Contemporary lessons and insights were at the forefront of this year's Air and Space Power Conference 2026.
The conference provided an opportunity for military, academics and industry leaders to discuss lessons learnt from each other and consider concepts into the future of air power.
Delivering a presentation about Air Power in Sweden's National Defence, Deputy Commander of the Swedish Air Force, Brigadier-General Niclas Magnusson described what it means to have a whole of society approach to defence.
In the last century, the Swedish Air Force have been building resilience both within their air force and amongst the population, no matter the situation.
Sweden has been developing its population through bottom-up innovation, conscription, and the design of operations around a dispersed base concept.
Bottom-up innovation focusses on ensuring every unit has the tools and knowledge to know where to pitch ideas to Swedish industry and academia and turn them into reality.
"Not only are we protecting the population through these methods, but we are making sure the whole of society is supporting the war effort," said Brigadier-General Niclas Magnusson.
"Statistics, energy, infrastructure and healthcare. All of these aspect of society must have a plan to support the whole of Sweden if we come to war."
Visiting Fellow from Griffith Asia Institute, Dr Peter Layton, echoed these sentiments on innovation reflecting that contemporary air power is evolving with the emergence of heterogeneous air power.
In 2025, six wars were conducted over the span of six weeks. The majority of these air wars utilised what Dr Peter Layton describes as heterogeneous air power, which includes rocket, missiles and drones.
According to Dr Layton, heterogeneous air power, unlike traditional crewed aircraft, is comprised of uncrewed aerial systems.
"Heterogeneous air power employs very large numbers, hundreds of elements at a time, sometimes thousands. This model is demonstratively effective," said Dr Layton.
"The model offers three key advantages, resilience, scalability, and mass - while innovations in uncrewed systems are simpler and more affordable to achieve than in crewed aircraft."
Similar sentiments were echoed by the Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell who noted that we find ourselves in an era of deep and accelerating geopolitical disruption - one that calls for strategic discipline, heightened preparedness, and a shared commitment to safeguarding our future.
"This is a time to make changes, evolve and ensure we are ready for any number of plausible, possible future scenarios, including the worst-case scenario of conflict," said Air Marshal Chappell.
