Swedish dragon. SAAB 35 Draken
The appearance of the aircraft SAAB 35 Draken
First, allow yourself a lyrical digression. The plane with the beautiful name "Draken" ("Dragon") was distinguished by a memorable appearance. Aircraft scheme was radically new, but the main secret was in the wing Bartini - double delta wing sweep, deltoid plan. Such a wing made the aircraft so recognizable. For many years, the prefabricated models of SAAB 35 were produced in huge editions in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries. In the Soviet Union, such models cost 60 kopecks, so many boys and adults who were fond of modeling managed to assemble their own Swedish dragon.
The idea of building a new supersonic fighter was already in the Swedish air at the end of the 1940s. The order to design the aircraft was given by the Royal Swedish Air Force, who felt the need for a supersonic interceptor fighter (speed up to 1,5M). The main purpose of the new combat aircraft was to fight enemy bombers who flew at high subsonic speeds. Naturally, the creation of the fighter was commissioned by the Swedish aerospace and defense company SAAB - a monopolist in the development of Swedish aircraft. Already in August, 1949, the new aircraft found the factory index FM250 and the world-famous name - Draken.
The aircraft was subject to stringent climb requirements, flight altitude and supersonic flight speed. The appetites of the military grew, and soon it was already a question of flying at Mach 1,7-1,8 speeds. Separately allocated requirements for weapons. The new fighter was to receive cannon armament, as well as the use of guided missiles "Air-air", and rockets of various calibers. Swedish military expected to get a new aircraft with a set of weapons that will help the pilot to cope with the tasks of intercepting enemy aircraft without pointing from the ground. A separate line was the requirements for the availability of repair and maintenance of the aircraft. Emphasis was placed on the smallest possible number of personnel and ease of access to the structural elements, the work required to carry out under any weather conditions. The possibility of a fighter taking off from lanes up to 3000 meters and a width up to 13 meters was also stipulated; this requirement opened up at least 400 new runways for the Swedish military, which were used for public roads. The voiced set of requirements was a difficult task for Swedish designers, but SAAB engineers coped with its solution.
In order to meet all the requirements of the military, some of which contradicted each other, the Swedish designers turned to unconventional solutions. For example, the high speed of the future fighter had to be combined with the preservation of high maneuverability, as well as the possibility of using the take-off and landing of the runway, which was used by the subsonic Swedish fighters of the previous generation - Saab 29 Tunnan. The all-weather requirements put forward by the Swedish military required the installation of additional equipment and instruments on the aircraft, and the requirements for the climb rate - on the contrary, suggested the greatest possible reduction in the fighter's mass.
Already at the design stage, it became clear that to refer to the classical scheme is meaningless. Place the necessary equipment, fuel and weapons in a glider with a limited size, it was not possible. For this reason, SAAB engineers have turned to the delta wing wing scheme that is just emerging. After the Swedish designers weight estimations of the future fighter revealed a new problem - excessive rear centering plane. The designers were required to make a decision again: either engage in lengthening the nose of the fighter, or invent something new. And such a solution was found - the Bartini wing - a delta (triangular) wing of double sweep. The triangular wing is lighter and tougher than the swept as well as the straight wing, the designers are turning to a form where the aircraft needs to provide Mach 2 flight speeds and higher.
In 1953, SAAB received an order from the military for the construction of three prototypes of the future aircraft. This was preceded by a series of tests for the approval of the selected concept and layout to subsonic aircraft smaller Saab 210. The first of the full-size prototypes built SAAB 35 Draken took to the skies in October 25 1955 years. Next year, the first operational batch of fighters that received the J35A index went into mass production. The flight of the first serial "Dragon" took place in Sweden in February 1958, and in 1960, the aircraft was officially adopted by the Swedish Air Force.
For the Swedish Air Force, seven different models of this fighter were created, of which one Sk 35C was a trainer double, the other - S 35E - a reconnaissance plane, the other five remained interceptor fighters (versions A, B, D, F, J ). The most advanced model of the “Dragon” was the modernization of SAAB J35J Draken. According to this project, from 1987 to 1991, the 62 fighter, which remained in service with the Swedish Air Force until the 1999, was remade. The upgraded interceptor received a new radar, avionics, recognition system "friend or foe", additional infrared sensors, warning system of dangerous approach to the ground. Externally, the interceptor differed from its predecessors by the presence of two additional pylons located under the wings.
Design features of the fighter SAAB 35 Draken
Supersonic fighter SAAB 35 Draken was a sredneplan deltoid wing with a double sweep. This is a single interceptor fighter, which, if necessary, was used to attack ground targets. The aircraft had an all-metal construction, resistant to overload. The maximum overload was estimated at 8g, and the breaking structure was rated 20g. Preparing a fighter for an hour-long flight took man-hours from the 20 service personnel.
The fuselage of the SAAB 35 Draken fighter consisted of a wing center section with a working skin and the fuselage itself, in front of which the radar was installed. In the fuselage, there was an airtight cockpit with an air conditioning system, equipment and weapons compartments, a compartment to accommodate the front landing gear, fuel tanks and tail landing gear. Structurally, the fuselage included two parts - the nose and tail. In addition to the main parts, it included a garruth, air intakes, landing gear flaps, and a cockpit canopy (on versions with one pilot, it was folded up and back, and on the training “two-seater” - to the right side). The nose of the Swedish fighter fuselage was combined with the center section, to which was attached a turbojet engine, which received an afterburner chamber. In the center section there were also fuel tanks of the aircraft, various equipment and part of the armament, as well as compartments designed to accommodate the main landing gear. On the tail end of the interceptor fighter, there were special mounts for hanging arms or hanging fuel tank. Immediately before the afterburner of the engine there were four brake flaps.
The fighter's keel was connected to the fuselage and center-section with the help of bolts. In the upper part of the fuselage was a garrote, it began immediately behind the cockpit, inside the garrotette were laid pipelines and cables. The panel of its skin was made easily removable, which facilitated the process of maintenance and carrying out routine maintenance. In the gargrote there were air intakes for cooling various aircraft systems, and in the tail section there was a compartment in which the braking parachute was stored.
The “Dragon” feature was the triangular wing of variable sweep. On the leading edge and in the near-fuselage areas, the sweep angle was 80 degrees, in the end areas of the wing - 57 degrees. The landing gear of the aircraft is a normal scheme, three-post. The nose landing gear was retracted into the fuselage forward in the direction of flight, the main ones were retracted in the wing console in the direction from the fighter's fuselage. After the appearance on the fighter engine with a more powerful afterburner chamber on the "Dragon" appeared tail landing gear, which also retracted into its own niche. Additional landing gear defended the bottom of the fuselage, it was important when landing the aircraft in field conditions.
The SAAB 35 Draken fighter system included tanks in the fuselage (soft - rear and hard - front), as well as caisson tanks in the wing with a total capacity of thousands of liters of 4. Realizing that the placement of the fuel significantly affects the position of the center of gravity of the aircraft, the designers created a special electronic-mechanical dosing system, which regulated the fuel consumption.
On most SAAB 35 Draken fighters, the Avon 300 series engine (Volvo Flygmotor RM-6C) was mounted, this is a Swedish licensed copy of the British Rolls-Royce Avon RA.24 engine. In this case, the turbojet engine received an afterburner of Swedish production. With this engine interceptor successfully stormed speed threshold at two Mach dispersed at a height to 2150 km / h.
Armament fighter consisted of one or two automatic aircraft guns caliber 30-mm (stock projectiles - 100 on the barrel). Also on the car there were 9 suspension points of various weapons. Including air-to-air guided missiles, the most common were American-made Rb.27 licensed missiles (US AIM-26B with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead) - range up to 8-16 km and Rb.28 Sidewinder (US AIM- 9) - start-up distance to 18 km. Also, the aircraft could carry blocks of unguided aircraft missiles to attack ground targets caliber 75-mm or 135-mm NAR and a line of unguided aerial bombs weighing up to 1000 pounds (454 kg).
Instead of an epilogue
Fighter SAAB 35 Draken in various embodiments, the mass-produced in Sweden by 1955 1974 year. During this period, the factory shops left the 651 fighter of various modifications. After the completion of serial production, the aircraft was repeatedly upgraded, which extended the machine’s operation to 2005. In addition to the Swedish Air Force "Dragons" received the Air Force of neighboring countries - Denmark and Finland, also the SAAB 35 Draken fighters entered service with the Austrian Air Force. Another 6 machines were operated by the National Test Pilot School in the United States. For a small Scandinavian country, it was a success. The previous Draken model Saab 29 Tunnan fighter was able to export only to one country.
It can be noted that the fighter service SAAB 35 Draken passed without any vivid details. This is a classic airplane worker. The fighter did not participate in combat operations, did not differ in increased accident rate and did not kill pilots in air crashes, the pilots did not set world records on the SAAB 35. Adopted by the Swedish Air Force in 1960, the aircraft was officially decommissioned only in 1999. The whole service of "Dragon" is best characterized by one word - honest.
Flight specifications of SAAB J35F Draken:
Overall dimensions: length - 15,35 m, height - 3,89 m, wing span - 9,42 m, wing area - 49,22 m2.
Empty weight - 7425 kg.
Normal take-off weight - 11 914 kg.
Maximum take-off weight - 16 000 kg.
The power plant - TRD Volvo Flygmotor RM-6C (Avon Series 300), thrust - 56,89 kN, afterburner - 78,51 kN.
The maximum flight speed is 2125 km / h (at a height of 11 000 m).
Combat radius of action - 1930 km.
Practical range with PTB - 3250 km.
Practical ceiling - 20 000 m.
Armament: 30-mm automatic gun m / 55 (100 ammo).
Combat load - 2900 kg (9 suspension units): UR air-to-air class, NAR, unguided bombs weighing up to 1000 pounds (454 kg).
Crew - 1 man.
Information