Swedish jet fighter. The J35 Draken was optimized for short runways and high climbing speed. It has a double delta wing: the inboard section is higly swept and has the oval jet intakes in the leading edges; the outbords sections have less sweep. The Saab 35 has high performance, but is said to be difficult to fly. A number are still in service. The J 35 was exported to Denmark, Finland and Austria. 606 built.
The redoubtable J35 Draken, sporting a revolutionary double-delta wing design, served for nearly four decades as Sweden’s principal fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. It was tailored to meet Sweden’s special needs as an armed neutral, which it did through use of unique design features and rugged construction.
The Draken (or “Dragon” in English) had stiff requirements. Sweden called on Saab, the aircraft manufacturer, to build an interceptor with an extremely high rate of climb, supersonic speed of at least Mach 1.4, and the capability to operate from Sweden’s defense system of reinforced roads used as runways. To do all of this, the Saab engineering team created a unique double-delta design to obtain favorable flight characteristics at both high and low speeds. The double delta also provided adequate space for fuel and a variety of weapons. The radical concept was tested first on a 70 percent scale Saab 210 which made its first flight on Jan. 21, 1952. Three prototypes were built and production aircraft entered service in early 1958.
The J35 Draken is single-seat interceptor was highly maneuverable, with a top speed exceeding Mach 2. Eight versions of Draken were built, each offering improvements in performance or equipment. All Swedish Drakens were interceptors with limited air-to-ground capability, though they measured up as effective supersonic Cold War fighters.
0 comments:
Post a Comment