Draken in Flight

The Saab J35 Draken (The Dragon) or Saab 35 is a Swedish fighter aircraft manufactured by Saab between 1955 and 1974. Draken was built to replace Saab Tunnan and, later, the fighter variant (J32B) of the Saab Lansen. Saab Draken, used with permission. ... Saab Draken, used with permission. ... Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ... A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Saab is an aircraft and automobile concern based in Sweden, founded 1937 in Linköping. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... SAAB J 29 Tunnan (The Barrel) was a Swedish fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Saab 1950 - 1956. ... The SAAB A32 Lansen (Swedish:lance) was a two-seater attack aircraft produced by SAAB from 1955 to 1960 for Flygvapnet, the Swedish air force. ...

Development

As the jet era started Sweden saw the need for a jet fighter that could intercept bombers at high altitude, but also take on fighters. The concept is similar to the US Air Force' F-104 Starfighter. In September 1949, the FMV issued a request for such an aircraft and work began the same year. Other requirements were the capability to able to operate from public roads used as temporary airfields, and re-fueling/re-arming to be carried out by conscripts with little training, in no more than 10 minutes. Seal of the Air Force. ... The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a high-performance supersonic interceptor aircraft, capable of high speeds and climb rates. ...

Saab Draken in a special painting for the Austrian 'Millenium'-anniversary

Its wings have a distinctive "double-delta" configuration, with one delta wing within another larger delta. The inner wing has an 80° angle for high speed performance, while the outer 60° wing gives good performance at low speeds. The double-delta shape was so revolutionary that it warranted the only test aircraft built in Sweden in order to test the concept of the double delta; that aircraft was the Saab 210 "mini dragon". Propulsion is provided by a single Svenska Flygmotor RM6B/C turbojet (Rolls-Royce Avon 200/300). A ram turbine under the nose provides emergency power, and the engine has a built-in emergency starter unit. Draken has a drag chute to reduce landing speed. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x667, 109 KB) Summary http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x667, 109 KB) Summary http://www. ... Scaled down testbed for the double-delta concept in the development of the SAAB Draken fighter. ... Rolls-Royce plc (LSE: RR.) (also known as Rolls-Royce Aero Engines) is the second-largest aircraft engine maker in the world, behind General Electrics GE Aircraft Engines division. ...

All Drakens are interceptors, with the sole exception of the Danish Drakens, which are strike aircraft capable of carrying AGM-12 Bullpup missiles, advanced jammers, and increased internal and external fuel stores. The Danish Drakens are so far the heaviest to have been in service. The AGM-12 Bullpup is an air-to-ground missile which was used on the A-4 Skyhawk, A-6 Intruder and F-4 Phantom among others. ...

Performance

The aircraft had good performance for its day when it entered service in 1960. Although not designed to be a dogfighter, Draken proved to have good instantaneous turn capability and was a very capable fighter.

The J35 Draken underwent several upgrades. The last was the J35J version in the early 1990s. By then it had been almost totally replaced by Saab Viggen and Saab Gripen in Swedish service, although it remains in limited numbers in both military and civilian versions. Special models has also been exported to Denmark and Finland. In 1985 the Austrian air force purchased 24 Saab-Scania reconditioned Draken. In the United States, the National Test Pilot School (NTPS) operates six Draken that were formerly in Danish service. The Saab Viggen (Thunder Bolt or Bolt ¹) or Saab 37 is a Swedish fighter aircraft manufactured between 1970 and 1990 to replace the Saab Draken (Dragon). ... The Saab JAS-39 Gripen (Griffin) is a fighter aircraft from Sweden manufactured by Saab. ... This article is about the year. ...

See also: Swedish Air Force, List of military aircraft of Sweden The Swedish Air Force, or Flygvapnet, is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces, the military of Sweden. ... This is a list of Swedish military aircraft since its start. ...

Draken Variants

• J35A - First production variant not all delivered with radar some modified to carry IR seekers.
• J35B - Redesigned engine exhaust, the first Draken to carry AA rocket pods
• SK35C - Two seater trainer, the last version to use the Avon 200 or RM 6BS turbojet engine.
• J35D - The fastest Draken version, the fuel ran out before it stopped accelerating. The first Draken to use the Avon 300 or RM 6C turbojet engine.
• S35E - Unarmed reconaissance version.
• J35F - The first version to be fitted with radar guided AA missiles.
• J35F-2 - Upgraded version fitted with an IR seeker. Also known as the J35F-1.
• J35J - Updated variant of the J35F2, the main external difference is the two sidewinder pylons under the air intakes. Originally designated J35F Mod or J 35F-Ny .
• SAAB 35H - Purposed export version for the Swiss Air Force, never sold or delivered to Switzerland.
• SAAB 35XD - Danish export versions. F-35 (A 35XD) single-seat fighter, TF-35 (Sk 35XD) two-seat trainer and RF-35 (S 35XD) reconnaissance aircraft.
• SAAB 35XS - Fighter version for the Finnish Air Force. Built under licence by Valmet in Finland.
• SAAB 35BS - Used J35B's sold to Finland
• SAAB 35DS - Used J35D's sold to Finland
• SAAB 35CS - Used SK35C's sold to Finland
• SAAB 35OE - Modified J35D's sold to Austria

The total number of produced and delivered Drakens are 615.

Specification

General characteristerics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 50 ft 4 in (15.35 m)
• Wingspan: 30 ft 10 in (9.4 m)
• Height: 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
• Wing area: 529.6 ft² (49.2 m²)
• Empty: 18,188 lb (8250 kg)
• Loaded: 25,132 lb (11,400 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 33,069 lb (17,650 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Volvo Flygmotor RM6C turbojet (licence-built Rolls-Royce Avon Series 300); 12,790 lbf (56.89 kN) thrust dry; 17,650 lbf (78.5 kN) thrust with afterburning

The Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet was developed by Cyril Lovesey who had previously been in charge of Merlin development at Rolls-Royce. ...

Performance

• Maximum Speed: 1,317 mph (2,119 km/h)
• Ferry Range: 1,763 miles (1,763 km)
• Service ceiling: 65,600 ft (19,995 m)
• Rate of climb: 34,450 ft/min (10,500 m/min)
• Takeoff run: 2,133 ft (650 m)

Armament

Four hardpoints for either fuel tanks Air to Air Missiles or Air to Air Rockets. With the J-version two hardpoints exclusively for Sidewinder missiles was installed under the air intakes. The term sidewinder can refer to: A species of rattlesnake, see sidewinder (snake). ...

• AIM-9J Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
• AIM-9B Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
• Hughes Falcon air-to-air missiles HM 55 & HM 58
• 2x30 mm ADEN cannon; 150 rounds each (from the F-version one of the guns was removed)
• For ground strike bombs up to 500kg could be carried and/or rockets
• Maximum ordnance; 6,393 lb (2,900 kg)

Sidewinder version used by the United States Air Force as well as being widely exported. ...

Operators

• Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden,

External links

• http://fly.to/draken/
• http://www.vectorsite.net/avj35.html
• http://www.warbirdalley.com/draken.htm