Saab 35

Saab 35 Draken
Saab Draken of the Swedish Air Force with double delta wing (pictured as SK32C double seater)
Type:	Interceptor
Design country:	Sweden
Manufacturer:	Saab AB
First flight:	October 25, 1955
Commissioning:	March 8, 1960
Production time:	1955 to 1974
Number of pieces:	615 newly built (without converted and subsequently exported copies)

The Saab 35 Draken , translated into German both as a dragon (because of its shape) and as a dragon ( English Dragon , the mythological mythical creature ), is a single- engine supersonic fighter that was developed by Saab for the Swedish air force . It replaced the previous Saab 29 Tunnan and Saab 32 Lansen models .

development

Swedish Saab J 35A

Underside of a Saab Draken of the Austrian Armed Forces

Danish Draken during a NATO maneuver in 1989

Soon after the Swedish Air Force had approved the development and production of the Saab 32, it created a catalog of requirements for a new single-seat fighter that was also supposed to intercept bombers in the high supersonic range. In addition to the high speed and climbing power, STOL properties were also required from numerous small bases in accordance with the intended deployment doctrine . Saab started designing in 1949 and chose a double-delta configuration that promised a lightweight, compact construction. Wind tunnel tests confirmed the suitability of this concept, which was confirmed again in 1952 tests with a smaller-scale test aircraft Saab 210 "Lill-Draken" ("little kite"). An order was then placed to build three Saab J 35 prototypes. In addition to the nose wheel landing gear, the model aircraft received two retractable rear wheels. This design allowed landing approaches with a very steep angle of attack, whereby the braking effect of the delta wing could be optimally used.

The first prototype flew on October 25, 1955 and the other two followed in the spring of 1956; all three still had an original British afterburner Rolls-Royce Avon 200. In 1956, the series production was already running and the first series machine J 35A Draken took off on February 15, 1958 for its maiden flight, now with the Svenska Flygmotor RM6B engine , a license production of the British Rolls-Royce Avon 200 with in-house developed afterburner model 65.

The Draken was replaced in the Swedish Air Force by the Saab 37 Viggen .

Mission concept

Like other Swedish fighter jets, the Draken can be deployed from widened main roads and unprepared runways. A braking parachute is available to assist with landing.

After being retired from the Austrian Armed Forces , a Draken can be found in a roundabout near Tulln

Saab J 35J of the Swedish Air Force (2004)

Retired Draken from the Finnish Air Force

SAAB J-35F Draken

Cockpit of a Saab 35FS Draken

Versions

Basic variants

Saab Sk35C, two-seater of the Swedish Air Force

• Saab J 35A "Draken"
  From 1960 the J 35A was in service, 90 machines were built.
• Saab J 35B "Draken"
  From 1961 73 machines were built. These had a collision radar device, extended tail cone, retractable twin wheels under the tail, reinforced armament and the STRIL-60 interface for the air defense network / control system .
• Saab Sk 35C “Draken” two-seater combat aircraft
  The C version was only available as a non-combat-ready training aircraft Sk 35C (25 converted J 35A).
• Saab J 35D "Draken"
  The J 35D followed in 1963 with a more powerful RM6C engine, increased fuel capacity, a new ejection seat and modernized electronics (90 pieces built).
• Saab S 35E "Draken"
  For tactical reconnaissance purposes, the S 35E was created based on the J 35D. There was no radar in the bow, instead two Ska-16B and three Ska-24-OMERA cameras. Including some converted J 35Ds, 60 machines were built.
• Saab J 35F "Draken"
  230 machines of the J-35F were built, with which the production of the Saab 35 ended in 1974.
• Saab J 35F-1 "Draken"
  This sub-variant used the more powerful RM6C engine with a type 67 afterburner. With the installation of new avionics, an on- board cannon was no longer required .
• Saab J 35F-2 "Draken"
  The electronics were modernized with the J 35F or the J 35F2, which was modernized again. The Rb27 and Rb28 missiles could be used in conjunction with the new Ericson PS-011 / A radar and the Hughes S-71N infrared search sensor.
• Saab J 35J "Draken"
  The J 35J are 64 J-35F-2 machines that have been modernized since 1987. They had two additional hanging stations under the air inlets, as well as improved radar and an IFF device.

Export variants

Danish RF-35 during exercise OKSBOEL '86 at Karup Air Force Base

• Saab A 35XD “Draken”
  fighter-bomber for Denmark, which received a total of 51 machines, including 20 F-35s (equiped with the Swedish J 35F). However, it differs in the gradation below the nose for the Ferranti laser rangefinder and the RWR in the fin. Other differences to the J 35F are two on-board cannons and the lack of radar.
• Saab RF-35 "Draken"
  The Danish reconnaissance version corresponded to the Swedish S 35E with six 70 mm Vinten cameras in the nose and was called the S 35XD in the factory. In addition, the “Red Baron” IR reconnaissance vessel was carried.
• Saab TF-35 "Draken"
  The Danish trainer version was named Sk 35XD in the factory. It also differed in the laser rangefinder below the nose.
• Saab J 35BS "Draken"
  Finnish fighters leased from Swedish J-35B stocks.
• Saab J 35CS "Draken"
  Finnish trainers from Swedish Sk-35C stocks.
• Saab J 35FS "Draken"
  Finnish fighters from Swedish J-35F herds.
• Saab J 35XS "Draken"
  Twelve J-35BF-2 fighters manufactured under license by Valmet, but without a data link and only with AIM-9 guided missiles.
• Saab J 35Ö “Draken” In
  1987, 24 J 35Ö (Swedish J 35D) were delivered to Austria. Due to state treaty provisions that prohibited the possession of guided weapons, these initially did not have any AIM-9P Sidewinder. These were only bought in the 1990s.

Technical specifications

Parameter	J 35D	J 35F
crew	1
length	15.35 m
span	9.40 m
height	3.89 m
Wing area	49.20 m²
Wing loading	166 kg / m²	-
Empty mass	8,250 kg	7,425 kg
Takeoff mass	maximum 11,917 kg	normal 9,250 kg maximum 10,280 kg
Fuel supply	3000 l	-
Engines	1 TL Svenska Flygmotor RM6C type 66 , 7761 kp with afterburner	1 TL Svenska Flygmotor RM6C type 67 , 8000 kp with afterburner
Top speed	2124 km / h at 11,000 m
Rate of climb	200 m / s near the ground	250 m / s near the ground
Climbing time to 15,200 m	-	4 min 30 s
Service ceiling	18,300 m	20,000 m
Range	maximum 2000 km	normal 1120 km
Takeoff route	-	1550 m

Rescue systems

A 73SE-F zero-zero ejection seat developed by Saab was installed in the Draken .

Armament

Guns integrated in the fuselage

• 2 × 30 mm automatic revolver cannons ADEN M-55 in the wing roots with 90 rounds of ammunition each

At 13 external load stations (up to 2900 kg)

Air-to-air guided missile

• 6 × start rails for 1 × RB24 each (Robotsystem 24, Swedish license production of Raytheon AIM-9B "Sidewinder") - infrared controlled for short distances
• 4 × Saab RB-27 (Robotsystem 27, Swedish license production of the Hughes HM-55 / AIM-26B "Falcon") - semi-active radar-guided for short distances
• 4 × Saab RB-28 (Robotsystem 28, Swedish license production of the Hughes HM-58 / AIM-4C "Falcon") - infrared controlled for short distances

Air-to-surface guided missile

• 2 × Martin-Marietta AGM-12B "Bullpup" - radio-controlled guided missiles (only Saab 35XD)

Unguided air-to-surface missiles

• 4 × SAAB rocket tube launch container M57 for 19 unguided M55 air-to-surface missiles each; 75 mm caliber
• 12 × unguided Bofors -135-mm-M56 / M60 air-to-surface missiles
• 6 × LAU-261 rocket tube launch containers for 19 × unguided FFAR air-to-surface missiles Mk.40 each; Caliber 70 mm, (only Saab 35XD)

Unguided bombs

• 2 × Mark 83 LDGP (454 kg free-fall bomb , Saab 35XD only)
• 4 × Mark 82 "Snake Eye" (227 kg free-fall bomb with delay) (Saab 35XD only)
• 4 × Mark 82 LDGP (227 kg free-fall bombs, S35XD only)
• 4 × Mark 20 "Rockeye II" (220 kg cluster bombs , only S35XD)
• 6 × Bofors m / 60 "Lepus" (80 kg flare bomb for battlefield lighting using magnesium, fall delayed by parachute; only S35E)

Additional container

• 4 × drop-off additional tanks for 530 liters (140 US gallons) of kerosene
• 2 × drop-off additional tanks for 1275 liters (332 US gallons) of kerosene (F-35F only)
• 1 × Vinten “Blue Baron” reconnaissance container for photographic wet image night shots with integrated flash units
• 1 × infrared reconnaissance container Förenade Fabriksverken (FFV) Red Baron (also called LIRAS container with IR line scanner; only RF-35)
• 1 × Northrop Grumman AN / ALQ-162 EKF jamming canister (F-35 only)
• 1 × "Capsule A" - EKF disruptive container (also known as SAAB-U22 disruptive capsule or KA)
• 1 × "Capsule B" - decoy vessels (also known as Störkapsel BOX 9 or KB)
• 1 × A-38K-EKF jamming container

User countries

Saab produced a total of 606 Draken series aircraft in Linköping .

•  Sweden ( Flygvapnet - Swedish Air Force): 556 (90 × J 35A + 61 × J 35B + 90 × J 35D ( 24 of which were sold to Austria ) + 60 × S 35E + 230 × J 35F + 25 × Sk 35C; from J 35A converted)

•  Finland ( Suomen ilmavoimat - Finnish Air Force ): 48 (12 × J 35XS + 24 × J 35FS + 5 × Sk 35CS + 6 × J 35BS)

•  Denmark ( Flyvevåbnet - Danish Air Force ): 51 (20 × F-35 + 20 × RF-35 + 11 TF-35)

•  Austria ( Armed Forces - Air Force ): 24 × J 35 OE and 5 machines as spare parts donors.
• Civil users:

•  United States ( Flight Research Inc. - The National Test Pilot School (NTPS)): 6 formerly Danish Draken.
•  United States ( Flight Test Dynamics LLC ): 5 formerly Danish Draken.

Museum reception

Saab Draken in the HGM

Saab Draken as a show object on the access road to Vogler Air Base in Hörsching

In the outdoor area of ​​the Vienna Army History Museum there is a copy of a Draken that is open to the public around the clock and that was withdrawn from the Austrian army. Two more specimens, which should be added to the Army History Museum for reasons of responsibility, are in the military aviation exhibition at the Hinterstoisser Air Base in Zeltweg , including the Draken in the much-noticed red-white-red Ostarrichi anniversary paint scheme. At the Hinterstoisser Air Base, visitors to the exhibition have the opportunity to sit in the Draken's cockpit and have a souvenir photo made of it. Furthermore, in the local museum workshop, a cutaway model of the Saab Draken with the service designation “12” was started as part of a Matura diploma thesis of the higher federal college in Eisenstadt, department of flight technology. The Draken with the company number “17” was exhibited in the Lower Austrian city of Tulln at the Königstettner Strasse roundabout / B14 intersection. Two more retired machines, one from the Swedish Air Force and one from the Air Force of the Federal Armed Forces, are in the Austrian Aviation Museum at Graz Thalerhof Airport.

In the course of the construction of the new building bypass , the Saab Draken J 35D (J 35OE) with the serial number 35-340 (serial number 35-1411) was set up as a show object between the access road to Vogler Air Base and the B1 . This interceptor was manufactured around 1965, transferred to the Austrian Armed Forces on October 14, 1988 and retired in April 2005.

Remarkable

• The Saab J-35 Draken can be seen in the film Airborne - Wings of Steel , where it is used by drug lords.
• Two Swedish Saab J-35 Draken are in the movie Starfighter - They wanted to take to the skies to see them escort a German F-104 that flew into Swedish airspace after the pilot passed out.
• In the aviation comic series Buck Danny , the "Draken" in volumes 38-40 is also in the service of drug barons (the original titles of these editions are La Vallée de la mort verte , Requins en mer de chine and Ghost queen ).
• The blueprints for the Draken were betrayed to the Soviet Union by Stig Wennerström .

Web links

Commons : Saab J 35 Draken  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• The Saab Draken story (from an Austrian perspective)
• Saab Draken on Airpower.at
• comprehensive documentation about the Draken (English / Swedish)
• List of which Draken were delivered where

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bo Widfeldt, Stefan Wembrand: Saab 35 Draken - Sweden's double-delta dragon. In: International Air Power Review. Vol. 5, 2002, p. 160.
2. ↑ Saab 35 Draken. Saab, accessed on February 26, 2020 (English): "Saab 35 Draken (Dragon in English)" 
3. ↑ http://www.robotmuseum.se/Mappar/Robothistorik/RBM%20ARM_RB27-28.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Modern combat aircraft, Motorbuchverlag
5. ↑ http://fly.to/draken
6. ↑ http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/countermeasures.html
7. ^ Website of the Austrian Aviation Museum Graz-Thalerhof .
8. ↑ Federal Army: Last Voyage of a Draken ; accessed on Nov. 9, 2016
9. ↑ Gotech Austria: Saab S35OE Mk.2 "Draken" ; accessed on Nov. 9, 2016