![]() ![]() For aerial reconnaissance missions, a variety of camera pods could be carried underneath the fuselage.ĭespite being conceptualized as an interceptor, Saab 35 performed well in dogfights and was able to undertake ground attack, training, and reconnaissance missions as well. In place of the cannons, additional fuel tanks could be fitted in the same space. The principal armament was carried externally, up to four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles were carried on hard points beneath the wings and fuselage alternative payloads include a variety of bombs and rockets.Įarlier version of the Draken had two 30 mm Aden M/55 cannons located within each of the inboard wing panels, later versions having only one cannon. The Draken could deploy a drag chute to reduce its landing distance. Aside the fact of being the first European supersonic jet fighter, the Draken was the first fighter to have short takeoff and landing capacities.Ī ram turbine, positioned under the aircraft’s nose, provided emergency power, while the engine also featured a built-in emergency starter unit. It also had a superior service ceiling at 20,000m in comparison with fighters of its times, as well as the rate of climb is 199 m/s. The ferry range listed at 2,750km with external drop tanks. Propulsion was provided by a single Svenska Flygmotor RM6B or RM6C turbojet engine, bestowing a maximum speed of 2,450 km/h at 11,000m. The Draken was also fitted with a three-axis autopilot. Indeed, the Draken incorporated the STRIL 60 ground-control network that enable Draken pilots a firing guidance through the on-board instruments, being the system also capable to resist electronic jamming.įor export customers, the Draken was outfitted with a Ferranti-built Airpass II fire-control radar. It was among the first fighters in incorporating an on-board radar and the earlier version of the data-link system, whose enhanced version was incorporated in the J37 Viggen and the JAS 39 Gripen. It had a range of 24 km and targets were normally detected at 24 km, incorporated an Identification Friend or Foe system. The radar was a very sophisticated one – A PS-02A based on the French Thomson-CSF Cyrano radar. Saab 35 was originally designed with a single seat, the cockpit of the Draken featured mostly Swedish-sourced instrumentation. The Draken can boast not only being a radical and new design thus making it a very advanced one by the first decades of the Cold War. The inner wing has an 80 degrees angle for high speed performance, while the outer 60 degrees wing gives good performance at low speeds. It featured an innovative double delta wing, a previously-unexplored aerodynamic configuration, with one delta wing within another larger delta. The rear portion, which was manufactured as a single piece alongside the rest of the inner wing, contained the engine and afterburner, bag-type fuel tanks, armament, main landing gear, and other systems. The forward section, accommodates the fire-control radar, cockpit, nose undercarriage, integral fuel tanks and various systems. The fuselage of the Draken consisted of two sections, front and rear, joined by bolts. The fuselage has a circular section, and the inboard portion of the wing is a large-chord surface which extended almost to the oval air intakes are located on either side of the fuselage. The Draken is designed as a tailless fighter, with a single vertical tail fin. Its first flight took place in 1955 and was entered in service in 1960, being amongst the most advanced and remarkable fighters of its time. The Draken was developed during the 1940s and 1950s to replace Sweden’s first generation of jet-powered fighter aircraft, the Saab J29 Tunnan and the Saab J32 Lansen. After World War 2, as the jet era started, Sweden foresaw the need for a jet fighter that could intercept bombers at high altitude and also successfully engage fighters. ![]()
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