The history of the Swedish aircraft engine industry dates back to April 1930, with an official letter written by the Swedish Board of Aviation. Not a decree or political treatise, just six short lines ordering 40 nine-cylinder radial aircraft engines from a locomotive manufacturer, Nydqvist & Holm in Trollhättan, Sweden.
The locomotive makers promptly formed a new company for the job, NOHAB Aeroplane Engine Factories AB. The engines were intended for a Swedish Air Force that existed, as yet, only on the drawing board.
The first Swedish aero-engine had the designation MY VI and was ready for its final tests at the end of 1932. Deliveries were made until 1934 when it was replaced by series production of the MY VII (Pegasus II).
After the Swedish Parliamentary Defence Resolution of 1936 was adopted, efforts to create an Air Force for Sweden were stepped up and new plants were built for the manufacture of aircraft and engines alike. This military enterprise would later prove to be the invaluable foundation from which the Swedish commercial aerospace industry was to grow.
AB Volvo in Gothenburg obtained the majority share in 1941. The same year, the name of the company was changed from Nohab Flygmotorfabriker AB to Svenska Flygmotor AB (The Swedish Aero-Engine Company Ltd).
In the 40’s the piston engine era came to a close and the Swedish aircraft engine industry took the stride into the jet age.