Sweden has a history of building some of the world's most notable and yet least-known fighter jets . While the Canadian Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow interceptor was canceled and became a failure, the concurrent Swedish fighter interceptor Saab 35 Draken proved a success. This was a remarkable aircraft and was the first known aircraft to perform the kort parad (short parry) maneuver — much later popularized by the Soviets and renamed the Cobra Maneuver .
Saab 35 Draken - an excellent interceptor The Saab 35 Draken (Dragon) was a 1950s Swedish fighter interceptor built by Saab between 1955 and 1974. Sweden developed it as a double delta-wing jet to replace its Saab 29 Tunnan day fighter and Saab 32B Lasen night fighter. The Draken was one of the first aircraft to use the double delta-wing design successfully.
The double-delta-shaped wing helped reduce the take-off run (allowing it to be used from both runways and roads). The Swedish fighter entered the Swedish Air Force service in 1960 and was the first Western European-built fighter with true supersonic capability. The Saab 35 Draken boasts a number of other firsts, including being the first to perform the Cobra maneuver.
It was a very capable fighter jet of its time (including in dogfights) - although it never saw combat (perhaps part of the reason why it was widely forgotten). Saab 35 Draken fighter: Role: Fighter-interceptor Number built: Approx. 650 In service: 1960 to 2005 Former operators: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria.
