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The Saab 35 was a radical Swedish design—and unlike some popular Nordic furniture, was
quite robust and experienced great longevity.
Engineers at Saab had a radical idea for a new jet fighter, the Saab 35—they would
use a double delta wing design (which would prove very popular at Saab).
Delta wings are recognizable as large, triangle-shaped wings that are widest at the rear and taper
inwards closer to the nose of the plane.
Delta wings have some beneficial characteristics.
In general, delta wings have more internal volume for fuel than conventional wings.
Delta wings can also be structurally stronger, though they experience higher amounts of drag
compared to typical swept-wing aircraft.
Following the Second World War, Sweden maintained a policy of neutrality – yet at the same
time expected that if war came it would most likely be against the Soviet Union.
The Swedish Air Force has foreseen the need for a jet fighter that could intercept bombers
at high altitudes yet also be able to engage fighters.
The development of such an interceptor began soon after the Second World War, and it was
a radical leap forward in aviation technology.
Engineers at Saab had a radical idea for a new all-weather supersonic jet fighter, which
was to become the Saab 35 Draken.
Aircraft engineer Erik Bratt, along with a team of more than 500 technicians, had arrived
at the idea of a unique “double delta” wing shape after studying different ways of
packaging the fuel and equipment.
It was a radical design, and the Draken – which translates to “dragon” but was actually
meant as “kite” for the shape of the wings – was the first aircraft to successfully
employ the double delta wing design.
Recognizable as the large, triangle-shaped wings that are widest at the rear and taper
inwards closer to the nose of the plane, these offer numerous benefits.
The first is that delta wings have more internal volume for fuel than conventional wings, and
can also be structurally stronger.
The tradeoff is higher amounts of drag compared to typical swept-wing aircraft.
For Bratt and his team, the double delta design appeared promising, and after three years
of intensive design study, the Saab-210 – a sub-scale test aircraft that was unofficially
nicknamed “Lilldraken” or “little kite” – was first flown in 1952 to pioneer Saab’s
still-unique double-delta wing form.
Such scale prototypes were needed in the era before computer-aided design (CAD) and advanced
flight simulations.’
Swedish Snakes
The double delta design worked.
In 1952, the Saab 210 flew over Stockholm to mark the 700 year anniversary of the city’s
founding.
In fact, the double delta was extremely capable.
In the early 1960s, Swedish Saab pilots performed the Cobra Maneuver, a technically challenging
aerobatic display in which a rapid lift of the nose causes an airplane to fly forward
perpendicular to the ground.
While a pilot faces the sky, they momentarily turn the airframe into an enormous airbrake
and so rapidly slow down the airplane.
Though not always applicable to combat scenarios, the Cobra Maneuver is nonetheless an indicator
of high maneuverability and demonstrated the Saab 35’s capabilities.
The Saab 35 was quite capable both for its era and considering it was a single-engine
jet.
The fighter could fly at Mach 2 and housed one or two 30 millimeter internal cannons
(depending on the variant) in addition to air-to-air missiles.
Countering the Soviets
During the Cold War, the Saab 35 proved to be an effective supersonic interceptor and
capable dogfighter.
It was one of the first Western European-built combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level
flight.
The aircraft was adopted by the Swedish Air Force and was later exported to Finland, Austria,
and Denmark.
The aircraft went through a series of upgrades, and in total 651 were produced.
The final Saab 35 Draken, in service with the Austrian Air Force, was only retired in
2005 – a testament to its effective design and capabilities.
While the aircraft never saw actual combat, it would have likely performed well in its
interceptor role against Soviet bombers and more than held its own against the Soviet
fighters of the era.
Import-Export
The Saab enjoyed success outside Sweden and was exported to some of Sweden’s neighboring
countries—Finland and Denmark.
The United States used twelve formerly Danish Saab 35s as training aircraft until 2009.
Austria too acquired several dozen unique Saab 35s.
Since Austria was restricted from using air-to-air missiles by the Austrian State Treaty, they
outfitted their Saabs with internal cannons for air-to-air combat.
The restriction was lifted in 1993.
Retired
Though the Saab 35 was replaced by the more capable Saab 37 Viggen (which also used a
modified delta wing design), the Saab 35 Draken was in use in some capacity until the mid-2000s—a
run of about fifty years.
Not too bad for an initially experimental aircraft.