Saab 37 Viggen 'thunderbolt' Swedish single engine, short-medium range fighter and attack aircraft. Jet plane. Swedish Air Force Historic Flight
The Saab 37 Viggen (Swedish: "(thunder)bolt") was a Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range fighter and attack aircraft, manufactured between 1970 and 1990. Several variants were produced to perform the roles of all-weather fighter-interceptor, ground-attack and photo-reconnaissance, as well as a two-seat trainer. The Viggen was initially developed as a replacement for the Saab 32 Lansen in the attack role and later the Saab 35 Draken as a fighter. The first studies were carried out between 1952 and 1957 involving the Finnish aircraft designer Aarne Lakomaa. Several different concepts were studied involving both single- and twin engines and also with separate lift engines, both simple and double delta wings and also with canard wings. Even VTOL designs were considered. SAAB AJS 37 Viggen on display at the Swedish Air Force Museum in Linköping The aim was to produce a robust aircraft with good short-runway performance that could be operated from numerous specially prepared roads and highways to reduce the vulnerability to attack in the event of requirements included supersonic ability at low level, Mach 2 performance at altitude, and the ability to make short landings at low angles of attack (to avoid damaging improvised runways). The aircraft was also designed from the beginning to be easy to repair and service, even for personnel without much training. To meet these design goals, Saab selected a radical configuration: a conventional delta wing with a small, high-set canard foreplane. Canard aircraft have since become common in fighter aircraft, notably with the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the IAI Kfir, but mainly for agility reasons rather than STOL capabilities. The final proposal was presented and accepted on 28 September 1962.[2] Construction started in 1964, with a first prototype maiden flight on 8 February 1967. This example flies with Swedish Air Force Historic Flight
Size: 3800px × 2517px
Location: Waddington, Lincs, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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