Swedish military aviation. The Scandinavian vanguard

Sweden has decided to withdraw from the GCAP program, an international cooperation endeavor to construct a 6th generation fighter aircraft. This decision holds substantial significance given Sweden's historical influence and unique capabilities in aircraft development. So, which Swedish aviation designs are particularly noteworthy?

Sweden is one of the global few capable of independently constructing virtually all forms of modern weaponry. This ranges from submarines, artillery, missiles, armored weaponry, and anti-aircraft systems to modern fighter jets.

As a result, the Swedish army is equipped with modern machinery and, in many instances, weaponry created domestically by Swedish arms producers. These are revolutionary designs, placing among the world's leaders and setting global trends.

Examples include the innovative Gotland (A19) type submarines equipped with cutting-edge, air-independent Stirling propulsion, stealth technology in the Visby corvette, the world's fastest artillery - the FH77BW Archer, or the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle.

See also: Can you identify these fighters and bombers?

This innovation is not limited to ground weaponry; it also extends to aircraft. Although the Swedish aircraft production scale is relatively small compared to global competitors, the resulting machinery plays a pivotal role in the progression of the aviation industry.

Aircraft production in Sweden began at the turn of the 1930s and 40s when the Bofors concern led to the transformation of the engine department of the NOHAB company into Saab (previously spelled as SAAB - an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan AB). Their engineers developed the Saab 17 and Saab 18 bombers, followed by the Saab 21 fighter plane in 1945, both relatively conservative designs.

The Saab 21 was a unique design, somewhat resembling the American P-38 Lightning. The weapons, located close to the nose of the plane, facilitated easy aiming. This resulted in a twin-body structure with a centrally located section that houses the weapons, the pilot's cabin, and an unusually placed engine behind the cockpit. This pushed the propeller and complicated pilot evacuation, which led Saab to incorporate an ejector seat in the aircraft.

The Saab 21 was easily converted to include jet propulsion as early as 1947, becoming the Saab 21R.

The next landmark aircraft was the Saab 29 Tunnan - the first Western European jet fighter with swept wings (the German Messerschmitt Me 262 being the exception), which took flight in 1948.

More defining features of this plane included its jet propulsion, swept wings, and innovative cockpit canopy construction. It boasted a tear-shaped canopy protruding from the fuselage, providing the pilot with an unrestricted 360-degree view, a standard in subsequent multi-purpose aircraft.

In the aftermath of World War II, Sweden commenced designing a jet bomber with ambitious requirements: a machine that could take off from central Sweden and reach any point on the Swedish coast within an hour, irrespective of the time and weather.

The answer to the challenge was the Saab 32 Lansen, a design so successful that it remained in service from its first flight in 1952 up until the 90s. The last two Lansens, used for tasks like air sample collection, stayed in service until 2020.

In a notable twist, this particular design was the first in Sweden to deploy prototypes of computers during the design process in the 1940s.

The Draken, which first flew in 1955, brought a new quality to Western aviation. It became the first combat aircraft capable of reaching, maintaining and significantly exceeding supersonic speed. In 1960, the Draken reached a speed of Mach 2.

The Saab 37 Viggen, which took to the skies in 1967, was Sweden's first multi-role aircraft, and the first modern fighter plane built in a "duck" layout. This aerodynamic design replicated the shape of a delta triangle wing, with small aerodynamic surfaces, or "canards," situated at the front of the fuselage.

The Viggen was a precursor to renowned machines like the French Dassault Rafale or the European Eurofighter Typhoon, which later adopted this layout.

The Saab 37 Viggen, like its predecessor, the Draken, emphasized ease of use and quick restoration of combat readiness.

These principles are due to the fact that in the event of war, these machines would be operated by draftees with basic training, who will utilize them on makeshift runways set up along straight road sections once airfields are destroyed (DOL - road airstrip section).

Lastly, the Gripen that first flew in 1988 shares its aerodynamic structure with the F-16XL aircraft. Despite its titular meaning of "Fighter, Attack, Reconnaissance" (JAS from Jakt, Attack, Spaning), the JAS 39 Gripen was initially primarily a fighter aircraft. However, the continued development of the design and the creation of the C/D variants have since granted it the full capabilities of a multi-role aircraft.

Like its predecessors, the Gripen boasts ease of operation from makeshift airfields, low operating costs, and a flight hour cost that is substantially cheaper than competing machines like the Eurofighter or Rafale.

Moreover, the Gripen is continually being upgraded, resulting in the development - in cooperation with Brazil - of the third generation of this machine, the E/F variant. Although visually similar to previous versions, these aircraft are about 20 percent larger, boast a more extensive range, and most importantly, come equipped with new radar and avionic systems.

Due to these upgrades and construction that facilitates future advancements, the JAS 39E/F Gripen is expected to meet the requirements for combat machines even until the 2060s. This gives Sweden the much-needed time to develop a next-generation combat aircraft - independently or with international cooperation.