SAAB J35F DRAKEN. Swedish Airforce Interceptor.
SAAB J35F DRAKEN. Swedish Airforce Interceptor.
The Saab 35 Draken is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan
Aktebolaget (SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish
air force future replacement for the then also in development Saab 29 Tunnan dayfighter and Saab 32B Lansen
night fighter. It featured an innovatve but unproven double delta wing, which led to the creaton of a sub-scale
test aircrat, the Saab 210, which was produced and flown to test this previously-unexplored aerodynamic feature.
The full-scale producton version entered service with frontline squadrons of the Swedish Air Force on 8 March
1960. It received the designaton Flygplan 35 and was produced in several variants and types, most commonly as a
fighter type with the prefix J (J 35), standing for Jaktlygplan (Pursuit-aircrat), the Swedish term for fighter aircrat.
The Saab 35 Draken is known for, among other things, its many "firsts" within aviaton. It was the first Western
European-built combat aircrat with true supersonic capability to enter service and the first fully supersonic
aircrat to be deployed in Western Europe. Designwise it was one of, if not the first, combat aircrat designed with
double delta wings, being drawn up by early 1950. The unconventonal wing design also had the side effect of
making it the first known aircrat to be capable of and perform the Cobra maneuver. It was also one of the first
Western-European-built aircrat to exceed Mach 2 in level flight, reaching it on 14 January 1960.
Download instruction.