Machine gun 58E