The Saab 35 Draken: The Groundbreaking Fighter Nobody Talks About

[@JCBCVideos]

Piece of trivia... The Swedish pilots were not happy about scrambling into freezing cold cockpits in the dead of winter. So Saab created a heated seat for them...which they then adapted for their cars. So... When you have a nice warm butt in your car during the winter, thank Saab.

[@kkloikok]

Sounds gay. Sounds fake.

[@swiftycortex]

Nice piece of info. Thank you for sharing

[@mgallmachine]

Necessity is the mother of invention

[@asylumental]

We can thank Saab and volvo for a lot of the safety and comforts that we have in modern vehicles. Thanks Sweden 😂

[@perryrush6563]

Or thank the pampered fighter pilots who didn't want to be cold. I'm not gonna say they are whiney.....mwa ha ha. Jk.

[@EdMcF1]

A Finnish air force pilot, flying a Draken, caught up with and was shadowing an RAF Nimrod in the Baltic and the RAF plane slowed down rapidly hoping to make him overshoot. The Finn did a kort parad and stayed alongside, the RAF pilot went on the radio to congratulate him on the manoeuvre.

[@waynedieckmann9840]

Smoothe

[@mrCyk0]

They did ​@@B1gLupu

[@bjorn47]

@@B1gLupuFinland had Drakens between 1972-2000

[@perttiroska9970]

​@@bjorn47yeah we got access to NATO stuff, F-18 Hornets, only after fall of USSR at mid 90's

[@Bullet4MyEnemy]

He mentions this at around ~19:00

[@mfgua]

My dad used to fly the Draken for the danish airforce back in the 90s. He said it was the last plane that was flown by man, and not the other way around. An incredible aircraft... As a tribute, i got one tattooed on my forearm. Wish i could post a picture here

[@dominik4205]

could use imgur or something

[@ETA555]

Draken. Fly by wire...

[@carstenhansen5757]

I lived in Kølvrå, very close to the air base. Boy those Drakens were LAUD.

[@LyricalSteeler]

@@carstenhansen5757 Yeah, the first time i heard the Draken irl i was shocked at the loudness of this classic jet fighter. The Viggen was also way louder than the Gripen fighters i was used to.. I grew up near an air force base in Northern Sweden but i was born in the late 80s so Gripen was what they used when i was old enough to care about badassery. Was at air show/events that i first heard Draken and Viggen and man ..the level of sound they emmitted, so very loud n proud.

[@perwestermark8920]

​@@LyricalSteelerI did stand just beside the runway just at the point where two Viggen lifted off and did a very steep climb. All I could focus on was to block as much sound as possible. Didn't work that well since lots of the very deep sound are transmitted through the skull bone. This was when I visited one of the partly hidden runways in the woods in northern Sweden, where part of the base did make use of normal car roads. One of the places they could deploy to in case of war. Most probably planes from F21.

[@timbackman5915]

As someone who grew up next to a military airfield in Sweden i can give you another good reason for its name. The sheer fucking roar of it's engine. I'll know it anywhere and at any airshow where they are present i still get a pleasant chill up my spine from hearing it. It's the roar of our protector, our power and ingenuity. ❤

[@jokervienna6433]

I didn´t grew up near to a military airfield, but I am a Swede - and though Sweden is a big country, it is not big when you fly an aircraft like this. I saw these many times as a kid, and I too remember the roar of them. For me, this roar was only beaten by the Viggen. I still remember my heartbeat going up when seing and hearing both of these planes - "Those are OUR guys!" ❤

[@davidpalmer4184]

Hi Tim, I have never heard the sound of the Draken unfortunately and wish I had. I love the look of it! If you like the sound of jet engines may I suggest looking up the "Vulcan howl" It is an old British bomber but the sound still sends a shiver down my spine.

[@andersmalmgren6528]

Funny how all Swedish fighter jets have great sound. Gripen compressor sound is epic up to this day and age.

[@unclejoeoakland]

One thing I love about Sweden and the swedes is that while for my money, other languages are more similar to English in actual use- I would argue for various reasons it's Spanish- the fact remains that the Swedes have a comprehensive and absolute mastery in the usages of "fuck."

[@frankandersen3195]

In Denmark we had both Draken and Starfighter in the 70's and 80's. The Draken had its impressive roar and the Starfighter its howling sound. You allways knew what was coming. The Draken really made you feel confident, that the country was prepared to fight😊

[@tapio_m6861]

Finland had these and let me tell you: what a magnificent thing this was! My favorite fighter we have ever had.

[@MrJamesBanana]

If I remember correctly, Finland was limited on how many airplanes they could have due to some treaty. For some weird reason, Finland had a lot more pilots than aircrafts, and Sweden had a lot of surplus aircraft they weren't really using.

[@tapio_m6861]

@@MrJamesBanana Yes. The Paris treaty that was signed after WWII set the limit to 60 fighter jets, though in reality that was never required. In the 1970s and 1980s Finland had 73 fighter jets (47 Drakens and 26 MIG-21bis). Not sure about the amount of fighter pilots, but it is plausible that there were more than the fighter jets. As far as I've understood, many countries assign a specific jet to a specific flying crew. That's never been the case in Finland and I believe that we try to use up our planes until they fly no more. The Finnish F-18s have probably among the highest number of flying hours simply because multiple crews are assigned to each.

[@riesa85]

Dad worked as an mechanic at an airfield most of his conscription in -78 and he still says that Draken is the loudest thing he's ever heard!

[@kv2315]

We had a Draken that was painted in red white red like our flag and i can clearly remember when i saw this plane the last time in the air. What a shame they put them to rest.

[@mhyotyni]

​@@riesa85 As a conscript auxiliary mechanic in -86 when I was doing daily maintenance for Draken, I can concur your father's memories. MiG-21 was just a whining toy when compared to roar of the Draken!😁

[@factsy7042]

Interesting fact from a Swede here: During the Cold War, Swedish pilots engaged in progressively daring maneuvers, flying in larger formations and conducting increasingly advanced exercises. They consistently pushed the boundaries, both theirs and those of their aircraft. Although the cold war never escalated into a full-scale war, 550 Swedish pilots tragically lost their lives between 1946 and 1991. In the period of the viggen and draken these courageous aviators flew at altitudes as low as 10 meters, and in some instances, even as low as 5 meters. During training they always flew as there was a real war going on and genuin combat.

[@jizburg]

Yea. My father was a ground crew guy in the 70s. And he told me about how sometiles pilots would go missing with litle to no explaination to anyone.

[@mooneyes2k478]

Your numbers are low. And, while the AJ37 was an impressive plane, large numbers also lost their lives in A32 Lansen(Draken never did low-level, since it was only ever an interceptor).

[@jizburg]

@@mooneyes2k478 the tunnan did some low level flying but mostly as a defensive messure. Not as a plan for attack.

[@VinDieselS70]

Livef in Helsingborg and had F10 and Ljungbyhed flygskola quite near so could easily see what they were up to from time to time, especially flying low over Öresund.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

When you have something as precious as your freedom & humanity, be dead sure that there are malevolent beings in the world who want to take them away. So Sweden 🇸🇪 knows very well that her Democracy is not of everybody’s taste, & her neutrality must be an armed neutrality, guarded with unrelaxed vigilance. Remember 🇧🇪’s neutrality, & the name of Oscar Wennerstrom, because not every quisling is named « quisling »

[@Stukov961]

It's remarkable that a plane designed in the late 50s still looks futuristic.

[@tsk3392]

Actually it was designed in the late 40's

[@Zarglog]

My granddad was among the first 3 who got to fly the Draken. According to him it was his 2nd most favorite plane to pilot, 1st being Tunnan. But I always remember him talking about laying eyes on the Draken for the first time in real life. Him and his fellow pilots said "It looks like an UFO".

[@BlessedChaos911]

There's an interesting British tank from WW2 that looks like what they would've thought the future to be like

[@mogaman28]

Not so long ago Japan turned it into a transformable mecha in the anime Macross Delta

[@feha92]

I wonder why they retired the crafts instead of selling most of them to other countries once they were 2 generations old and considered obsolete by high-tech countries (but not other countries)

[@maciekkra539]

One of the absolutely most beautiful jet silouettes ever designed. Growing up in Poland in the 80s i knew of the aircraft, since one of my classmates received a plastic kit model of it.

[@jonaspaulsson9912]

I had one too

[@svenT16]

Mee too 😂

[@bakhramgaynullin8415]

I had the same in Soviet Union😅! Now I am Swedish and I am proud! Viva Sweden!

[@EdMcF1]

The Swedish air force was the World's fourth largest in the 1950s, (after the USSR - it had two types of airforce, the USA and the UK), and it had the first all-jet air force.

[@Grebogoborp]

Is that all jet combat aircraft or all jet period because a lot of countries use propeller driven support aircraft like AWACS, refueling planes, cargo planes/transport aircraft etc etc. if we are going off of all jet period they might be the only country ever to do that

[@SonsOfLorgar]

​​​@@Grebogoborp it was all jet combat aircraft, SAAB J29, J35, A32and then Sk/A60, A/J37 and J/A37 The unarmed DC3 SIGINT and transport aircraft were too few to matter to the statistics. For Swedish aircraft, mid-air refuelling wasn't a thing until the mid '00s as part of a mid life refit of the JAS39C/D to make it more compatible with NATO tactics under the Partnership for peace initiative.

[@solreaver83]

@@SonsOfLorgar you can't say too few to count when making a statement of all jet airforce.

[@andreaseriksson8803]

Even the third strongest. At that point we had more planes than Great Britain.

[@PannkakaMedSylt]

@@solreaver83 It was 100% jet powered combat aircrafts, the ones he mentioned weren't combat aircrafts. Transport ones, he just added that Sweden never invested heavily in transport aircrafts as Sweden never intended to fight long outside it's own borders, focusing on defensive doctrine, so it had like 1 or 2 transport planes and a couple of disarmed older propeller fighters used for training. So if you discounted like 4+ airplanes out of like 400+ that didn't have any real purpose or doctrine focused on using them, then the whole airplane fleet could been considered Jet powered, but he limited it to "Combat" Airforce beeing pure jet.

[@ralach]

Grew up near Karup, in Denmark, where the danish Draken squadrons were based, in the 1980s. When the plan to retire the Drakens from danish service were announced, the pilots and service personnel, working with the planes, put them up for sale, as a protest to the planes being retired, in a Danish newspaper.. Really stunning aircraft.

[@holonyaa]

Still remember the first time i saw a Draken in flight. I was 7 years old and first i heard it but couldnt see it. And suddenly it appeared from the clouds, doing a fly by. 6 months later i got the chance to sit in the cockpit of one of them at a airshow, and boy that made me happy. Still one of the best looking aircrafts ever made.

[@fredrikh9299]

I am a 55 year old Swede remembering these in the sky as a kid. Sometimes sonic booms shook the ground. As a 5 year old, that stuck in my mind.

[@krisstopher8259]

@@fredrikh9299 my dad has a similar story about the boom, he's almost 70 now. i've only experienced the JAS when it crashed in stockholm and the blue angels a few times, it really freaked me out lol, the power of the sound shock wave that shook my body. i was a young kid and f-ing terrified, lol

[@supahtheone]

As a Swede and a huge fan of your channels I approve of this. Been waiting for this

[@josephhogan4476]

It's called the Draken because the double delta wings look like a kite. The Swedish name for a kite is draken.

[@amadeuz819]

Drake. So Draken is The Kite or Dragon. Original name for kite is probably Dragon if it was the Chinese. So Drake, Dragon, Drachen... you kinda see the germanic relation in the languages there....

[@theinfiltrator100]

@@amadeuz819interesting. In Russian dragon is дракон (drakon) while the word for kite is flying snake for some reason lol

[@nh0192]

@@rigasarzemnieks4230 Yep it`s the exact same in swedish, our languages are related after all. Our current fighter Gripen also translates to griffon so i don`t know if the draken is named after a kite or was the first to set the trend of mythologically named swedish fighter jets.

[@amadeuz819]

@@theinfiltrator100Can have something with this to do and why English also separated Dragon and Kite word "Dragons are traditional Chinese kite designs with long flowing tails. Most Dragons need no assembly and are very easy to fly making them ideal for young kitefliers. Their long tails provide lift as well as stability." A snake has a long tail so...

[@jipo92]

​@@rigasarzemnieks4230it is exactly the same in swedish, germanic language 🫡

[@djeeno]

I'm swedish and am fortunate to have seen an airshow with Viggen, Draken and Gripen flying squad formation, displaying their strengths as the more nimble Viggen and Gripen broke to each side and the Draken going nearly vertical straight up. and that sooooouuuuund

[@WallaceTheRed]

One of these dropped out of cloud cover over my ship on a training exercise one time and scared the crap outta me

[@jjfromthebigland781]

Draken, Viggen, Gripen. The Swedes have built some impressive aircraft over the years...

[@anderspalm4859]

For a brief period of time, 1996 -99, they all served together as interceptors in the SAF. I live next to the F7 Wing at Såtenäs in Sweden, and I saw 'em all!

[@feha92]

which makes it funny that usa apparently did some diplomatic shit to block export of at least one of those models, and their shenanigans was leaked (but ultimately changed nothing).

[@33d672]

@@feha92 Classic America move, also spies on their allies 24/7 and when leaked, nothing changes. What good ”allies” hehe

[@wstavis3135]

One of the most beautiful aircraft ever. Simply stunning.

[@Talon19]

My favorite aircraft for the longest time. The Draken is what we get when a design is focused on elegant simplicity.

[@bobthegoat7090]

I have always been very impressed with SAAB. They just seem to put out extraordinary, versatile and simple products, which is especially impressive when you consider just how "small" a company they are, compared to the American big boys.

[@Anonymous-zu7dh]

I mean to be fair, Saab doesn't develop it's own engines from scratch, which is one of the hardest parts. But on the other hand only very few countries are currently able to build domestically developed competitive jet engines. India has spent a lot of money and time trying but without success yet.

[@52Megaton]

Sorry, but neither do Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman etc. build their own engines. They're also developed by companies like GE, P&W, RR among others... @@Anonymous-zu7dh

[@vikx512]

@@Anonymous-zu7dh You mean like Lockheed Martin planes flies with LM engines or Boeing planes flies with Boeing engines? Wait they don't they get their engines from other companies like GE and P&W just like SAAB...

[@Merecir]

@@Anonymous-zu7dh But the engines are built in Sweden, by Volvo. And it is also tradition to ad or greatly improve the afterburner on the engines they build.

[@donaldaxel]

Exactly my thought - so I guess that there must have been a dozen teams with at least one very capable engineer in each group. Sometimes we should pause to remember and honor such good men: SAAB's design staff, headed by aircraft engineer Erik Bratt, and a team of more than 500 technicians, constructed a small test aircraft to explore the behaviour of the new wing. (From Wikipedia).

[@johnkochen7264]

I fell in love with this bird the first time I saw a picture of it. Just beautiful.

[@nightwolfnordberg9476]

You mean dragon (or kite depend on what is meant whit drake)

[@noahwail2444]

When I was a kid in the 60ies and 70ies, it was a freqent sight in the skies over Denmark, together with the Starfighter. Both beautifull planes, that left an everlasting impression in me.

[@hjalberg8869]

My grandpa recently spoke of his time in the military and during one morning he got a mission to go help with the cleanup of a crash. He and his buddies had to search and clean up body parts like ground beef size for like 3 days. According to him by that time it wasn’t weird to do that and he had already done it 4 times before. When he was called up he originally wanted to be a pilot but the military required the parents consent for them to become a pilot so he didn’t become a pilot. Like the most impressive thing about this age of the Swedish military is the hard ass training they went through in case there was a war. Like for a country that was peaceful we were not going to go down lightly.

[@Mirvra]

I mean... technically speaking we still aren't, at least if people stick to ''the plan'' after all: ''Om Sverige blir angripet av ett annat land kommer vi aldrig att ge upp. Alla uppgifter om att motståndet ska upphöra är falska.'' We aren't back to the insane levels of the cold war-era, but we're ramping up almost daily nowadays.

[@JoeSwallows]

Proud to be a Swede. This is an incredible beautiful and cool aircraft.

[@WaywardVet]

And good timing on the video. Welcome to NATO!

[@mrlodwick]

Just like the English Electric lighting bro, we was years ahead. Oh BTW welcome to the family.

[@BeingSleepySucks]

Canadian here. Proud of you too. Welcome to NATO friend!

[@mr.joshua6818]

Really an awesome jet. Welcome to NATO.

[@sechabajohn7393]

Thanks for the Gripens

[@jatufin]

I grew up near a Finnish AFB. They had both Drakens and BAE Hawks. I can assure you there were no problems differentiating the planes by sound only. On top of that, Draken's profile against the sky is downright menacing.

[@ollep9142]

A few minor flaws that needs correction: * SAAB 32 Lansen was primarily an attack aircraft, so the 35 was designed to replace the 29 (Tunnan). * SAAB 37 Viggen was likewise an attack aircraft designed to replace Lansen. Then it turned out that it, if properly equipped, would also do well as a fighter. Fun fact regarding Draken performance: The first time they were to see if the full scale pre-production plane was able to reach supersonic speed the test pilot reported that it indeed was possible, as he did so while climbing to the altitude where the test was planned to be conducted. 😁

[@hemligx-sson8202]

SAAB made fighter versions of the Lansen a couple of years after it was introduced.

[@52Megaton]

I think he meaned the "Jaktviggen"...

[@Arthion]

It's likely in reference to the J32B night fighter variant of the Lansen

[@rectalvapor2234]

A few minor flaws in the correction; Saab 32 Lansen was, as mentioned in other comments, also produced in a fighter version as an interim solution between the J29 and the J35. The Saab 37 was intended to serve in attack, reconnaissance AND fighter roles from the start (although the fighter version was for a brief period in some doubt due to budget restraints). The attack version, AJ37, was however the first one fielded (1971) since it replaced the older A32 and the fighter version, JA37 replacing the more modern J35, being the last (1979).

[@Cythil]

Also, the name is a giveaway when it comes to the intended role. The JA 37 and AJ 37 both have a J in their designation. The J stands for Jakt, or Hunt, if translated to English. That is what a fighter is called in Sweden. The A stand for attack. Which means it has a striker/fighter-bomber role. And the order of the letters tells of what their primary role is. So even the attacker version of the plane was intended, if needed, to be able to work as a fighter. The AJ 37 could carry both gunpods and air-to-air missiles and have a radar. It is less made for fighting other planes than the JA 37. But can still do the job if needed.

[@emiliskog]

In my opinion one of the best looking aircraft ever, especially with those wing root air-intakes a look that is just perfect

[@fredrikh9299]

I am a 55 year old Swede remembering these in the sky as a kid. Sometimes sonic booms shook the ground. As a 5 year old, that stuck in my mind.

[@vtec4meeee]

I live near airbase and we have had such beautifull aircrafts through all these years such as Draken, Viggen, JAS 39 Gripen but without any doubt Draken is most beautiful aircraft ever built.

[@Duececoupe]

I grew up with these on the airbase where I used to live in Sweden, F4, these girls were loud....the most beautiful jet ever designed! 😍🥰😎

[@fredrikh9299]

I am a 55 year old Swede remembering these in the sky as a kid. Sometimes sonic booms shook the ground. As a 5 year old, that stuck in my mind.

[@carljohanrydberg357]

I remember on F10 our intercept standby took off while we were having some instructions. Our officer stood three meters away screaming at the top of his lungs and we couldn't hear a thing over the roar of two Dragons doing a full AB takeoff half a mile away.

[@steveunderwood3683]

Every Saab fighter seemed to be the loudest plane of it's generation.

[@ispbrotherwolf]

Remember seeing them fly when young, amazing plane.

[@SirSmokeAlot8866]

As a swede, this brings so much pride to my heart ❤️ Sweden engenering at its finest 🥲🇸🇪

[@matttrafton2725]

You don't look like a svea.

[@Synchro242]

I know they are only mostly related in name but this kind of Swedish engineering is why I love my 1992 SAAB 900 Turbo!

[@paddy696]

Yes my SAAB 96 I'd 2, a 99 + 900 all new then hoards of 2nd hand SAAB's. 😅❤😅

[@ianedmonds9191]

I had a book given to me by my Grandad who was a ww2 fighter pilot that was made in the late 50s I think. It had pages for recognising all the known jets of the time. I remember being blown away the Draken. It looked so futuristic. I also loved the Mcdonnell Douglas Voodoo. Luv and Peace.

[@StarkodderViking]

Mr. Sven Gustav Bond, a friend of mine, used the catapult system frequently in his Aston Martin DB5 1965. He was a fast-food-supplier and he always spoke highly of Swedish Volvo and SAAB who developed this excellent, reliable delivery system. Tack, Sverige!! 🇸🇪

[@svennoren9047]

😆

[@C64SX]

Sitting on the wings, leaning against the fuselage, was pretty nice in spring time, enjoying the first warm days of the season. The wings are very sturdy on this aircraft, just a few spots you're not allowed to step on.

[@ricdale7813]

Like many my first introduction into the awe that is Swedish aviation was a plastic model kit of The Saab Draken. The design and lines as well as engineering was in fact World Class and Futurist styled. When I was a kid these made most other Air Forces Aircraft designs look like they were years behind the New and Evolving Jet age. Too this Day I still find some of Saab's aircraft the most beautiful but also the most capable. The engineering and production was and still remains Top Top Top Shelf. Hence why the Swede's Military arms are some of the most trustworthy and lethal to this day.

[@fjalls]

The cobra maneuver has to be the most boss move you can do in a jet

[@yaoyichenvictoriasch7014]

ah yes Premium dorito plane moment

[@Beowulf_DW]

Looks good at air shows, but in modern air to air combat, it’s just a fancy way to die.

[@2xtreem4u]

Russia tries to steal it as their own invention

[@fjalls]

@@Beowulf_DW yeah, in modern airfights they dont even see each other.

[@apskelett]

​@@Beowulf_DWIn modern air to air combat is the key phrasing.

[@jkarra2334]

Back in 40 years ago my fathers cousin was fighter pilot and he flew draken, once out phone ringed in middle of summer, cousin asked if we could join out for dinner in hour, my father asked yes, but you are supposed to like 750 kilometers away in swedish Lapland. Cousin said, "dont worry just pick me up from airport in 45 minutes"😂 It was mind boggling for me as kid how could anyone get from northern sweden to 700 kilometers south in less than hour... Anyway, he was there, we had nice lunch and then we watched he taking off and flying back. Golden memories.

[@dinsdalemontypiranha4349]

Your Megaprojects videos on aerospace topics are among my favorites of yours Simon. Thanks for another great one!

[@doug4036]

If you grew up as an American kid in the 1970s you know this plane well. It was probably one of the first 2-3 airplane models you ever built.

[@jakobn2966]

you probably get this a lot since you have already covered the Ja 37 Viggen and now the draken but i think we all agree that it would be inappropriate not to cover the gripen next. awsome video btw! the draken is too often forgotten among icons like the mig 21 and the F4

[@Wolfpack310]

I was in a old base build under a big mountain in Sweden. Now is a museum and you get too se every old jas and sitt in the cockpit. Amazing seeing it in close range and touching the controls

[@TemplarbladeDK]

I grew up watching the Danish F-35 Draken above in the sky,loved the roar from it's engines.

[@samsherwen6912]

Saw one at the Midlands Air Show yesterday - absoultely awsome with the afterburner roar at low altitude . Still looks futuristic - Unforgettable!

[@Psittac20]

Such a wonderful story of a beautiful plane thank you Simon for taking me on this journey

[@VerticalMind]

The most beautiful fighter/interceptor ever built!

[@blitzzkrieg1400]

Simon, I would like to suggest the Gripen for a future video. Thanks a lot!

[@Crimethoughtfull]

Since it is what the Swedes are sending Ukraine, a video on it would be timely to say the least...plus it looks cool!

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

I thought he did one on the Gripen, but maybe I’m thinking of the Rafael video. You might check the catalog. Edit: I was wrong, it was Alex Hollings on Sandbox news who did a video on the Gripen that I was remembering.

[@Bald_Zeus]

Done both the Draken and Viggen now so only a matter of time unless he decides to tease us by covering the Flying barrel first 😂

[@ClaymooreEOC]

I think he did a short analysis on the Gripen during the warographics video on what Sweden brings to NATO

[@danielkarlsson9326]

Very Happy to see Draken on the Megaprojects channel. Now we need to see Swedens Coastal Defence which was the Strongest Coastal artillery ever created by Mankind. With some insane ideas. best regards.

[@ClaymooreEOC]

KA1 här :D

[@SonsOfLorgar]

​@@ClaymooreEOC KA3 in memoriam.😢

[@awmperry]

Yeah. Up until the 90s, Sweden’s defence system was astonishing.

[@tituslaronius]

The first time I saw Draken fly I was a little kid. Coolest aircraft ever built! I had the oppotunity to sit in the cockpit once 😃

[@unitedlegend8842]

always had a soft spot for the Draken. It's a magnificent looking beast

[@khandimahn9687]

Saab is often overlooked for making quality fighter planes over the decades.

[@DeaconBlu]

Terribly overlooked fighter. Thanks for the vid folks! 😎👍❤

[@mr.harness1444]

My friend's father served in the soviet army, and operated ground radar sets around the baltic sea. His father told him that their radars were so bad that they heard Drakens engine's roar overhead before they could even detect them 😂

[@yxmichaelxyyxmichaelxy3074]

An absolute lie.

[@mr.harness1444]

@@yxmichaelxyyxmichaelxy3074 an absolute moron

[@marcbeebee6969]

​​@@yxmichaelxyyxmichaelxy3074 i think its true. Old DDR/EAST GERMANY soldiers told us simular stories from the north Rügen Island

[@edonveil9887]

My friend Mathias confirms.

[@mhyotyni]

@@edonveil9887Mathias Rust, the Legendary red square stormer. He was a wild thing back in time. And unbelievably lucky 😁

[@alexlycan8]

Fellow Swede here, I am extremely glad that someone actually knows about the SAAB Draken. I am proud to be a Swede for our fellow inventions. I greet my new fellow NATO neighbors. Have a wonderful day y’all!

[@stuartleadbeatter937]

Your country has made some stunning and incredibly capable aircraft over the years. The Draken has always been a favourite of mine. We welcome you to NATO friend!

[@tankmodeler]

I've always loved the draken. It looks like it's doing Mach 2 just sitting on the tarmac.

[@brucefrytz8611]

Sweden is now an official member of NATO. I'm glad they're on our side now, they bring some incredible capabilities to the alliance.

[@yugoslaviaist]

What a silly comment. Only thing that the “defensive alliance” can bring you is to send your young boys to fight America’s pointless wars in the middle east (against people that did you no harm and who pose zero risk to your country) not to mention the said wars always end up like Vietnam/Afghanistan anyways, unless you take pride in killing civilians (like Israel is doing now) which I doubt a scandinavian country would do. If you are refering to “capabilities” in war against an army that has in it’s inventory more than small arms and camels (let’s say Russia in the case of Sweden), then the membership only puts you in not so famous “first strike targets” which I’m sure would not be the case if you remained neutral, or even if they did, it’s pretty much the same, you die, just like me and most of other Europeans alive at the moment the real war starts. I don’t know much about your country except that it offers much more to an ordinary man then most countries in the world (that is the reason I consider Sweden a nation that most others should aspire to be like). Also a nation that has quiet a lot of domestic problems (gang violence, etc) and should have handled that instead of picking sides in a potential conflict that has no victor. Just to say that I’m not a bot that is typing this from the Kremlin basement, and that I have recieved no payment for stating my opinion (sadly the reason for me feeling the need to type the last sentance is probably the same Sweden joined NATO-> BS lies that Uncle Sam is spreading in an effort to protect himself and have a better starting position if the sh*t hits the fan). May God be with us all that want peace and know the truth about the outcome of the next “great war”.

[@ManiaMac1613]

What Sweden's armed forces lack in size they more than make up for with top-of-the-line fighter jets and advanced tech. Those capabilities are a massive force multiplier for NATO forces.

[@ianmedford4855]

And yet another European trip wire that doesn't pull their weight, and can trigger American kids into fighting strangers to the death 4000 miles from home for reasons they don't understand nor care about... What a great addition!! Just what we need: another European country that cant be bothered to spend even the 2% of GDP, bare minimum requirement on their military, and will rely on American money, lives, and capabilities to defend them while they provide their citizens a level of social spending we can only fantasize about. America really should pull out of NATO. Its a total scam. Poland, France, Britain, and Greece are the only other countries that pull their weight in NATO, and Britain has to get VERY creative with their accounting to hit that 2% minimum number. Everyone else is just taking advantage of us. Its a farce.

[@ianmedford4855]

​@@ManiaMac1613they only spend 1.3% of their GDP on defense... They're taking advantage of America just like everyone else in the "alliance". *except Poland, Greece, France, and sort of Britain.

[@Anonymous-zu7dh]

​@@ManiaMac1613 Ukraine praises the Swedish CV-90 IFV higher than the Bradley. It lacks anti tank missiles but the model in Swedish use currently has a 40 mm cannon capable of taking out tanks from the side. They also praise the strv 122 (Swedish model of leopard 2) as the best leopard 2 tank they've received. I mean it gotta be an endorsement when they're asking to produce CV-90's on a license upwards of 1000 units. (Something like 1400 units exist currently, 500 ish in Sweden).

[@mby_dk]

A couple of fun facts: The outer part of the wings were fastened by a huge number of bolts, but it would actually be able to fly with only 20 % of them in place. In Denmark, the Drakens were fitted with American electronic units, making it a nightmare to work on them as there were a mix of metric and imperial bolts and nuts used. When Denmark acquired F-16s, and they were training Air Combat Maneuvering (ATM) with Drakens, the F-16 pilots claimed it was unsportsmanlike to use the afterburner. But yeah, it was fun working on them.

[@ro.7427]

Simon, you are a legend. Your writers, also. You are such a good presenter and I can listen to you for hours.

[@zephyriic]

on behalf of every swede to have ever swede'd, thank you for pronouncing draken correctly. hearing "dreyken" hurts every time

[@carlgabel79]

My favourite Fighter Aircraft of all time, in terms of aesthetics.

[@peterpearson1675]

Even better than the Hawker Hunter?

[@carlgabel79]

@@peterpearson1675 The Hawker Hunter is a beauty from the front, but the proportions from every other angle are somewhat underwhelming for me.

[@raymccumstie1439]

Always loved the Draken as a kid reading about Aircraft it always stood out as a cut above.

[@mrlargo7067]

As a young lad in the 70' I saw a lot of jets flying, it was the cold war, so jets were flying all the time, and just by the sound you knew if it was a J35 or a J37. The J35 "Dragon" had an enormous thundering sound, J37 had a higher pitched sound, J37 made a lot of noise but from the ground, not at all as majestic as the J35

[@semperanticusphotography3749]

I am so happy to see a video of on the Draken! As an 80's child, my favorite was the Tomcat, but the Draken was easily 2nd or 3rd best in my ranking.

[@samulilahnamaki3127]

Just out of curiosity, what was the other competitor for the podium? 🙂 (Mine was MiG-23, there was just something in that plane)

[@joehackman1308]

Sweden makes such cool fighter jets, good thing theyre on our side. #welcometoNATObois

[@ianmedford4855]

Why is that good? Its just one more European nation that only spends 1.3% of its GDP on its military. 80% of NATO is just scamming us. We should just pull out of the "alliance" and use the funds we defend Europe with to fix problems here at home. The EU has a bigger GDP and population than America. They can figure it out all by themselves. Its bad for both of us. We get taken advantage of, and Europe has grown complacent and soft because they can rely on American military power. Its not helping anyone.

[@ianmedford4855]

Fun Fact: Not even one other NATO country has strategic airlift capabilities. Meaning that everyone in NATO is scamming America. Its not really a "mutual defense" alliance if literally none of our "partners" even have the ability to get to North America in the event of an Article 5 declaration. "Geez guys, we'd love to help but we don't have a ride."🤡🤡

[@nirfz]

Grew up near one of the austrian airbases so the Draken is part of my life. Of the few planes austria got that were in service from the late 80's until 2005, not a single one crashed. (the only crash with a Draken the austrian airforce had was loosing one pilot during the initial training in sweden. Don't have any more detailed information about the accident, but it was the first and last.) So additionally to all the features and capabilities, it was also a very reliable aircraft. And compared to modern planes it had a very short startup time. You won't find any current fighter jet that can match the "alarm to takeoff time" the Draken had. (booting all the computers takes a lot of time. The F18 of the swiss, the Eurofighter Typhoon come nowhere near that time. The Gripen is one of the faster ones, but still can't match it.) Lastely, 20 years ago during my conscript time we were at another airbase once, and talked with one of the pilots. They had recently exercised with the swiss and their F18s. And the pilot not wanting to bragg but still quite proud said: "let's say it that way... the F18's didn't win all the dogfights" and had a big grin on his face.

[@petter5721]

A beautiful and groundbreaking fighter of its day. Today Gripen is roaming the skies 👍🏻

[@Eclipse-lw4vf]

Draken is still one of my favorite jets to play in warthunder. Can’t wait to finish this video

[@joetaylor486]

It was impressive enough that it never had to fight. Job done.

[@52Megaton]

Talk softly and carry a big stick LOL

[@marioncharleston]

Or a waste of money as the soviets wouldn't have invaded anyway.its like Britain with nukes.nobodies interested in attacking Britain

[@dkjens0705]

I saw both Drakens and Viggens fly overhead in the early 70s when growing up in Denmark, a marvelous sight and sound.

[@overwhelmingapathy721]

What an absolutely beautiful aircraft

[@skalgrimfellaxe5796]

Love this plane. Went to see it with my kid in a local museum a few months ago. He loved it.

[@jacafren5842]

Thank you for a great video - and thx to Sweeden/Saab for the Draken. It served Denmark well at the hight of the cold war. Very few accidents and amazing capability. In DK it was mostly in recon and fighter-bomber modes. In the last it was (after upgrades) said to be almost as good as the much more modern F16. In 1986 I was in school practice, 15 year old at Karup air force base. As for being easy to maintain - after a bit of instruction and with monitorering I was changing small parts that were in for servicing schedule 😅

[@AvroBellow]

You should do a video on the Gripen, specifically the Gripen-E. I'm not a Swede but I do believe that it is, overall, the best jet fighter in the world because of its unique blend of capabilities and economics.

[@MechaNick767]

Funny enough. In Swedish, “Draken” is both a word for Dragon as well as for Kite. Swedish Draken versions A-F/F2 and finally J. The reason for the jump from F to J was because the last version was only used by the tenth air force wing, F10 and the tenth letter of the alphabet is obviously J. Therefor the name J-35J. Today there is only two Drakens flying. One J and one Sk35C version. Truly a sight to behold at every airshow they attend.

[@kricku]

Well. More like kites are just called dragons

[@MechaNick767]

@@kricku Not at all. “Drake” and “Drake” might be spelled the same but they are still two different words depending on what you’re talking about.

[@MaximusHeden]

My grandmothers little brother was a fighter pilot in ste Swedish Air Force for many years. One of a few pilots that got to fly all of Swedens fighter Jets from tunnan and lansen up to Viggen and gripen including many others

[@EAcapuccino]

09:48 - WHOOO 😮 That is a rocket of a thing! 🚀 40,000 ft - 12km - 9.8 miles per minute?!

[@levischittlord6558]

Mind boggling for back then compared to an f-15 climbs at 50,000 fpm.

[@EAcapuccino]

​@@levischittlord6558 Sure

[@unclejoeoakland]

Thrust to weigh ratios don't count for nothing.

[@harijs007]

don't forget 6,500 KG = 7,17 TONS at 09:17

[@Morjensful]

They are beautiful, small and I've seen them fly with my own eyes. Will always remember them flying over the lake. It made the MIG-21 look like a flying brick in more ways than the mig-21 actually being a flying brick.

[@camdenharper7244]

With all due respect to the lightning and mirage. The draken was the best European fighter of it's era

[@stuka101]

fighter or interceptor? careful..

[@TheManFrayBentos]

@@stuka101 Was just thinking the Lightning was right up there, but hampered by chronic lack of fuel capacity.

[@murph8411]

@@TheManFrayBentosit’s maybe a pity they refused to put the fairey delta 2 into production. Unfortunately the British government didn’t think they’d need interceptors for very long as long range missiles had just started to be introduced and were expected to replace bombers in the next few years. In fact the government weren’t helpful at all.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

How do you land a Draken which engine failure. I guess that flow completely changes around the wing. Probably the leading part stalls and the plane dives. The F-15 moves the intake and spill under the wing. Also: narrow intake. Mirage separates intake and wing like the star fighter.

[@bjornerikroth]

@@ArneChristianRosenfeldt If the engine failed completely you probably didn't land but ejected instead...

[@nocturne7371]

As a kid in Sweden, I saw this in an Airshow. The first fighter jet I ever saw. Made an impression for real.

[@LyricalSteeler]

I also saw the Draken at an air show in the 90s and man, it was so loud compared to the Gripen.. in a good way. Very badass. Did indeed make an impression. Viggen in camo paint job is my favorite Swedish jet fighter though.

[@apossessedbagel]

Such a futuristic looking plane. When I found out how old it was, I was shocked.

[@emanuellandeholm5657]

When I was a kid I saw these in the sky all the time. They were terribly noisy with their afterburners. I even saw Tunnan sometimes, that's how old I am! But the dragons were getting gradually replaced by Viggen, which was very electronically advanced for its time. The development of airframes like Draken and Viggen really pushed the development of computing and computers in Sweden during the cold war. I grew up to become a programmer, studying in Linköping, which was a hub for SAAB aeronautics as well as computer science. And here we are now, several generations of Gripen later.

[@huiarama]

Simon and Crew, now that Sweden has joined NATO, can you please review the SAAB Gripen and the Swedish Air Force, from the Gripen to the Erieye, The Gulfstream SIGINT jet to the BAS 90 Doctrine of dispersed operations. AS you have mentioned, "Sweden has one of the best Air Forces in the World'. It would be a shame not to cover it.....

[@sohrabroozbahani4700]

Viggen is a beast of an attack aircraft, down on the deck nobody can catch you in it, but in a dogfight it only gives you one good turn before Sven in the back has to start smacking your engine back to life from frequent compressor stalls everytime it chocks out because of your high AOA, Draken on the other hand, well, imagine the Swedish made this wonder weapon without CAD, and flew it in a time when any useful computer was the size of your entire school... pulling the Cobra when nobody had any idea about requirements such as fly by wire and so and so... this machine is nothing but fascinating...

[@TheManFrayBentos]

Didn't really know much about the Draken, but the Viggen always interested me.

[@Pheorize]

Always great to see a video being made about the J35, JA37 and JAS39, especially from Megaproject! Thanks for the great video! :)

[@Plaprad]

Excellent aircraft. Always had a plastic one as a kid. They just looked like something from the future. I love that you actually spent time discussing the Cobra, most people only know of it from Top Gun and it's seriously misunderstood. I've seen many "experts" over the years talking about how it's just for airshows and only an idiot would use it in combat. That view seems to have permeated everything. A few years back I got to talk to a F-22 pilot and we discussed it. Turns out, it has been used in combat. Successfully. And he told me that he's used it in training multiple times in training against opponents from all around the world in top tier fighters and it worked every time. If the pilot knows how to pull it off it's so fast and puts the target right in front of you.

[@jubuttib]

It's not useless, but it is damn risky, since it by definition slows you down a lot and puts you in a low energy state. But the ability to force an overshoot or just point your nose a bit more is a valuable thing in the right circumstances, especially if you can combine that with high off-bore missiles.

[@52Megaton]

I would like to see someone "cobra"-out an incoming missile (in the best case, one that is travelling sub-sonic). That's why it just isn't practical in today's BVRC world.

[@alexanderwingeskog758]

@9:35 that is not Draken taking off though, that is the later Viggen... but anyway... really like this!

[@mikkojk83]

Few mistakes, the rockets in J35A weren't meant to used in ground-attack role, but against bomber formations in a same way as in F-89 Scorpion as the Swedes didn't have access to AIM-9 during the Drakens development. Day-only version of the J35B was only a stopgap to get the planes into air as the the new radar/ground-guidance system was delayed at the last minute and they were installed as soon as they became available.

[@hairydonuts6024]

His videos are always filled with errors.

[@TheDarthMushroom]

I remember seeing the danish Air Force Draken come over our house going south from their base in Aalborg. They were beautiful. :)

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:45 - Chapter 1 - Design & development 8:30 - Chapter 2 - Specs & capabilities 15:50 - Chapter 3 - On standby

[@HenkeEdge]

Still remember the sound of the Draken planes from being a little kid when they did a flyby. Awsome jet sound.

[@MayheM_72]

I have always been fascinated by Saab's Delta wing fighters. The Draken looked so unique, with the double-delta wings, amd the engine intakes spaced away from the fuselage. I know it wasn't 100% perfect, but I'm surprised more nations didn't copy the wing design.

[@svennoren9047]

NASA copied it for the Space Shuttle.

[@geodkyt]

​@@svennoren9047Not really. NASA used a similar (although distinctly rounded - and rounded for specific reasons related to reentry and hypersonic flight) double delta planform, but they independently came to the design to solve entirely different problems than the Draken faced. For example, the wings on the Draken permitted the *massive* fuel load it needed to be carried (the tankard providing its own lift for the weight and minimal drag compared to just making the fuselage larger) to beef up the structure overall, and to provide enough overall lift to enable use of short runways. NASA needed a shape that matched the needs of reentry, so the wings could act to shield the rest of the ship while enabling control. The wings then had to be good for hypersonic flight in atmosphere, yet be able to shed Δ-V dramatically in shallow turns, and yet still have enough lift to enable a gliding landing. Similar considerations drove the platform of the Soviet Buran (which, despite the visual.appearance, *was not* a copy of the Soace Shuttle, although undoubtedly Soviet engineers treated the information - both public and received through intelligence - from the NASA program as "lessons learned" to avoid some of the dead ends NASA had explored trying to develop the Space Shuttle), and other hypersonic glide vehicles. This is not uncommon. You will often see "convergent evolution" in design. The inverted "gull wings" of the Ju-87 Stuka and the F4U Corsair are there for *entirely* different reasons - Junkers chose the design because it increased ground visibility while reducing drag and reducing complexity, while Voight chose it because they couldn't fit folding landing gear long enough to clear the propeller from the deck inside a wing that folded for carrier storage without using a wing so long front to back that it would reduce performance. Likewise, the oft-praised "revolutionary" swept wing on the Me-262 was not chosen for its *aerodynamic* performance (unlike the post war jets) - it was chosen because the weight of the engines initially planned had dramatically increased and angling the wings slightly gave them the increased strength required with minimal weight increase and redesign time.

[@Merecir]

The US experimented with double delta wings on the F-16XL.

[@erikbarkefors2441]

It was fun to see the reconnaissance version J35E from F11. It's actually called S35. S comes from Spaning (reconnaissance in english) and I worked with that version during my military service as a flight mechanic on the F11 flotilla. Most of the time our aircraft managed four missions in a day plus two missions on the days we had evening duty. We were just one person servicing the aircraft between missions refueling and oxygenating and doing a general checklist of items. Normally we managed it in 10-15 minutes and then the plane was ready for the next mission. The number 05 on the fin is the aircraft number and the number 11 below the pilot is the flotilla the plane is from. In addition to flight mechanics, there are camera technicians who changed the film in the cameras during the time on the ground.

[@someguy9520]

As an Austrian and having seen the draken a few times during military service i always thought it was an old jet fighter that was common during the 60s-80s all over the world. Didn't expect sweden to only export to 3 countries. Nice to know

[@Diabolus1978]

America blocked alot of the sales on the draken and viggen unfortunately

[@Dfl87165]

The Austrian Draken was so engulfed in scandal that it was overlooked what a cool aircraft it was. By the time it started getting phased out in the mid-90s, though, it was becoming quite outdated.

[@1erikbezpalko]

Always loved this plane

[@jimm244]

I never knew about these. They’re gorgeous!

[@clausjensen5658]

I remember seeing one while on vacation in the early 90´s in Denmark. Came out of nowhere over a small hill pretty low to the ground. Did a 90 degree turn right above me. It was an amacing experience for a 13 year old kid. With nothing but weapons and war history on his mind. Almost felt like that plane and pilot did it just for me hehehe

[@angelitabecerra]

Perfect timing, was looking for something to watch

[@arakizdk]

I remember when I was a child. I was on the Great belt ferry, standing on the top deck, when the ferry was overflown at low altitude by two Danish Draken planes. That experience sits in my memory as a top 5 best memories from my childhood.

[@eelite1111111]

Its a piece of art in the sky

[@confusedbeard69]

SAAB is probably the best aeroplane maker in the world, SAAB 29 "Flygande Tunnan", Draken, Viggen and Gripen are amazing planes, each easily the best in the world in their era.

[@MrAkaacer]

Yes, they were great planes, but lets not get carried away with "best".

[@razor1uk610]

Certainly any nation that can make a top tier aircraft by themselves (more or less) for its era, ...that ensures & ensured its peace with above average.capabilities, which then help in creating a stubborn patriotism and a civic spine of morale (that isn't just twisted lies & propaganda for egotism - akin to Russia's historical usual & constant BS ), ...can be said to be of or amongst... 'The Best in the World !'

[@johnbeans2000]

​@@MrAkaaceryou about that america huh? F yeah murica!

[@buckeyesfan4700]

​@@johnbeans2000why the hate dude lol

[@lucasokeefe7935]

I'd agree with the Tunnan and Draken, iffy on the Viggen, but the Gripen is certainly not the best of its era.. Great plane though!