laststandonzombieisland

The Swedes, not wanting to buy western and piss off the Soviets, and not wanting to buy Russian and piss off the West, have always built their own combat jets. This has led to an interesting series of planes that arguably can hold their own against either NATO or Warsaw Pact designs from their respective eras. Plus the Swedes always designed their planes with ease of field maintenance and the ability to take off from short emergency runways in mind– which a lot of NATO and Soviet designs just aren’t/cant.

Left to right, SAAB JA-37 ‘Viggen’ – SAAB 35 ‘Draken’ – SAAB Jas-39 ‘Gripen’. Click bigger