Greeting from Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary on Saab planes and histories. It's very unfortunate that Canada didn't buy a license for these aircraft. Hell of a lot cheaper than the F22 or F35. Then the Canadian government throwing away money like it's made of confetti.
@@chronosschiron I agree with what you say. In my opinion, the Saab planes are a hell of a lot cheaper, than the American planes. As the story stated, cheaper repair, where you can park the Saabs, and what can be used as a runway, and where the planes can be hidden. These Saabs could use F-22 thrust vectoring nozzles. After all, the Swedes bought ($$) a lot of American technology to advance the Saab warbirds.
Awesome video. I lived my first 5 years on a farm in southern Sweden just a kilometer or two from a training field used by the airforce where they had a landing strip that was a piece of normal road, very short, that they used to not have to cut off road traffic every time they trained (which they did often as well during the 70s and early 80s). When out driving sometimes the military stopped traffic and fighter jets landed on the road in front of you and disappeared into the forest on small taxi ways. Then traffic was on again. My first memory of Viggen is becoming shell shocked on our lawn when out playing and 2 came full throttle over our farm from take off, not 200m up. My parents said it took them an hour to get me to respond to anything after that, I just stood trampling in a spot eyes closed and jaw clenched... for an hour after! My parents contacted the airforce and after that we got phone calls ahead of something similar happening, sometimes days ahead. Sometimes like half an hour and we all had earprotection we put on then and went out on the lawn to watch the planes, sometimes passing low enough for rivets to be visible to the naked eye. You could still feel your body getting almost punched by the sound like that but it was a fun thing when expecting it. When not... ----> Shell shock. I can't see any other result even possible. :D My dad was a hobby pilot so planes was always a big thing in our family and I never became afraid of planes or anything but I do remember that moment when reality itself was torn to shreds by two shadows passing over me - in the blink of an eye. And later, even as an adult having many other planes to compare to I can say without any hesitation: Viggen was loud as f*ck!
"I just stood trampling in a spot eyes closed for about an hour" LOL. Reminds me of my daughter during a Blue Angel's air show on Pensacola Beach in 1995 when she was 11. We were relaxing on our backs in the warm sand just staring at the blue sky without a care in the world while waiting for the show to begin but I knew what was coming because I'd seen the Angels before but she hadn't. In fact she'd never even seen an air show before and then they came.. roaring out of nowhere from behind about 400 ft above us... and at that altitude the Angel's made the ground tremble. It also also made my daughter frantically dig a hole in the sand with both her arms and legs because the roar was so intense she wanted to hide. I kid you not. She dug a hole so fast it made me LOL and your "eyes closed for about an hour" reminded me of that day. So thx! Your experience with Viggen brought back good memories
Exactly! It was able to enter the high airspace that the SR-71 was at, and could actually have shot it down. That high up is... like driving with summer tyres on pure ice. It's slippery. And a small mistake and just like a car loses control on ice, so does the aircraft at that high altitude. And there is no recovery. But the unique wing design of the Swedish Viggen made it able to fly that high. Not turn or make any swift manoeuvres. But get up there and tail the SR-71. But back in the 60's and 70's Sweden was neutral. Meaning, it wasn't allied with neither part of the major blocks. And was equally hostile to military aircraft from either block entering their airspace. This is why they threatened the SR-71. They would have done the same to Soviet aircrafts in their airspace.
is this one of reasons swedish fighter jets are so undervalued today? US pride is broken when swedish vehicles beat their wargames. current jets are only sold to one other country, despite they are very competitive (not against F35 but vs older gen eg F16) even UK aircraft manufacturing is nearly run down apart from joint strike program but small sweden still manages to do jets.
@@effexon The Viggen used US Sparrow missiles and US technology. The engine was US and the intelligence about Russian radar was obtained by US and passed to Swedden.
If you seen a flock of tufted ducks speeding across the wave tops, the name become even more fitting. Them birds be fat, fast and low flying, exactly what the Viggen was built to be.
Worked with a mechanical engineer for a while that worked on several swedish jet fighters and he described that the Viggen was dedigned for "tryckllandning", loosely translated as "slam landing". This meant that the jet, unlike regular aircrafts, did not flare during landings but was "flown into the ground". This is what enabled it's exceptional short take off and landing.
I worked at SAAB but it was when JAS Gripen was new :) My neighbour worked at the civil side .There is a fly museum outside Linköping where you can see the older planes and we also have a few of these jets as "statues" along the motorway :)
Saw SAAB's planes fly at Sweden's air show last year (as well as stand behind the engines when they were taxiing) and they are awesome. It's a shame the air show was cancelled this year, I was looking forward to it.
Just watched this for the second time. Great stuff, truly awesome achievements for such a small and independent nation. The only gripe that I have is that the J 21 was sadly left out. An interesting type as it is one of only two aircraft I can think of, that have had two lives. One as a piston engined fighter, and the other as a jet fighter! The other type is the Yakovlev Yak 3 with its V 12 powerplant which became the Yak 15 powered by a Soviet built Jumo 004. And the SAAB J 21 went from a pusher configuration DB 605 inverted V 12 to a DH Goblin turbojet. Great video as always. Thanks.
Koenigsegg. It's ridiculous how many inventions they crank out. The Gemera's got a no-camshaft 2.0L 3 cylinder engine producing 600hp 😂 They even design their own multi clutch transmission called the LST (Light speed transmission) for the Jesko, which is both manual and automatic. It buffers gears and switches them so fast its not even noticeable. The bodywork is all carbon fiber, even the wheels, all made in house with machines they built themselves.
My earliest memory is with these. I was very little, playing on the front porch when a squadron of Viggens flew over the house, probably in afterburn. The noise they made, made me scared of playing outside alone for more than a year. This was in the mid 80s. Truly awesome machines. Also not mentioned in the film; both the Lansen and the Viggen were designed to carry nuclear weapons. Swedens nuclear weapons program officially ended in 1968 but some development continued into the early 70s.
Lots of arm chair pilots …..Swedes did a lot of incredible work over the years; including negotiating world wars, preventing nuclear wars. Plus making an incredible car (love it or hate it)
uh so 2010s this century we have.... minecraft and spotify with joe rogan deal... despite IT bringing money and digital content being hot business, I cant compare these industries in relevance for country.
15:17 these maintance facts are yet to be "broken" change of engine and how little was needed to refule and send it on a new misson is still meega impressive for me.
Wow what a wide variety of tour's. Love the LOOK, must be cool to view. The reverse thrust will allow refueling anywhere! Just drive the truck to the end of the road. This must be just what Sweden needs. So cool plane .
Excellent content until 18:20. The JA37Ds datalink wasn't surpasssed by any none Swedish fighter until the LM F-35 came into service almost a decade after the JA37D went out of service in the SwAF.
Sweden also had the 4th largest airforce in the world back in the 50's and 60's and for the entire cold war their pilots where considered some of the best/craziest in the world.
I still remember the day (sometime in 1990-ish) when i was a boy. Where i lived there was a bunch of apartment complexes. This particular day, a hot day... 3 Viggen in a formation flew over at a very low altitude. The engine roar was so loud i held my ears and got so scared. I still have no idea why they flew so low at that speed... but oh my god it was loud. Both me and my brother ran home and told our parents. I believe they flew below 300 meters.
I live on the Swedish west coast and usually sail in Kattegat between Sweden and Denmark. I have some memories from the 80s when I was out sailing. Saw both Swedish and Danish Draken (also Swedish Viggen). The Swedish Draken and Viggen were flying so low that I didn't see them before I heard the sound and they had passed. The Danish Draken flew much higher.
Fantastic video, thank you. I really dig the look at the history of Swedish aviation! Really good information. The Swedes have always been a bit ahead of their time. Thanks again for such a great video. Especially since it’s free! Cheers!
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
The viggen is a great airframe, just amazing really, but radar locking the sr71 was easy. She thumbed her nose at everybody and then flipped her skirts and skipped away. You could easily see her dance, you just couldnt join her fun. She was there and gone before you could react like a vision or a dream.
@@captainchaos3053 Yup, gave a good try. The brits make good planes, too. It's to bad they are all just so darn ugly. They made some truly hideous airframes that seem to tear up the sky by sheer spite alone.
Nice video. Delta wing shape has extremely high lift at relative low speed under high drag without stalling is responsible short takeoff landing performances that no other shape can. The down side is low lift to drag ratio prevented it from supersonic cruise without after burner.
There is a story that the English Electric Lightning also once get a lock on an SR-71, it happened before the US had informed the British MoD of the SR-71's existence, and almost resulted in an international incident..
Vigen is awesome army airplane.The Swedes also make good aerosols that I worked on in the JNA reserve... During the war for Croatian independence and the return of a third of the occupied country by the JNA and rebel Croatian Serbs. I was a volunteer in the war against them in 91-95a we had a big Oerlikon machine gun I think it was also Swedish. The mad colonel wanted to target my hometown with Bofors (aerosol) rockets. That the Swedes have a good military industry.
I had one of these nearly parked in my bedroom. Training, but they were clearly violating altitude rules, as one jet was heading straight for my window at Mach > 1
Its was not bad design of the wing, but during vacation was a production question to modify the wing for easier production. However, the present vacation personal forgot to state a minimum radius on a requested cutout of the wing (was not meant to be). Afterwards, they (including various universities) calculated how much life the wing would have for different radius. They could plot the actual a crashes on the same timeline (life expectancy). I got this description during university education by a famous at the time stress&strain/fatigue professor.
Radar lock isn't the big deal. A lot of aircraft and ground stations could track the SR-71. For example, an F-106 could do so - and at a 2800 knot closing speed, btw. (My squadron commander and DCM performed the practice intercept -- they had the film of the intercept. The DCM was crowing for a week about locking on.) What would've been IMPRESSIVE is if an aircraft (or a SAM) could actually HIT the aircraft -- which NO ONE could. It was simply too d*mned fast and missile technology simply wasn't up to the task. Might not be up to the task now, I dunno. But radar lock -- the Viggen was hardly the only plane that could do that to the SR.
F-106 would just shoot a nuclear Genie out in front of the SR-71. Way out front. The SR-71 was at risk from Nuclear Tipped Russian SAM’s so it’s downfall
During development and use of our own developed air craft between the 1950ies and 1960ies, more than 600 pilots died. During some parts of the 1950ies, two pilots per month died. I remember part of that. Hearing on the radio and on TV that yet another Draken (J35) or Viggen (J37) had crashed. R.I.P. all you fly boys! You took it all in stride. You were aware of the risks but never let that stop you! Some just 20+ y/o, newly married and recent fathers...
@@Alitacyan During that time they did fly as it was war. The limitations was 10m/30 feet above water and 30m/90 feet above ground (that is tree top level). Not much margins for "issus" then. This is becuase we have a rather bad neighbur to the east. @Alitacyan During that time they did fly as it was war. The limitations was 10m/30 feet above water and 30m/90 feet above ground. Not much margins for "issus" then. This is becuase we have a rather bad neighbur to the east that we do share the baltic sea with...
This is for a lot of different airplane types. I actually think that the 37 system have the lowest number of deaths related to type. So 21, 21R, 29, 32, 35 and 37.
Radar lock and intercept are 2 different things, the SR71 was radar locked a few times, no plane was able to shoot it down. The closes the SR71 has ever been to another plane was when one had engine trouble and had to fly in swedish airspace where it was kindly escorted to Brittish Airspace.
A Mig 25 managed to get within AA-6 No escape Zone range of a SR-71 over the Baltic in the mid 1980s. A British long range radar in West Berlin managed to record the whole event. (The Radar was Type 94 (Plessy AR-3D) located at RAF Gatow), the Radar had a range of 270 Nautical Miles. If the Soviet Fighter Controller put the Mig in Front of the Sr-71, it could totally shoot it down, Same as any other fighter with a radar guided missile.
@@richardvernon317 A MiG-31 did too. Intercept and firing solution. Ground based systems could also acquire them, track, and achieve a firing solution if the SR-71 was flying towards them. People must assume Soviet tech remained at SA-3 levels or something.
@@richardvernon317 I doubt the SR-71 activated it full suite of jamming and defensive decoy aids. An SR-71 could sustain Mach 3.6 (limited by shock wave injection not engine limits). The MiG 25 maybe Mach 2.8 but would need an engine replacement if it exceeded that speed.
J is for "Jakt" (hunt / fighter). A is for "Attack." S is for "Spaning" (reconaissance). So if you see a JA-37, it's a fighter which can also do ground attack and a JS-37 a fighter which can also do recon. The modern replacement is the JAS-39 Gripen (which is a true multi-role aircraft, capable of doing all three roles). All Swedish citizens are required to do one year of military service. Most of the aircraft maintenance people are conscripts, serving their one-year military service. An entire squadron of aircraft will have, in their maintenance staff, a handful of experienced sergeants and a large number of such conscripts. The aircraft is designed for easy maintenance with minimally-trained conscripts.
It might not be the beautiful plane, but it is amazing in it's role. If the swedish navy had aircraft carriers, I could totally see an offshoot of the Viggen getting the job.
Yes. A very good airplane, world class. But without US help many features wouldn’t exist- it would be 100 times more difficult. As a Swede I’m proud. But tone down the SR - 71 incidents. One were they helped a 71 with engine failures. Ok. And we wouldn’t shoot down our allies and our biggest supporter. On the military science issues they traded a lot of things. Like fix the US subs could use their ICBN more accurately from subs west of Gothenburg. Some measure thing. And we flew completely different over Baltic Sea if there was West German or Soviet,Danish etc. If a MIG 31 did something similar Sweden hadn’t done any weapons due to other reasons. Am I wrong. (Mikael Holmström ”Den dolda alliansen/The hidden close partnership “ Is it translated? Very interesting for non Swedes- for sure ) 45:32
I do not doubt that it was a very good airplane. But it must help to know where to look for the SR-71 as it transits a known area regularly.. on that note nothing was said about the range at which they were able to get radar lock. Getting the lock would be an achievement for sure. But with the missiles available at that time shooting one down is an entirely different story.
Indeed, but given the budgets of the Swedish Air Force, you have to admit that Saab did come up with some pretty neat ideas. Throwing infinite money at projects is not always the best solution. People like Kelly Johnson were the living proof of that, but also Frank Whittle in Britain, or in the automotive world Enzo Ferrari, or even lots of British brilliant engineers in F1 for example, or Meucci, Nikola Tesla, and many more. This aircraft is also really good looking, but so is the SR-71, an astoundingly gorgeous aircraft in every possible way. Some creations are just a one off in time, like the Concorde for example. Pure icons that will be remembered centuries from now.
The plane was computor guided from ground center: speed and angel of attack could be auto piloted. The planes intercept head on but Viggen only had some seconds to play with before the sr-71 was gone. This tech was not to be found elsewhere.
USAF assessed the Viggens had successfully got into the launch envelope for their missile, you're absolutely right the knowing where to go and wait helped.
In 1984 an RAF English Electric Lightning intercepted a U2 at 88,000 feet. Not advisable for anyone without a 'space suit'. Lose that pressurised cockpit through engine failure and you're in big trouble!
No it didn't!!! The intercept happened at 65,000 feet !!! Lightning ran out of Puff at 75.000ft over the UK as the tropopause is at around 40,000feet. The people who took the Lightning above 80,000 feet did it over Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were the tropopause is much higher. (the Guy who did it over Malaysia was wearing a Partial pressure suit which would have kept him alive long enough to get to lower altitude and did intercept a RB-57F at some very stupid height).
@@richardvernon317 In 1984, during a NATO exercise, Flight lieutenant Mike Hale intercepted a U-2 at a height which they had previously considered safe (thought to be 66,000 feet (20,000 m)). Records show that Hale also climbed to 88,000 ft (27,000 m) in his Lightning F.3 XR749.
@@Parawingdelta2 RAF intercepted U-2 back in 1962 as part of an Official Trial called Exercise Trumpet. The RAF pilots on that Trial wore full pressure suits like the U-2 pilots. The French intercepted a U-2 in 1967 at 65,000 feet with a Mirage III. Again the pilot was wearing a Full Pressure suit. in 1961 a Phantom set a sustained flight altitude record of 66,443 feet and in 1959 a zoom climb world record of 98,557 feet. Again the pilots were wearing full pressure suits. Most 1960's and 1970's Supersonic Jet Fighters in the west were quite capable of getting up to 65,000 feet. The reason they didn't make a habit of doing it was because their pilots didn't wear full pressure suits that would keep them alive long enough to gat the aircraft to lower altitude if something went wrong!! Hale's was a hooligan, nothing more and nothing less (he was wearing bog standard RAF Flying kit). As for the Concorde intercept, He had to use In-flight Refuelling to do that Sortie. Maximum Speed for a Lightning with the Probe fitted was Mach 1.9. Any faster risked damaging the Aircraft. He did Mach 2.2 on that sortie. Fun Fact, a couple of weeks after the event, the same aircraft tried to kill him when part of the intake broke off and went down one of the engines, thanks to the multiple times he trashed the guts out of the aircraft.
Not the one and only. F-14's operating out of NAS (now MCAS) Mirimar intercepted and locked up an SR-71 flying South along the U. S. West Coast. The Point Magu Aegis Test Facility performed the queuing. The Tomcats had to tank in order to RTB.
I find facts are helpful. F14 Tomcat Max speed 2.34 Mach Service ceiling 53,000 ft SR-71 Cruise speed 3.2 Mach Cruise Atitude 85,000 ft The Blackbird would be going by 30,000 feet higher and and a 1000 mph faster.Not even with Tom Cruise in the cockpit could the F-14 intercept an SR-71.
@@jerryg53125 Remember that the AIM54 was designed for an intercept geometry that included front aspect shots against M3.2 Mig25. The -54 was one of the few weapons from that era that could fuse against such a target. The issue is that an intercept against a M3+ target means that you have to start in its flight path which requires luck or advanced knowledge. All of these "XXX intercepted the SR71" are canned scenarios where the interceptors were told where to fly, happy war stories meant to entertain, or tired old jocks trying to impress the youth.
@@peterdoege1740 The story is actually about the Saab 37 Viggen locking on an SR-71.Then we have a post that says The F-14 Tomcat locked and tracked an SR-71.Next we will have a story that a Supermarine Spitfire got a lock on an SR-71."It is meant to entertain "is exactly right.As in any story show us the proof.
While the word "draken" does indeed mean "the dragon", it is also the word for the type of kite that children plays with. I believe that's actually where the plane got its name from. It's shape resembles a kite.
The Saab Viggen had a single engine developing 28,000 lbf with afterburner The Lightning F53 had 40,000 lb of thrust with two Avon 302r's and intercepted SR71's on it's days off.
No Evidence of a Lightning ever doing it EVER!!! If they did it would have been mentioned in a Squadron Operations Record Book or in the Operations Record of the Radar Station that controlled the Sortie!!! The Concorde intercept in 1985 is recorded in the 11 Squadron Records and the RAF Bloumer Operations record books. All of those records have been declassified for at least 3 years.
@@richardvernon317 Not all records are declassified. No military aircraft enters UK airspace without permission and confirmation. There are persistent stories about the gun camera footage from a Royal Air Force English Electric Lightning that bounced the SR-71 that set the trans-Atlantic speed record on its way into the Farnborough Air Show in 1974. The RAF knew its flight plan in advance, so they sent a particularly "hot" Lightning out over the Atlantic and bounced the SR-71 from above and behind. There are reports from Dutch air traffic control of the BAC F53 Lightnings doing mach 3 over the North Sea. no one ever found out how fast the Lightnings could go as they would run out of fuel first. The EEL was more than capable of doing things a Viggen could apart from the reverse thrusters.
Could it be that you refer to another SAAB aircraft in this case? The Viggen had a heavily modified version of a Pratt & Whitney JT8-D (as is clearly stated in the video).
@@sichere Bulshite from BAC Test Pilots on the after dinner talk circuit is the cause of that rumour, like a lot of tall stories about the aircraft. The Lightning had a fixed cone on the air intake. That cone as well as containing the Radar produced a shock wave that interacted with the shockwave from the intake lip to create air compression. it was designed to give maximum compression at Mach 2. Over speed the aircraft and that compression is gone and the aircraft suffers a large drop off in ram thrust (plus has shockwaves bouncing up and down the intake damage it and the face of the compressors of the engines). Some of the Lightnings were quite capable of getting to Mach 2.3, others had their intake go snap, crackle and pop as soon as they got above Mach 2. I did 30 years in the RAF involved in air defence. Not once did I hear a story about a Lightning intercepting an SR-71 and I've heard a lot of interesting stories that are still classified, including an actual intercept of an SR-71 by a Mig 25.
The SR 71 was on one engine. It blew an engine and was at a lower altitude and was over NATO controlled air space. It was being chased by a Mig 31 which turned back after the Viggens showed up.
Who knows the dash speeds of the SR-71? The A-12's were no doubt faster yet no official records were ever made. At an official record of 2,193.2 SR-71A #617958, without considering deceleration for in-flight refueling over the course. It also suffered an inlet unstart, recovering without flying outside of the boundaries set by officials in which case the aircraft loose velocity. The Speed of the Blackbirds were only restricted by the compressor inlet temperature. If the temperature, air density, and humidity can keep the inlets cool it will continue to accelerate. I'm not a pilot, just the guy who fixed the parts that made them Go Fast.
A funny story; One of the real crazy pilots of Viggen Stellan, did low flight at 10 m over ground and did 18o degrees volt at very low height. He retired as an civilian pilot but died when he was fishing with a friend Viggen pilot with helicopter over a lake, something went wrong and both died.
Not sure fishing with helicopter would be legal in Sweden, but whatever he is gone. Its common for daring ppl to die in silly ways, Goran Kropp a swede who biked from Sweden to the Himalayas, climbed Mt Everest without oxygen mask and sherpas, and then biked back, died when falling from a small cliff used for training climbing. The metal hook had experienced fatigue and broke.
@@cubismo85 that reminds of stunt people in movies first do some insane thing on film, then next project basic training accident can kill them and nobody knows. Crow movie accident comes to mind first, couple silly newer ones people might remember better.
Love the Viggen, like most Swedish aircraft it had a distinct look about it. Many of the SR-71 missions over the Soviet Union either started or finished close to Swedish airspace so the Swedish air force saw a lot of them on radar, but I doubt very much they were doing Mach 3 at 85,000 ft lol
According to interviews with Swedish Viggen pilots, also presented here on YT, they made a habit of calculate the precise "window" for a radar lock on the SR-71. As they trained this, they got about 50 successful radar locks during the time the Sledge patrolled the Baltic sea. Of course this was a very narrow window.
@@JohnOlimb But the USAF was never botherd by the Swedish air force. Sweden was not the target, the SR-71s flew close to Sweden just before or after the SR-71s flew their high speed runs..
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes, and their stories, and missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes
be nice to see sweden soon join nato , they deserve the same protection we all in west have, and as we see add a lot themselves
It's "SAAB", not Sab (like in sap).
Just a fyi, nothing else.
Greeting from Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary on Saab planes and histories. It's very unfortunate that Canada didn't buy a license for these aircraft. Hell of a lot cheaper than the F22 or F35. Then the Canadian government throwing away money like it's made of confetti.
@@scorpion19142001
no we need support those that are in nato now
and the f35 production is closer to home
@@chronosschiron I agree with what you say. In my opinion, the Saab planes are a hell of a lot cheaper, than the American planes. As the story stated, cheaper repair, where you can park the Saabs, and what can be used as a runway, and where the planes can be hidden. These Saabs could use F-22 thrust vectoring nozzles. After all, the Swedes bought ($$) a lot of American technology to advance the Saab warbirds.
Awesome video.
I lived my first 5 years on a farm in southern Sweden just a kilometer or two from a training field used by the airforce where they had a landing strip that was a piece of normal road, very short, that they used to not have to cut off road traffic every time they trained (which they did often as well during the 70s and early 80s).
When out driving sometimes the military stopped traffic and fighter jets landed on the road in front of you and disappeared into the forest on small taxi ways. Then traffic was on again.
My first memory of Viggen is becoming shell shocked on our lawn when out playing and 2 came full throttle over our farm from take off, not 200m up. My parents said it took them an hour to get me to respond to anything after that, I just stood trampling in a spot eyes closed and jaw clenched...
for an hour after!
My parents contacted the airforce and after that we got phone calls ahead of something similar happening, sometimes days ahead. Sometimes like half an hour and we all had earprotection we put on then and went out on the lawn to watch the planes, sometimes passing low enough for rivets to be visible to the naked eye. You could still feel your body getting almost punched by the sound like that but it was a fun thing when expecting it. When not... ----> Shell shock.
I can't see any other result even possible. :D
My dad was a hobby pilot so planes was always a big thing in our family and I never became afraid of planes or anything but I do remember that moment when reality itself was torn to shreds by two shadows passing over me - in the blink of an eye.
And later, even as an adult having many other planes to compare to I can say without any hesitation:
Viggen was loud as f*ck!
"I just stood trampling in a spot eyes closed for about an hour" LOL. Reminds me of my daughter during a Blue Angel's air show on Pensacola Beach in 1995 when she was 11. We were relaxing on our backs in the warm sand just staring at the blue sky without a care in the world while waiting for the show to begin but I knew what was coming because I'd seen the Angels before but she hadn't.
In fact she'd never even seen an air show before and then they came.. roaring out of nowhere from behind about 400 ft above us... and at that altitude the Angel's made the ground tremble. It also also made my daughter frantically dig a hole in the sand with both her arms and legs because the roar was so intense she wanted to hide. I kid you not. She dug a hole so fast it made me LOL and your "eyes closed for about an hour" reminded me of that day. So thx! Your experience with Viggen brought back good memories
@@LuvThatDirtyWater Thanks for the story. It gave me a chuckle.
So you were raised up around Ljungbyhed, NW of Skåne/Skania?
@@osvagt nej tegnaby. South of Växjö!!
I've thought that Viggens and Gripens are nearly as close to works of art as military planes can be.
That gripen is just pure excellence
I gotta go with viggen and draken
yeah, thats all they remain to be, actionless aesthetic efforts. A great expenditure through 'Look look but not buy'.
@@SB-jc7wz Someone is toxic lol.
C@@SB-jc7wznonsense
The Viggen didn't just radar lock the SR71, lots of planes did that, it got into a successful launch envelope (as assessed by the USAF).
Exactly! It was able to enter the high airspace that the SR-71 was at, and could actually have shot it down. That high up is... like driving with summer tyres on pure ice. It's slippery. And a small mistake and just like a car loses control on ice, so does the aircraft at that high altitude. And there is no recovery. But the unique wing design of the Swedish Viggen made it able to fly that high. Not turn or make any swift manoeuvres. But get up there and tail the SR-71.
But back in the 60's and 70's Sweden was neutral. Meaning, it wasn't allied with neither part of the major blocks. And was equally hostile to military aircraft from either block entering their airspace. This is why they threatened the SR-71. They would have done the same to Soviet aircrafts in their airspace.
is this one of reasons swedish fighter jets are so undervalued today? US pride is broken when swedish vehicles beat their wargames. current jets are only sold to one other country, despite they are very competitive (not against F35 but vs older gen eg F16)
even UK aircraft manufacturing is nearly run down apart from joint strike program but small sweden still manages to do jets.
@@effexonsvedish subs kick USA subs arse these days. As a rest of The globe.
@@effexon I know! Us Americans need to realize our Swedish friends are great at making planes and subs!
@@effexon The Viggen used US Sparrow missiles and US technology. The engine was US and the intelligence about Russian radar was obtained by US and passed to Swedden.
This is one of the planes that first got me interested in aviation. I still think it is one of the best looking jets ever.
This spends a lot more time on the history of Swedish military aircraft. Pretty good documentary really.
Viggen is a beautiful plane! Everything that looks good also flies good. Thanks a lot for a great job making excellent content!
Thanks a lot!
Always admired that the Viggen had to be reinforced because it was just too powerful for its own design.
Wouldn't have taken much of a redesign to make the Viggen capable of carrier operations
The mighty Thunder-Duck!
I've always loved the look of the Viggen. I made an Airfix model of one as a kid.
If you seen a flock of tufted ducks speeding across the wave tops, the name become even more fitting. Them birds be fat, fast and low flying, exactly what the Viggen was built to be.
Worked with a mechanical engineer for a while that worked on several swedish jet fighters and he described that the Viggen was dedigned for "tryckllandning", loosely translated as "slam landing". This meant that the jet, unlike regular aircrafts, did not flare during landings but was "flown into the ground". This is what enabled it's exceptional short take off and landing.
I worked at SAAB but it was when JAS Gripen was new :) My neighbour worked at the civil side .There is a fly museum outside Linköping where you can see the older planes and we also have a few of these jets as "statues" along the motorway :)
Saw SAAB's planes fly at Sweden's air show last year (as well as stand behind the engines when they were taxiing) and they are awesome. It's a shame the air show was cancelled this year, I was looking forward to it.
Just watched this for the second time. Great stuff, truly awesome achievements for such a small and independent nation.
The only gripe that I have is that the J 21 was sadly left out. An interesting type as it is one of only two aircraft I can think of, that have had two lives. One as a piston engined fighter, and the other as a jet fighter! The other type is the Yakovlev Yak 3 with its V 12 powerplant which became the Yak 15 powered by a Soviet built Jumo 004. And the SAAB J 21 went from a pusher configuration DB 605 inverted V 12 to a DH Goblin turbojet.
Great video as always. Thanks.
Great video! As a Swede born around when Viggen was launched, it’s interesting to get this in depth information. Thank you!
Our pleasure!
Those Swedes are a clever bunch. SAAB, VOLVO and ABBA. Say no more...
Greetings from Denmark.
Brilliant people around the world, unite!
You have Bang and Olufsen. B&0 have more kudos than Apple!
@@tumslucks9781, thanks.
Koenigsegg. It's ridiculous how many inventions they crank out. The Gemera's got a no-camshaft 2.0L 3 cylinder engine producing 600hp 😂
They even design their own multi clutch transmission called the LST (Light speed transmission) for the Jesko, which is both manual and automatic. It buffers gears and switches them so fast its not even noticeable. The bodywork is all carbon fiber, even the wheels, all made in house with machines they built themselves.
You have LEGO, Carlsberg, Danish pastries and butter cookies!
My earliest memory is with these. I was very little, playing on the front porch when a squadron of Viggens flew over the house, probably in afterburn. The noise they made, made me scared of playing outside alone for more than a year. This was in the mid 80s. Truly awesome machines. Also not mentioned in the film; both the Lansen and the Viggen were designed to carry nuclear weapons. Swedens nuclear weapons program officially ended in 1968 but some development continued into the early 70s.
Lots of arm chair pilots …..Swedes did a lot of incredible work over the years; including negotiating world wars, preventing nuclear wars. Plus making an incredible car (love it or hate it)
You realize Saab builds this jet along with that amazing car?
@@smokeylovesfire1589 of course
@@razor6888käga inte, saabarna är tvär goa att köra
uh so 2010s this century we have.... minecraft and spotify with joe rogan deal... despite IT bringing money and digital content being hot business, I cant compare these industries in relevance for country.
@@razor6888Volvo was once Swedish before the Chinese bought it up like they do with everything. And that’s a damn good and reliable car
15:17 these maintance facts are yet to be "broken" change of engine and how little was needed to refule and send it on a new misson is still meega impressive for me.
Wow what a wide variety of tour's. Love the LOOK, must be cool to view. The reverse thrust will allow refueling anywhere! Just drive the truck to the end of the road. This must be just what Sweden needs. So cool plane .
That front flip with the skis at 23:27 was most impressive!
I worked with the AJ37 as an conscript. Very easy to work with. ❤❤❤❤
Excellent content until 18:20.
The JA37Ds datalink wasn't surpasssed by any none Swedish fighter until the LM F-35 came into service almost a decade after the JA37D went out of service in the SwAF.
Thats an impressive airplane that ive never heard of. I certainly didnt know sweden developed such an advanced aircraft at that time.
Given the resources that Sweden had compared to other nations, that seems to be a neat bird
Have you seen this cancelled project. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_36
It's predecessor, the Drakken, was even cooler IMO.
What about the Tunnan ?
Sweden also had the 4th largest airforce in the world back in the 50's and 60's and for the entire cold war their pilots where considered some of the best/craziest in the world.
I still remember the day (sometime in 1990-ish) when i was a boy.
Where i lived there was a bunch of apartment complexes.
This particular day, a hot day... 3 Viggen in a formation flew over at a very low altitude. The engine roar was so loud i held my ears and got so scared.
I still have no idea why they flew so low at that speed... but oh my god it was loud. Both me and my brother ran home and told our parents.
I believe they flew below 300 meters.
somehow I believe if they continued on that development path, next gripen would be both silent and stealthy like swedish sub :D
I live on the Swedish west coast and usually sail in Kattegat between Sweden and Denmark.
I have some memories from the 80s when I was out sailing.
Saw both Swedish and Danish Draken (also Swedish Viggen). The Swedish Draken and Viggen were flying so low that I didn't see them before I heard the sound and they had passed. The Danish Draken flew much higher.
A brilliant aircraft. When I was young . Made a airfield model of one. Beautiful plane. 👍🌞
Very cool
The second model I ever built. I built the f-14 first and I hung them like they were flying in formation.
Fantastic video, thank you. I really dig the look at the history of Swedish aviation! Really good information. The Swedes have always been a bit ahead of their time. Thanks again for such a great video. Especially since it’s free! Cheers!
I mean, I love American planes with all my heart and soul but Viggen , is/was something out of this world, and so is the Gripen.
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Greetings from Sweden!
Great work with this video!
Thank you very much!
Excellent video! Thank you very much indeed.
Mach 2
STOL
Easy and cheap to maintain.
You can get 2 of tje above, but 3? Outstanding!
Big respect for swedish engeeniers and designers
Very informative history. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
The viggen is a great airframe, just amazing really, but radar locking the sr71 was easy. She thumbed her nose at everybody and then flipped her skirts and skipped away. You could easily see her dance, you just couldnt join her fun. She was there and gone before you could react like a vision or a dream.
Not to mention simply running away from SAMS. Seriously. But I love aviation videos, and this is a good one.
Except the lighting could give it a good chase
Sound like the perfect girl to me.
@@salamanca1954 I agree. Dronescapes does good work.
@@captainchaos3053 Yup, gave a good try. The brits make good planes, too. It's to bad they are all just so darn ugly. They made some truly hideous airframes that seem to tear up the sky by sheer spite alone.
Fantastic documentary! Thank you for this.
Thank you too!
This is gold! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Totally dope, enjoyed watching, awesome mate.
👍👍🙏🙏
Wow! great work @DroneScapes 👍
You now have one extra subbscriber. That was a solid video. Thank you!'
Thank you! 👍
Nice video.
Delta wing shape has extremely high lift at relative low speed under high drag without stalling is responsible short takeoff landing performances that no other shape can. The down side is low lift to drag ratio prevented it from supersonic cruise without after burner.
Where did you get the old footage? I want to find it.
There is a story that the English Electric Lightning also once get a lock on an SR-71, it happened before the US had informed the British MoD of the SR-71's existence, and almost resulted in an international incident..
Yeah it firing missiles and wasting everyone’s time.
One hell of an aircraft.
Vigen is awesome army airplane.The Swedes also make good aerosols that I worked on in the JNA reserve... During the war for Croatian independence and the return of a third of the occupied country by the JNA and rebel Croatian Serbs. I was a volunteer in the war against them in 91-95a
we had a big Oerlikon machine gun I think it was also Swedish. The mad colonel wanted to target my hometown with Bofors (aerosol) rockets.
That the Swedes have a good military industry.
The word was that we did not particitate in this matter ... The truth is very different
...2 of the coolest aircrafts of the 1960s/70s...!
I had one of these nearly parked in my bedroom. Training, but they were clearly violating altitude rules, as one jet was heading straight for my window at Mach > 1
A beautiful aircraft !
That is one impressive aviation history video.
Its was not bad design of the wing, but during vacation was a production question to modify the wing for easier production. However, the present vacation personal forgot to state a minimum radius on a requested cutout of the wing (was not meant to be). Afterwards, they (including various universities) calculated how much life the wing would have for different radius. They could plot the actual a crashes on the same timeline (life expectancy). I got this description during university education by a famous at the time stress&strain/fatigue professor.
Radar lock isn't the big deal. A lot of aircraft and ground stations could track the SR-71. For example, an F-106 could do so - and at a 2800 knot closing speed, btw. (My squadron commander and DCM performed the practice intercept -- they had the film of the intercept. The DCM was crowing for a week about locking on.) What would've been IMPRESSIVE is if an aircraft (or a SAM) could actually HIT the aircraft -- which NO ONE could. It was simply too d*mned fast and missile technology simply wasn't up to the task. Might not be up to the task now, I dunno. But radar lock -- the Viggen was hardly the only plane that could do that to the SR.
I think the big deal was the persistent lock and the ability to avoid the SR-71 radar jamming capabilities, but I might be mistaken
Agreed! Also it's a pleasure knowing someone else had a DCM, I had one at Misawa.
F-106 would just shoot a nuclear Genie out in front of the SR-71. Way out front.
The SR-71 was at risk from Nuclear Tipped Russian SAM’s so it’s downfall
Great Post!
Once the Viggen achieved a radar lock it could have shot down the SR71 with its missiles.
No other fighter at the time had this capability apparently.
Jet fighter obstacle course races would be cool
During development and use of our own developed air craft between the 1950ies and 1960ies, more than 600 pilots died. During some parts of the 1950ies, two pilots per month died. I remember part of that. Hearing on the radio and on TV that yet another Draken (J35) or Viggen (J37) had crashed. R.I.P. all you fly boys! You took it all in stride. You were aware of the risks but never let that stop you! Some just 20+ y/o, newly married and recent fathers...
sounds almost like afghanistan; despite neutral country and no wars, sweden certainly paid their share in blood during cold war.
it’s pretty crazy that losing so many pilots was taken in stride during peacetime.
@@Alitacyan During that time they did fly as it was war. The limitations was 10m/30 feet above water and 30m/90 feet above ground (that is tree top level). Not much margins for "issus" then. This is becuase we have a rather bad neighbur to the east. @Alitacyan During that time they did fly as it was war. The limitations was 10m/30 feet above water and 30m/90 feet above ground. Not much margins for "issus" then. This is becuase we have a rather bad neighbur to the east that we do share the baltic sea with...
The Viggen wasn't in service until 1971 and only 329 were produced so I don't know how 600 pilots died as a result of crashes.
This is for a lot of different airplane types. I actually think that the 37 system have the lowest number of deaths related to type. So 21, 21R, 29, 32, 35 and 37.
Great documentary!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice cars too
did the plane have ... any wartime action.amonst other jet fighters? no vectored thrust?
The Bolt :-) Also my favorite comic hero (well, the Flash)
Wow, Beautiful
Many many thanks
Excellent historical video
One Bad Ass Aircraft!
It must have taken some extensive research to make this video. Well done,
🙏👍
GREAT COMMENTARY
Common misconception but it wasn't just the Viggen that managed to intercept and lock on the SR-71, the Soviets did it too with the Mig-31.
And the F-106A.
@@hughn Only cos the SR slowed down.
Radar lock and intercept are 2 different things, the SR71 was radar locked a few times, no plane was able to shoot it down. The closes the SR71 has ever been to another plane was when one had engine trouble and had to fly in swedish airspace where it was kindly escorted to Brittish Airspace.
To Danish airspace
A Mig 25 managed to get within AA-6 No escape Zone range of a SR-71 over the Baltic in the mid 1980s. A British long range radar in West Berlin managed to record the whole event. (The Radar was Type 94 (Plessy AR-3D) located at RAF Gatow), the Radar had a range of 270 Nautical Miles. If the Soviet Fighter Controller put the Mig in Front of the Sr-71, it could totally shoot it down, Same as any other fighter with a radar guided missile.
@@richardvernon317 A MiG-31 did too. Intercept and firing solution. Ground based systems could also acquire them, track, and achieve a firing solution if the SR-71 was flying towards them. People must assume Soviet tech remained at SA-3 levels or something.
@@richardvernon317 I doubt the SR-71 activated it full suite of jamming and defensive decoy aids. An SR-71 could sustain Mach 3.6 (limited by shock wave injection not engine limits). The MiG 25 maybe Mach 2.8 but would need an engine replacement if it exceeded that speed.
Excellent video. BZ.
Glad you enjoyed it
J is for "Jakt" (hunt / fighter). A is for "Attack." S is for "Spaning" (reconaissance). So if you see a JA-37, it's a fighter which can also do ground attack and a JS-37 a fighter which can also do recon. The modern replacement is the JAS-39 Gripen (which is a true multi-role aircraft, capable of doing all three roles).
All Swedish citizens are required to do one year of military service. Most of the aircraft maintenance people are conscripts, serving their one-year military service. An entire squadron of aircraft will have, in their maintenance staff, a handful of experienced sergeants and a large number of such conscripts. The aircraft is designed for easy maintenance with minimally-trained conscripts.
I see that Jakt, has the same root as Jagt, in Danish, and Jager in German. I love languages.
Awesome channel content.,👍
Thank you so much 👍
It might not be the beautiful plane, but it is amazing in it's role.
If the swedish navy had aircraft carriers, I could totally see an offshoot of the Viggen getting the job.
Yes. A very good airplane, world class. But without US help many features wouldn’t exist- it would be 100 times more difficult. As a Swede I’m proud. But tone down the SR - 71 incidents. One were they helped a 71 with engine failures. Ok. And we wouldn’t shoot down our allies and our biggest supporter. On the military science issues they traded a lot of things. Like fix the US subs could use their ICBN more accurately from subs west of Gothenburg. Some measure thing. And we flew completely different over Baltic Sea if there was West German or Soviet,Danish etc. If a MIG 31 did something similar Sweden hadn’t done any weapons due to other reasons. Am I wrong. (Mikael Holmström ”Den dolda alliansen/The hidden close partnership “ Is it translated? Very interesting for non Swedes- for sure ) 45:32
I didn't know that there was viggen planes! are there veggiterian planes too?
For a limited nation such as Sweden this aircraft IS bad ass. 😊
Agreed
For any nation this aircraft is bad ass!
Radar lock? That's cute! Then only have to catch up to it.
I do not doubt that it was a very good airplane. But it must help to know where to look for the SR-71 as it transits a known area regularly.. on that note nothing was said about the range at which they were able to get radar lock. Getting the lock would be an achievement for sure. But with the missiles available at that time shooting one down is an entirely different story.
Indeed, but given the budgets of the Swedish Air Force, you have to admit that Saab did come up with some pretty neat ideas.
Throwing infinite money at projects is not always the best solution. People like Kelly Johnson were the living proof of that, but also Frank Whittle in Britain, or in the automotive world Enzo Ferrari, or even lots of British brilliant engineers in F1 for example, or Meucci, Nikola Tesla, and many more.
This aircraft is also really good looking, but so is the SR-71, an astoundingly gorgeous aircraft in every possible way.
Some creations are just a one off in time, like the Concorde for example. Pure icons that will be remembered centuries from now.
The plane was computor guided from ground center: speed and angel of attack could be auto piloted. The planes intercept head on but Viggen only had some seconds to play with before the sr-71 was gone. This tech was not to be found elsewhere.
USAF assessed the Viggens had successfully got into the launch envelope for their missile, you're absolutely right the knowing where to go and wait helped.
24:22 The three Scandinavian kings: Gustaf V of Sweden, Haakon VII of Norway and Kristian X of Denmark together with Finlands president Kallio Kyösti.
Hello !
I still wonder why the Viggen has not been exported to any other country.
Besides the 32 Lansen & 29 Tunnan nice jets of the swedish air force. The engine afterburner powerplant.
Def looking forward to what Sweden will come up with to replace the Gripen.
Tongue twister: various viggen variants
Gotta love a Viggen!
I still think Saab used Gerry Anderson as a design inspiration….
Good point!
In 1984 an RAF English Electric Lightning intercepted a U2 at 88,000 feet. Not advisable for anyone without a 'space suit'. Lose that pressurised cockpit through engine failure and you're in big trouble!
No it didn't!!! The intercept happened at 65,000 feet !!! Lightning ran out of Puff at 75.000ft over the UK as the tropopause is at around 40,000feet. The people who took the Lightning above 80,000 feet did it over Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were the tropopause is much higher. (the Guy who did it over Malaysia was wearing a Partial pressure suit which would have kept him alive long enough to get to lower altitude and did intercept a RB-57F at some very stupid height).
@@richardvernon317 In 1984, during a NATO exercise, Flight lieutenant Mike Hale intercepted a U-2 at a height which they had previously considered safe (thought to be 66,000 feet (20,000 m)). Records show that Hale also climbed to 88,000 ft (27,000 m) in his Lightning F.3 XR749.
@@Parawingdelta2 RAF intercepted U-2 back in 1962 as part of an Official Trial called Exercise Trumpet. The RAF pilots on that Trial wore full pressure suits like the U-2 pilots. The French intercepted a U-2 in 1967 at 65,000 feet with a Mirage III. Again the pilot was wearing a Full Pressure suit. in 1961 a Phantom set a sustained flight altitude record of 66,443 feet and in 1959 a zoom climb world record of 98,557 feet. Again the pilots were wearing full pressure suits. Most 1960's and 1970's Supersonic Jet Fighters in the west were quite capable of getting up to 65,000 feet. The reason they didn't make a habit of doing it was because their pilots didn't wear full pressure suits that would keep them alive long enough to gat the aircraft to lower altitude if something went wrong!! Hale's was a hooligan, nothing more and nothing less (he was wearing bog standard RAF Flying kit). As for the Concorde intercept, He had to use In-flight Refuelling to do that Sortie. Maximum Speed for a Lightning with the Probe fitted was Mach 1.9. Any faster risked damaging the Aircraft. He did Mach 2.2 on that sortie. Fun Fact, a couple of weeks after the event, the same aircraft tried to kill him when part of the intake broke off and went down one of the engines, thanks to the multiple times he trashed the guts out of the aircraft.
Brazil enjoy and develop together the program of Gripen NG F-39E/F.
Nice !
Did you mention the part about the SR71 blowing up one of its engines?
Not the one and only.
F-14's operating out of NAS (now MCAS) Mirimar intercepted and locked up an SR-71 flying South along the U. S. West Coast. The Point Magu Aegis Test Facility performed the queuing. The Tomcats had to tank in order to RTB.
I find facts are helpful.
F14 Tomcat
Max speed 2.34 Mach
Service ceiling 53,000 ft
SR-71
Cruise speed 3.2 Mach
Cruise Atitude 85,000 ft
The Blackbird would be going by 30,000 feet higher and and a 1000 mph faster.Not even with Tom Cruise in the cockpit could the F-14 intercept an SR-71.
@@jerryg53125 AWG-9 and Phoenix, plus intercept geometry as the F-14 were in the flight path of the SR-71.
@@jerryg53125 Remember that the AIM54 was designed for an intercept geometry that included front aspect shots against M3.2 Mig25. The -54 was one of the few weapons from that era that could fuse against such a target. The issue is that an intercept against a M3+ target means that you have to start in its flight path which requires luck or advanced knowledge.
All of these "XXX intercepted the SR71" are canned scenarios where the interceptors were told where to fly, happy war stories meant to entertain, or tired old jocks trying to impress the youth.
@@peterdoege1740 The story is actually about the Saab 37 Viggen locking on an SR-71.Then we have a post that says The F-14 Tomcat locked and tracked an SR-71.Next we will have a story that a Supermarine Spitfire got a lock on an SR-71."It is meant to entertain "is exactly right.As in any story show us the proof.
Great video, I think it might be pronounced ‘Saub’ not ‘Sab’ though?
And it had sven pounding on the engine with his wrench if you get a compressor stall. Based viggen.
While the word "draken" does indeed mean "the dragon", it is also the word for the type of kite that children plays with. I believe that's actually where the plane got its name from. It's shape resembles a kite.
It is incorrect to say that the Viggen was the only aircraft that could lock up an SR-71 with its radar.
yeah, they forgot to say that they also could lock on a missile.
Great aircraft
The Saab Viggen had a single engine developing 28,000 lbf with afterburner
The Lightning F53 had 40,000 lb of thrust with two Avon 302r's and intercepted SR71's on it's days off.
No Evidence of a Lightning ever doing it EVER!!! If they did it would have been mentioned in a Squadron Operations Record Book or in the Operations Record of the Radar Station that controlled the Sortie!!! The Concorde intercept in 1985 is recorded in the 11 Squadron Records and the RAF Bloumer Operations record books. All of those records have been declassified for at least 3 years.
@@richardvernon317 Not all records are declassified.
No military aircraft enters UK airspace without permission and confirmation. There are persistent stories about the gun camera footage from a Royal Air Force English Electric Lightning that bounced the SR-71 that set the trans-Atlantic speed record on its way into the Farnborough Air Show in 1974. The RAF knew its flight plan in advance, so they sent a particularly "hot" Lightning out over the Atlantic and bounced the SR-71 from above and behind. There are reports from Dutch air traffic control of the BAC F53 Lightnings doing mach 3 over the North Sea. no one ever found out how fast the Lightnings could go as they would run out of fuel first. The EEL was more than capable of doing things a Viggen could apart from the reverse thrusters.
Could it be that you refer to another SAAB aircraft in this case? The Viggen had a heavily modified version of a Pratt & Whitney JT8-D (as is clearly stated in the video).
@@richardjonsson1745 I wasn't talking about any of the Swedish Aircraft.
@@sichere Bulshite from BAC Test Pilots on the after dinner talk circuit is the cause of that rumour, like a lot of tall stories about the aircraft. The Lightning had a fixed cone on the air intake. That cone as well as containing the Radar produced a shock wave that interacted with the shockwave from the intake lip to create air compression. it was designed to give maximum compression at Mach 2. Over speed the aircraft and that compression is gone and the aircraft suffers a large drop off in ram thrust (plus has shockwaves bouncing up and down the intake damage it and the face of the compressors of the engines). Some of the Lightnings were quite capable of getting to Mach 2.3, others had their intake go snap, crackle and pop as soon as they got above Mach 2. I did 30 years in the RAF involved in air defence. Not once did I hear a story about a Lightning intercepting an SR-71 and I've heard a lot of interesting stories that are still classified, including an actual intercept of an SR-71 by a Mig 25.
Nice
The SR 71 was on one engine. It blew an engine and was at a lower altitude and was over NATO controlled air space. It was being chased by a Mig 31 which turned back after the Viggens showed up.
not the same incident. the sr-71 escort and radar lock was completely separate incidents.
Ironically it was viggen that was on one engine
Remember. No CATIA 3D computing.
Radar lock the blackbird all you like. The missiles were never gonna hit the target
Thrust vectoring would make this turn on a dime
the best in the world ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
sr-71. 3.540km/h viggen: 2.231km/h ...the MiG-25 was in the speed-range: 3.000km/h and hold serveral world-records up today
Mig 25 proved to be the best of them considering they are still in use in Russia
Aaah the origins!
Its a short range defence fighter,perfect for swedens posture,like the s tank.thats why not a lot of them get sold
As a war thunder player,
I hate seeing saab planes in the enemy team
Who knows the dash speeds of the SR-71?
The A-12's were no doubt faster yet no official records were ever made.
At an official record of 2,193.2 SR-71A #617958, without considering deceleration for in-flight refueling over the course. It also suffered an inlet unstart, recovering without flying outside of the boundaries set by officials in which case the aircraft loose velocity.
The Speed of the Blackbirds were only restricted by the compressor inlet temperature. If the temperature, air density, and humidity can keep the inlets cool it will continue to accelerate.
I'm not a pilot, just the guy who fixed the parts that made them Go Fast.
A funny story; One of the real crazy pilots of Viggen Stellan, did low flight at 10 m over ground and did 18o degrees volt at very low height. He retired as an civilian pilot but died when he was fishing with a friend Viggen pilot with helicopter over a lake, something went wrong and both died.
Not sure fishing with helicopter would be legal in Sweden, but whatever he is gone. Its common for daring ppl to die in silly ways, Goran Kropp a swede who biked from Sweden to the Himalayas, climbed Mt Everest without oxygen mask and sherpas, and then biked back, died when falling from a small cliff used for training climbing. The metal hook had experienced fatigue and broke.
@@cubismo85 that reminds of stunt people in movies first do some insane thing on film, then next project basic training accident can kill them and nobody knows. Crow movie accident comes to mind first, couple silly newer ones people might remember better.
Love the Viggen, like most Swedish aircraft it had a distinct look about it. Many of the SR-71 missions over the Soviet Union either started or finished close to Swedish airspace so the Swedish air force saw a lot of them on radar, but I doubt very much they were doing Mach 3 at 85,000 ft lol
According to interviews with Swedish Viggen pilots, also presented here on YT, they made a habit of calculate the precise "window" for a radar lock on the SR-71. As they trained this, they got about 50 successful radar locks during the time the Sledge patrolled the Baltic sea. Of course this was a very narrow window.
@@JohnOlimb But the USAF was never botherd by the Swedish air force. Sweden was not the target, the SR-71s flew close to Sweden just before or after the SR-71s flew their high speed runs..