Editing Hasselblad (section)

===World War II===

During [[World War II]], the Swedish military captured a fully functioning German aerial surveillance camera from a downed German plane. This was probably a [https://www.deutsches-spionagemuseum.de/sammlung/handkammer-hk-125-7x9 Handkammer HK 12.5&nbsp;cm/7x9], which bore the codename GXN and the military account number Fl.38510.

The Swedish government realised the strategic advantage of developing an aerial camera for their own use, and in the spring of 1940 approached Victor Hasselblad to help create one. In April 1940, Victor Hasselblad established a camera workshop in Gothenburg called Ross AB in a shed at an automobile shop, working in the evenings in cooperation with a mechanic from the shop and his brother, and began designing the HK7 camera.

By late 1941, the operation had over 20 employees and the Swedish Air Force asked for another camera, one which would have a larger negative and could be permanently mounted to an aircraft. This model was the SKa4. Between 1941 and 1945, Hasselblad delivered 342 cameras to the Swedish military.<ref name="Hasselblad history – Hasselblad"/>

In 1942, Karl Erik Hasselblad died and Victor took control of the family business. During the war, in addition to the military cameras, Hasselblad produced watch and clock parts, over 95,000 by the war's end.