Supply independence under armed neutrality

Sweden's location made reliance on any single foreign supplier a strategic liability. A war with Germany could prevent American or British supplies from crossing a neutral Norway or passing German-controlled routes. Supplies from Germany carried their own risks because Swedish planners could not count on the stability of either the Weimar Republic or the later dictatorship. The problem was political as well as logistical: a powerful expansionist state might turn industrial dependence into coercion. Soderberg pursued domestic aircraft and engine capacity as insurance for armed neutrality. Supplier diversity and local production protected Sweden's freedom of action.