Saab Draken J35 – Serial 04, Austrian Air Force

Aviation 72 1/72 scale AV7241006: Saab Draken J35 serial 04 of the Austrian Air Force. Limited edition of only 360 pieces. With fixed lowered undercarriage and display stand.

The Saab 35 Draken was a Swedish fighter aircraft manufactured by Saab between 1955 and 1974. The Draken was built to replace the Saab J 29 Tunnan and, later, the fighter variant (J 32B) of the Saab 32 Lansen. The indigenous J 35 was an effective supersonic Cold War fighter that was also successfully exported to Austria, Denmark, Finland, and to the United States as a test pilot training aircraft.The Draken was the first fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe.

Although the J 35 Draken was not designed to be a dog-fighter, it proved to have a good quick-turn capability and was a capable fighter plane. It entered service with the Swedish Air Force in 1960. A total of 651 Saab Drakens were manufactured.Sweden’s fleet of Drakens came in six different versions, and two other models of the Draken were offered for export. The early models were intended purely for air defense. The last model built was the J 35F, the final version to remain in Swedish service. These aircraft were retired in the 1990s and replaced by the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. The Draken was phased out of Swedish service in December 1998, although the aircraft remained in limited numbers in both military and civilian roles. Its export customers included Denmark and Finland. In 1985, the Austrian Air Force purchased 24 J 35Ds reconditioned by Saab, re-designated the J 35Ö.

Austria was the last country to keep the Draken in military service. The Austrian Air Force bought refurbished J 35Ds. This was the last Austrian Air Force fighter plane with internal cannons for their lone air-to-air armament because of the restriction in the Austrian State Treaty of 1955. This forbade their carrying air-to-air missiles. This restriction was dropped in 1993 because of violations from the nearby Yugoslavian air combat services.American AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles were purchased. These Drakens were retired in 2005, when they were replaced by former Swiss Air Force F-5 Tiger IIs, while waiting for new Eurofighter Typhoons.