Nationality Swedish
Manufacturer Svenska Aeroplan AB
First flight on October 25, 1955
Brief March 8, 1960 (Frontline Service)
Retired in 2005 (Austria)
Decommissioned status
Main user of the Swedish Air ForceAuthortian Air ForceFFF
Royal Danish Air Force
Produced 1955-1974
Number of constructions 651
Variant Saab 210
Saab 35 Draken (IPA:[drákɛn]; "The Kite" or "The Dragon" is a Swedish fighter interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken began in 1948 as a future replacement for the Swedish Air Force, when the Saab 29 Tunnan dayfighter and Saab 32B Lansen night fighter were being developed.
It featured an innovative but unproven twin-delta wing, which led to the birth of a small-scale test aircraft, the Saab 210, which was produced and flown to test this previously unexplored aerodynamic property. The full-size production version was commissioned on 8 March 1960 in the Swedish Air Force's Frontline Squadron. The model was named Flygplan 35 (Fpl 35; 'Aeroplane 35') and was available in a variety of models and types, the most common being the fighter type prefixed J (J 35), representing the Swedish fighter term Jaktflygplan (chaser).
The Saab 35 Draken is known for its many "firsts" in the aviation sector. It was the first fighter built in Western Europe with true supersonic capabilities and the first all-supersonic fighter deployed in Western Europe. From a design standpoint, it was one of the fighters with twin delta wings designed in the early 1950s, if not the first. This unconventional wing design also had side effects, making it the first known aircraft capable of performing Cobra maneuvers. It was also one of the first horizontally flowing Mach number more than 2 aircraft built in Western Europe, arriving on January 14, 1960.
Dracon was an effective supersonic fighter during the Cold War. Although the model was designed to act as an interceptor, it was considered a very capable Dog fighter of its time. In the service in Sweden, it has undergone several upgrades, the most advanced of which is the J 35J model.
By the 1980s, the Sudanese Armed Forces' Dragen fighter jet had essentially been replaced by the more advanced Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet, while the more capable Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter was expected to be operational within a decade, albeit delayed. Due to cuts and high maintenance costs, the Sudanese Armed Forces chose to retire from Draken in December 1999. The model was also exported to the Air Forces of Austria, Denmark and Finland. The Danish aircraft have been exported to the United States after entering service, where they are used as training aircraft for test pilots.
General characteristics
Crew: 1 person
Length: 15.35 m (50 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 9.42 m (30 ft 11 in)
Height: 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 49.2 m2 (530 ft2)
Airfoil: 5%
Empty weight: 7865 kg (17339 lb)
Gross weight: 11,000 kg (24,251 lb)
Maximum takeoff weight: 11914 kg (26266 lb)
Powerplant: 1× Svenska Flygmotor RM6C afterburner turbojet engine, 56.5 kN (12700 lbf) dry thrust, 78.4 kN (17600 lbf) with afterburner
Maximum speed: 2450 km/h (1520 mph, 1320 kN) at 11000 m (36089 ft)
Maximum speed: Mach number 2
Ferry range: 2,750 km (1,710 miles, 1,480 nautical miles) with external droplet tanks
Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
Climb speed: 199 m/s (39,200 ft/min)
Wing load: 231.6 kg/m2 (47.4 lb/ft²)
Thrust/Weight: 0.7
Takeoff roll: 800 m (2625 ft)
armaments
Artillery: 1× or 2× 30 mm Akan m/55 Aden cannons, 100 rounds per gun (Saab 35F omitted one cannon (120 rounds) to accommodate the avionics required for Falcon missile integration, early models and export models retained twin guns. ）
Mounting points: 6 for ordnance, or place tanks on the bottom 2 mounting points with a capacity of 2900 kg (6393 lbs), can carry the following combinations:
Rocket: 2×75 mm air-to-ground rocket pod belly or 12× 135 mm rocket mounted on six lower suspension towers
Missiles: RB 24, RB 27 and RB 28 air-to-air missiles
Bomb: The Danish export version (F-35) was modified according to NATO standards and equipped with a 1000 pound bomb hard spot