Saab 35 Draken

what is it?

The Saab 35 Draken (IPA: [²drɑːkɛn]; The Kite, ambiguous with The Dragon) is a Swedish fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of the Saab 35 Draken started in 1948 as the Swedish Air Force future replacement for the then also in development Saab 29 Tunnan day fighter and Saab 32B Lansen all-weather fighter. It featured an innovative but unproven double delta wing, leading to the creation of a sub-scale test aircraft, the Saab 210, which was produced and flown to test this previously unexplored aerodynamic feature.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 9.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 2,450 km/htop speed
• size 11.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 644made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 71 years ago, in 1955.
• 🏎️Top speed is 18.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 2.0 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.4 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 2.3× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1955-10-25

introduced

1959

retired

2005

status

retired

number built

644

role

fighter-interceptor

origin

🇸🇪 Sweden

makers

Saab Group

engines

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM6C / Avon

crew

1

length

15.4 m

wingspan

9.4 m

height

3.9 m

max take-off weight

11.9 t

top speed

2,450 km/h

range

—

ceiling

20,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.