The best fighter in the world in 1960? We asked a Cold War fighter pilot his opinion
Slip into neutral with the formidable J35
I asked former RAF Javelin pilot Peter Day to select the top fighter aircraft of 1960.
Avoiding a solely NATO versus Warsaw Pact competition, the No. 1 choice fighter in 1960 was from a ‘neutral’ country and was created as a purely national self-defence initiative. Designed in response to a Swedish Air Force 1949 requirement for an all-weather fighter to intercept the high altitude transonic nuclear-armed bomber and also engage fighters, Erik Bratt at SAAB led the team which proposed a single-pilot, single-engine delta-wing aircraft with supersonic performance, capable of austere runway operations and servicing by conscripts (under the BASE90 dispersed airfield scheme). A top speed of Mach 1.7 was planned and a radical ‘double delta’ planform envisaged to provide the most effective solution to very high speed, required fuel and weapon load and short runway performance. The J35 (‘Jaktflygplan’ – pursuit aircraft) ‘Draken’ (Dragon or Kite – your choice) had a T/W of 0.7 and W/L of 230Kg/m² quite powerful, quite light (12T) and quite agile. Powered by one RB6B (a license-built RR Avon 200 series) with an indigenous Ebk65 AB and 1,800 kg fuel carried internally. Later ‘Adam’ models were equipped with a more powerful and longer AB requiring ‘dolly wheels’ under the tail (differentiated as the Adam ‘kort’ short or ‘lång’ long). No conventional tailplane was fitted and elevons were installed inboard, manoeuvre was limited to 7.0g. and it entered service in March 1960 with Fighter Wing 13 at Norrköping. Export orders followed amongst the Scandahoovians and eventually second-hand to Austria.
The initial radar installation was an analogue PS-02 (Thomson-CSF Cyrano I) single pulse radar capable of target detection, tracking, weapons solution calculation including gun sight solutions with ground mapping by Ericsson. No auto ‘Stril 60’ GCI control link was fitted at this stage. 2 x 30mm Aden 90rpg in the wing roots, 2 x Rb 24 (licensed built AIM-9B) under each wing and a wet C/L pylon with 420kg tank was the standard fit.
High ⍺ manoeuvring produced a form of ‘pitch-up’ or ‘super stall’ which was recognised as controllable and lead to a form of ‘Cobra’ manoeuvre (‘kort parad’- short parade but ‘short show’ is more descriptive) and is possibly the origin of the Top Gun airbrake/pitch up and opponent fly through manoeuvre. The airframe is always ⍺ limited (15 ok, 22 critical) in manoeuvre rather than ‘g’ – structural limit +12g.
Despite the primary interceptor design it was more than adequate as a dogfighter and has been described as a tougher Mirage III with better radar and runway performance.
With overall excellent performance it is very stable and easy to fly, has a very good roll rate and good instantaneous turn, but like all swept-wing aircraft speed bleeds off in continuous min radius turns. Mach 1.8 up to max 66,000ft has been demonstrated and ≍720kt at low level.
It is more capable, faster, has better avionics, gunsight and lookout, more armament and better endurance for its size than any contemporary airframe. In comparison, the MiG-21F-13 was faster and possibly more agile at high altitude but had poor avionics and weapons and limited visibility.
As a tribute to its unusually benign but aggressive performance envelope the US National Test Pilot School (civilian) purchased six-course curriculum aircraft (see picture below). It was described by an RAF pilot on an exchange tour with the RDAF as a ‘supersonic hunter with benefits’ and incidentally had a perfect combat record – as a neutral – therefore a very worthy winner in my view.
This selection has run the gamut from the gun-armed subsonic clear airmass day fighter Hunter through the ever evolving ‘Century Series’, the MiG Design Bureau’s top selling economy models and English Electric’s ‘Gentleman’s Fighter’ to the heavily armed supersonic all-weather dogfighting ‘Scandi’ Draken. A series of completely different designs and configurations all aiming to produce better combat performance in very varying geographical circumstances. The major constraints were invariably technology – aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics and missiles – very occasionally finance, politics or pilot interface, despite which all of these aircraft saw more than 20 years of service as the original or later marks and some are still being operated. Improvement is obvious through the list and although arguably not one of the greatest periods of fighter design the foundations were being laid for startling generational development. As capabilities increased or improved industrial espionage, reverse engineering, inspired development or pure experimentation drove manufacturers to build the next MiG and Tupolev killer or Peoples Air Defence Forces Defender of the Nation. These 10 set the standards for the next iteration of complete air defenders or specialist fighter bombers.
(Phantom image by Rich Cooper)
Why support The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes Volume 2 before I have book 1? An explanation here
I’m getting asked this a lot at the moment and it is a very fair question. Why should anyone support the second volume before receiving the first? I’ll give a quick answer. I should add that I’m not in charge of the schedule, that is with Unbound, the publisher. I’m very busy with both the site and the books so please don’t send your queries to me, send them directly to the publisher. Huge thanks for all your patience and support, this will be a very special book. Ok, so here’s the short answer:
Quickish answers
Most important answer here: you of course don’t have to. You will however see some tweets and things promoting it. If you don’t wish to support volume 2 , but have supported Volume 1 then a big thanks. Sorry about the promo but I need to do this. I will always endeavour to make the promo entertaining and informative in its own right. We’re starting book 2 to get it out as fast as possible and to ensure the minimum time between volume 1 and 2.
If it doesn’t hit funding targets it won’t happen. If it hits targets late it will be created very late. I’ve asked for assurances from Unbound of a far speedier turnaround for volume 2 which they’ve agreed to, but this is dependent on hitting 100% funding in a reasonable time.
This model of book creation (crowdfunded) means development of the book doesn’t start until funding reaches 100%, this is part of the reason it seems to take so long: the supporter is hearing about the book for up to four months before work has begun (often the opposite to the conventional model). The good news is the crowdfunding gives me full editorial control, nothing is diluted.
Again, enormous thanks. I’m as hungry as you to see this on the shelf. I’ll be sharing the latest spreads from the book soon so you can see how beautifully it is shaping up.
HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF YOU
Preorder Volume 2 here and make this happen. Pre-order volume 1 here.
