Also some export versions kept the two cannons configuration. Earlier version of the Draken had two 30 mm Aden M/55 cannons, with later versions having only one cannon.
DRAKEN JET FULL
The engine in combination with the design, made the Draken a very manoeuvrable and fast fighter jet, with the braking parachute assisting the aircraft in the landing, reducing the distance required to reach a full stop. And the cockpit was fitted with air-conditioning and pressurization. The seat of the pilot was reclined 30 degrees, similarly like the Viggen, to allow the pilot to resist G-forces. It also incorporated VHF/UHF radio, a radio altimeter, a transponder, an IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system, and the Swedish version of the Lear-14 autopilot. The engine air inlets are located mid-wing at each side of the cockpit, featuring a characteristic egg shape.Ĭonsidered an easy-to-fly platform, yet not suitable for untrained pilots given the high sensibility controls, and being prone to ‘superstalls’ as a very stable platform with good low flight.Īlthough the avionics were in principle basic, the radar was a very sophisticated one – A PS-02/A based on the French radar Thompson-CSF Cyrano – integrated with an Ericsson version of a radar Thompson-CSF Cyrano S6 fire control system. It also provided good fuel and armament capacity. Its double-delta wings allow good high and low speed performances. The Draken is designed as a tailless middle double-delta wing fighter, with a single tail and a single engine (A Volvo Svenska Flygmotor RM6C, bestowing a maximum speed of 2125 km/h / 1,317 mph). The Draken also flew with the Flygvapnet ‘Acro Delta’ acrobatic team. The design was so unique that, in fact, the Draken was studied for the design and development of the F16XL experimental prototype.īetween 600 and 650 Draken were built, serving with the Flygvapnet until 1998, with the Finnish air force until the year 2000, the Danish air force until 1993, and the Austrian air force until 2005. Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and US National Test Pilot School were the operators of the Draken. And it proved to be a very tough and resistant design, as it is among the few jet fighter designs to be in service for 50 years. And it also had a safety feature, with the introduction of a ram turbine, placed under the nose, to provide emergency power.ĭespite being conceptualized as an interceptor, it performed well in dogfights and was able to undertake ground attack, training, and reconnaissance missions as well.
It could also sustain a force of 10G turning force. During development it was able to unintendedly exceed Mach 1 on its first afterburner flight. This design made the Draken capable of executing the “Cobra” manoeuvre, and also to stand well against more recent designs, as air exercises in Austria evidenced. Its very unique and remarkable double-delta wing design is also explained by the technical abovementioned requirements, which gave the aircraft very good high and low speed performances. It also explains the need for STOL capacities, as the Flygvapnet was implementing a system of dispersed bases, asking for highways and roads to be used as airstrips from where the aircraft could be operating, and also to reduce damage and increase survival in case of attack. This reason explains the requirements, but especially its high climbing rate capabilities, so to be able to engage high-altitude bombers and fighters – namely Soviet Union bombers and fighters. The Draken is also a product of the needs from a neutral nation willing to keep its neutrality, and geographically placed between the two block. Interestingly, a prototype was built expressly to test the double-delta wing concept: such was the Saab 210 ‘LilDraken’.
A brake parachute was incorporated to reduce landing distance. And on a similar fashion as the JAS 39 Gripen and JAS 37 Viggen, it was required the Draken to be serviced, refuelled and armed up to ten minutes by untrained ground personnel. As a result of both the requirements and development process, the result was a double-delta winged fighter that became the first European supersonic fighter, and also a high performance air-defence asset for Sweden. Development of the Drakenĭraken development started in 1949, following a requirement by the Flygvapnet for a single-seat cost-efficient interceptor with supersonic capabilities and high climbing rates, able to operate in short airstrips – or even highways, roads and unprepared runways – and easy to operate with high adaptability. In 1960 it entered in service with the Flygvapnet.
Its first flight took place in 1955, being amongst the most advanced and remarkable fighters of its time. A single-seat, single-engine interceptor/fighter for all-weather conditions, with low double delta wings, the Saab 35 Draken was developed in order to replace the Saab J29 Tunnan and the Saab J32 Lansen.
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