Double deltas - SAAB J35A/B Draken (Refurbished plus NOS 1957 Revell kits)

[PR19_Kit]

Erm, no visible pic.

I think you linked it to your own PC rather than an image storage site.

[steelpillow]

Can see the pic fine.

[Pellson]

Erm, no visible pic.

I think you linked it to your own PC rather than an image storage site.

It's not linked at all, mate, but uploaded to the forum, so should be fine. And if not, I bet all of you know the pic by heart..

[NARSES2]

Image is showing fine for me, and it does remind you how that Roy Cross artwork sold kits 

[PR19_Kit]

Now it's showing up. 

Sometimes I think the Net just hates me................

[steelpillow]

Image is showing fine for me, and it does remind you have how that Roy Cross artwork sold kits 

Would be difficult to create a Draken portrait that doesn't sell it!

[Pellson]

Further reworks, just because I want to, and because I find it rewarding to compose a coherent what-if story while staying as close to reality as possible.
Be advised that further changes may occur in due course
(I'm having too much fun with this not to, methinks  )

*********

The SAAB 35 Draken in Royal Swedish Air Force service

Already within a year after the first flight of the SAAB 29 Tunnan in 1948, the next generation of jet fighter was being put into development. While the Tunnan certainly was a major leap ahead in comparison to the Vampires they were replacing, the Royal Swedish Air Force was sorely aware that much more challenging opponents were in the curtains.
The target for the engineering team at SAAB was an entirely new aircraft, forming the airborne part of a new, semiautomatic combat control system, the STRIL60, that was to be able to defeat fast, high flying opponents in all weathers and at all times during the day and year. To reach these targets, the new fighter would have to be solidly supersonic and equipped with a radar to, regardless of weather or lighting conditions, be able to independently complete the intercept once vectored into the general vicinity of the opponent. On top of this, the emerging threats from the new cold war meant that the new aircraft would have to be independent of big air bases, rather optimised to disperse and operate from remote road bases and small airfields for an extended period of time. To make this even remotely possible from a Swedish financial perspective, the aircraft would have to be relatively small, manned by a single aircrew and also be maintainable by a relatively small team of conscript technicians, lead by a single professional technical officer or NCO.

The design team, lead by aeronautical engineer Erik Bratt, started from research by the German engineer Alexander Lippisch on delta wings, and from 1951, one of Lippisch's students, Hermann Behrbohm, was attached to the project team. In 1955, the first prototype of the new SAAB 35 took to the air and in 1959, the first serially produced aircraft rolled out of the SAAB factory in Linköping. The new fighter was versatile, fast and surprisingly agile for a tail-less delta, and it's ruggedness and simplicity made it well suited to the comprehensive system of dispersal airstrips being constructed throughout Sweden, utilising entirely new reserve air bases, as well as civil airfields that got extended and hardened runways, and also widened sections of public roads.

In the meantime, missile development was ongoing and a prototype missile, the rather large Rb321, was tested from groundbased launchers. The progress was however not quite as desired, so eventually, an offer from the US for AIM-9B Sidewinders was received and accepted, leading to the termination of the Rb321 development before any air launches were made. However, integration of the AIM-9B would come first during 1963, so in the meantime, the two fixed Aden cannons was the only armament available. Also, a single 530 litre drop tank could be carried on a centerline pylon.
Once the Sidewinders were available, however, either two of them could be carried, one under each outer wing in combination with the drop tank, or two more missiles could replace the tank on an inverted Y pylon on the centerline, however leaving the aircraft rather short on fuel. Alternatively, six pairs of 13,5 cm Bofors attack rockets could be fitted on rails under the outer wings, giving a rudimentary if effective strike capability

Within a year, the first squadron at the F13 Wing in Norrköping was receiving new J35A's from the SAAB factory in nearby Linköping, converting from the J29F Tunnan. Tactical testing and development commenced, but soon it was found that performance was severely restricted above 13 000 m. The reason was some lack of thrust from the existing RM6B/EBK65 combination (a slightly improved RR Avon Mk48A paired with a locally designed afterburner) and lead to the development of a new, longer afterburner, causing an extension of the tailcone and necessitating the characteristic spur wheel installation of the later Drakens.

During 1960-1961, 90 J35A's were built, and the new afterburner, the EBK66, was introduced in production from serial no 35066, giving significantly more thrust and less supersonic drag, in particular at high altitudes. The first 65 airframes weren't rebuilt, however, and officially, these two physically different variants were designated J35A1 and J35A2, but in service, they were referred to as J35A "short" and "long", respectively.
Of these, serial no's 35008-35040 were delivered without radar as the planned, domestically developed radar wasn't ready. Instead they featured the same reflection gunsight as the J29 Tunnan. From 35041, however, a somewhat simpler radar than originally specified was installed, bought from Thomson CSF in France. This was basically a glorified gun ranging radar, but it could also be used to assist in targeting the IR missile in worse weather, but not to search for targets independently.
Also the STRIL60 communications link wasn't ready in time, so all J35A's would lack the voiceless command link, instead having to rely on verbal communication via radio from the combat control centers, dug deep into the Swedish bedrock.

25 early short and radarless Drakens were taken back by SAAB already during 1961 for modification to unarmed two seater trainers. This was an afterthought by the RSwAF. The old and experienced test pilots at SAAB had deemed the flight characteristics of the new fighter good enough for "any reasonably trained fighter pilot" to handle solo, but the Air Force soon found that to be somewhat optimistic in practice and ordered a conversion trainer. Making things easy, SAAB simply cut the existing Draken airframe in half, built a new two seat front fuselage and then married that to the existing rear half. The unarmed twoseater was dubbed Sk35C (the "B" denomination already being occupied by the properly radar equipped follow-on to the "A" already in progress, and being described below). An interesting feature of the C variant was that the modular construction allowed for the trainer to easily be reconfigured back into a J35A armed fighter, should the need arise.
The J35A's were transferred to F16 in Uppsala already during 1963 as F13 received a later Draken version. There they would remain, together with the Sk35C-equipped OCU, until replaced in 1977 by the final newbuild Draken version, the J35F. By then, they had gained a small forward looking IR camera under the nose that integrated into the sight, improving night fighter capability. When phased out, most of the remaining A's were put in storage.

In the meantime, a follow-on batch of 72 new Drakens had been ordered, the J35B. As target speeds had increased, the RSwAF wanted more power, and the next Avon engine, the big bore Avon 300/RM6C was planned for this series, as was a better radar, the PS03/A, and a fire control system centering around the S7 sighting unit. Again, the avionics were delayed but also the new RM6C was unavailable when SAAB was ready to deliver, having gotten a head start by using the leftover J35A front fuselages from the two seater conversions and building new rear fuselages to match. Instead, the existing RM6B/EBK66 combination from the later J35A's was used, and while the first batch of aircraft (again) were delivered without radar, in time, the radar/FCS combination was rolled out over the entire fleet, now allowing collision course intercepts to be executed. However, as the early Sidewinder was all but useless unless seeing directly into the exhaust of the target, to make any use of the new capability, a 19-round rocket pod carrying 75 mm Bofors unguided rockets was developed, featuring streamlined frangible fairings to minimise drag. These were usually carried in pairs on an inverted Y-pylon on the centre pylon. Another difference when compared to the J35A was that the B finally got the STRIL60 data link to facilitate radio voiceless ground controlled interception, a first outside the USA!
Later, they all would get new ejection seats, installed in the field and eventually featuring true zero-zero capability, but necessitating a reconstruction of the cabin, lowering the floor. Despite this, the higher seat would make the headroom between the pilots head and the canopy rather minimal, triggering the development of a new, bulged canopy for the later Draken marks. No A or B, and only two D airframes were however ever fitted with the new canopy, while all newbuilt E and F Drakens would have them.

The first J35B's went to F16 in Uppsala. They didn't stay for long, however. In 1963, following the missile integration, some radar installations where such was missing, and some other minor upgrades, all remaining J35A's were reassigned from F13 to F16, as F13 were taking on the next generation of Draken fighters, the J35D. Most of the J35B's instead went to F18, south of Stockholm, where they would remain until the F18 wing was disbanded in 1974, and after which they went into storage. However, about 30 B airframes went from F16 to F10 in southernmost Sweden, equipping one sqn while the F10 wing's other two sqn's soldiered on with older aircraft,  one sqn with the J29F Tunnan and the other with the J34 Hawker Hunter for a few years more.
The next version, the J35D, was again pioneered by the F13 Wing in Norrköping. Finally, the more powerful engine/afterburner combination, the Avon 300/RM6C and EBK67, was available and made the D model the fastest Draken yet, easily breaking the Mach 2 wall. This powerplant produced a whopping 77.3 kN, almost 5 kN more that the contemporary British Lightning F.3 installation. Internally, significantly more fuel for the thirstier engine was stored and some other changes were made, among other things replacing the single centerline pylon with a pair of pylons, slightly offset to each side under the belly. This doubled the external fuel carriage, from one to two 530 litre drop tanks, when not used for missiles or rockets pods. Further, the increased airflow of the bigger engine required reworked and extended air intakes, now protruding a little bit further beside the cockpit and also having thinner lips. Besides the longer intakes, the main external giveaway of the new version was that the fin was changed somewhat as the pitot previously located just ahead/below the tip now was moved all the way up. 

The first 29 airframes delivered lacked radar due to delays in development (again!) and were soon stored. In 1966, they would be returned to SAAB and modified into the next version, the reconnaissance S35E. The rest, however, was brought up to a common standard featuring an improved FCS, still based on the PS03/A radar but including an upgraded S7A sight and a better autopilot.
Around 90 J35D's were delivered to 5 wings in the RSwAF, finally replacing the last J34 Hunters of the F10 wing, as well as the J32B Lansen interceptors at F4 and F21 wings in northern Sweden.

Preceding the 29 rebuilt J35D's, 31 newbuilt S35E reconnaissance Drakens had been delivered from 1965. The development had been ongoing since 1960, and the resulting aircraft was basically an unarmed J35D, featuring the more powerful RM6C/EBK67 setup. Most new builds featured the new bulged canopy, but more important was a new camera nose instead of the radar in the fighters. Also the guns in the wings were replaced by cameras. Finally, the underwing pylons were made wet, facilitating twice as much external fuel to be carried. Initially, two sqns at the F11 reconnaissance wing in Nyköping converted to the S35E, changing from the old S29C Tunnan. The step in performance and capability was rather dramatic, going from a firmly subsonic 1940's design to a Mach 2 capable machine, but the conversion went generally well. Later, a third sqn, the 211 sqn of the northern F21 wing, also got reconnaissance Drakens.

The RM6C engine of these second generation Drakens turned out to be somewhat more troublesome than the smallbore RM6B of the earlier marks had been. Quite a few engine breakdowns caused airframe and even some pilot losses, and even more so in the S35E fleet who spent most of their time in more severe turbulence down on the deck in contrast to the high altitude interceptors. This prompted a series of investigations and redesigns, eventually turning also the RM6C into a rather dependable power plant.
The S35E would be continuously updated throughout its career, receiving more and more competent ESM and ECM equipment, including dispensers for chaff and flares and eventually, in the 1980's, a pair of light missile pylons for AIM-9 missiles under the air intakes in order to facilitate some self defence capability.
In the mid 1970's, the planned Reconnaissance Draken successor, the SF37 photo reconnaissance Viggen, was about to enter service, and as a cost cutting measure, two of the five recon sqns were to be disbanded, the remaining three being reallocated to fighter wings, as had already been the case with no 211 sqn in Luleå. Accordingly, the F11 wing was to disband altogether in 1978.  However, as will be described below, events overtook this decision and the reconnaissance wing was reestablished in 1980 after less than a year and a half, but now fielding all remaining S35E airframes, as no 211 sqn in Luleå had received its Viggens in 1979. The two other recon Viggen sqns were kept as well, but as parts of F13 and F17 wings, respectively, but that is outside the scope of this paper. The reconnaissance Drakens of F11 remained in service until finally replaced by multirole JAS39 Gripens in 1999.

The final new build Swedish Draken version was the fighter J35F. The development of this version was again prompted by the increasing speed of the potential targets, in particular the Tupolev Tu-22, capable of Mach 2 dashes. This made tail chase interception difficult, and while both the STRIL60 GCI system as well as the Draken itself was capable of setting up head-on attacks, the unguided rockets had proven less than satisfatory. Accordingly, better weapon systems were sought after and found in the Hughes AIM-4 missile system. In retrospect, this choice may look peculiar as the Sidewinder already in Swedish service in later versions became quite dominant on the international short range IR missiel market. However, while principally more complicated and less agile than the Sidewinder, the Falcon missile wasn't as bad as later sources have claimed. Or rather - the Sidewinder wasn't that much better, something proven by the Americans over Vietnam. At the time, however, the significantly better IR tracker of the Hughes missile made lock-on on approaching aircraft possible, provided that these flew fast enough to have been heated somewhat by air friction. Also, a semi active radar guided variant was available, but with the drawback that rather than being a fire-and-forget weapon, the attacking aircraft would have to paint the target with its radar until the missile scored a hit, thereby complicating any evasive action. However, as the main Swedish tactics wasn't to unnecessarily engage in dogfighting, but rather pop by, pop the enemy and pop home again, and also, most enemies encountered would likely be not so manoeuvrable bomber or heavily laden attack aircraft, this was deemed acceptable.
Protracted studies went on during the first years of the 1960's, but in 1963, the GAR-3A (AIM-4F) was chosen against the SARH requirement as the Rb27. The IR missile chosen was however not the IR equivalent to GAR-3A, the GAR-4A (AIM-4G) but  rather the slightly smaller, more agile and much cheaper GAR-2A (AIM-4C). The reason for this choice beyond cost was that while the Rb27 was seen as the primary antibomber weapon, the smaller GAR-2A was selected to increase the kill chances against smaller and more agile targets such as fighters. The Swedes didn't like the less capable IR tracker of the GAR-2A and substituted the original seeker head with the much improved head from the GAR-4A. The new missile, designated Rb28 in Sweden and later AIM-4D by the Americans, was actually also bought by the USAF.
The Rb28 missile originally had contact fuses, necessitating the missile to physically hit the target aircraft to trigger the warhead. While theoretically acceptable against less agile bombers, this was a potential problem when fighting smaller airframes such as fighterbombers. Sweden thus in time entered into developing a laser proximity fuse for its IR missiles, allowing the warhead to go off when the missile was passing in the vicinity of the target, performing the kill with the fragmentation warhead. This made the Swedish missiles very different from the Falcons so loathed by the USAF ace Robin Olds in Vietnam. The SARH Rb27 was from the start equipped with an American radar proximity fuse, but the functionality was severely limited in lower altitudes, generally triggering detonation against ground clutter below 700m.
To manage these new missiles, a new fire control system had to be introduced into the J35F. This was closely modelled on the Hughes system in the F-102 Delta Dart interceptors, but extensively redesigned to work under Swedish conditions and with the Swedish STRIL60 system. Consisting of several units integrating the missiles with the new radar (PS01/A) and the new aiming system (S7B), these electronics displaced the port ADEN cannon, leaving only the starboard gun with 120 rounds in the new J35F.

The F's followed the final D's off the production line at SAAB in Linköping, the first batch again going to the Norrköping F13 wing. After 100 airframes, however, yet another new piece of equipment was introduced in the form of a locally improved variant of the Hughes S71N IRST placed in a fairing under the nose, triggering an improved version of the PS01/A radar, the PS011/A. The IRST was fully integrated in the fire control system, enabling target search and tracking also under severe ECM conditions. An even more significant improvement was that the IRST together with the new radar variant minimised problems with radar ground clutter interference, making targeting of low flying targets much easier, where they could be prosecuted by IR missiles or guns.
As the IRST equipped J35F's were being delivered, the tactical advantage in comparison to the non-IRST equipped F's was very evident, leading to these being designated J35F2 while the J35F's without were redesignated J35F1. As more F2's were available, the airframes were redistributed among the squadrons mixing the F1's and F2's evenly to make most use of the improved search and track facilities of the F2. With 230 airframes delivered, the J35F became the most numerous variant, equipping seven RSwAF wings.

During the 1960's and 1970's, the European peace movement had been heavily infiltrated by KGB and the Soviet support had activated several European left extremist terror groups, such as the Rote Armee Fraktion in West Germany and the Brigata Rossi in Italy. Also, regular spy activities were high and in several countries bordering the Baltic, Soviet incursions were made by small submersibles, possibly landing and recovering agents and sabotage teams. Following the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 and then the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Soviets, apparently encouraged by their successes, went on an offensive across the board. Large, aggresive Warsaw pact exercises were held, at least yearly, and in the early 1980's, these tended to include practice large air assaults across the Baltic sea, targeting not only the NATO countries, but also Sweden.
These events in combination with the generally more unruly situation between the superpowers led to Sweden reconsidering the military cutbacks decided during the early years of the 1970's, instead rapidly rearming itself. As a consequence, several fighter wings were reestablished, and older aircraft were taken out of storage to fill out the new squadrons. While the fighter Viggen variant, the very capable JA37 now was entering service in small numbers (again pioneered by the F13 wing), the Draken still comprised the bulk of the Swedish air defence system. Their age however began to show, in particular the J35D lacking radar controlled missiles, thus limiting them to more inefficient tail chase tactics even if the new AIM-9J was introduced from 1978.
In addition to the fighter deficiencies, in the early 1980's, plans for the replacing the AJ37 Viggen strike aircraft with a new multirole fighter had ran aground, leaving the Swedish attack component potentially dangerously weak towards the end of the decade. At the same time, engine problems with the new JA37 Viggen interceptor variant had led to delays in the deliveries, causing a need to keep the Draken fighters in service longer than planned. A quick and dirty remedy was sought, preferably managing the strike requirement while also boosting the fighter numbers while the delivery of JA37 Viggen interceptors was sorted out.

Initially, as a stop-gap solution, stored J35F's were reintroduced in service, adding to the existing active Draken fleet, but it was soon realised that the old avionics and weapon systems didn't compare too well against the then current competition. Also, standard air-to-air optimised Drakens with unguided air-to-ground rockets did little to improve on the future lack of strike aircraft. Something had to be done, and several different ideas were investigated, including procuring foreign secondhand aircraft, but the quickest and also cheapest solution was found to be an upgrade of the existing Drakens, adding relevant strike capabilities while preferably also tweaking the air-to-air capability somewhat. While also the older, less powerful and less sophisticated J35A/B versions still had been kept in storage, they were deemed as lacking power for the intended new version whereas the more powerful J35D/F variants provided a more reasonable starting point for a rebuild.

To manage fighter numbers while rebuilding the D/F fleet, however, a more limited upgrade was considered for the long A's and the B's, of which 71 airframes were remaining. On reactivation, these aircraft were to be upgraded with the improved FCS, radar and IRST of the J35F2, thereby not only finally getting fully integrated in the STRIL60 system, but also gaining the capability for collision course intercepts with the Rb27/28 SARH/IR Falcon missiles in addition to their existing Sidewinders. As a consequence, they lost the port cannon to make room for the new missile control electronics. Still, these older Drakens would keep their existing less powerful RM6B/EBK66 powerplants and only feature three hardpoints, of which one usually was occupied by a drop tank. Hence, new, light missile pylons, matched to the new AIM-9J (and later L) missiles were added under the intakes, increasing missile load to four rounds. To somewhat offset range limitations, new drop tanks, containing 1275 litres and borrowed from the SAAB 35XD design for Denmark, were brought in but still only used on the single centerline pylon.

As the upgrade was decided and budgeted, someone suggested looking at the 23 remaining short A's as well, given that development of technology and tooling already was paid for, and as it was found that adding these aircraft to the main programme only would increase the total budget with about 6%, while increasing numbers with almost a third, the decision to go ahead with a similar upgrade was taken, despite the somewhat lower performance of these earlier machines.
As an afterthought, also the 21 Sk35C's were given the same upgrade, giving them equal capability to the short A's, but for the right hand Aden cannon as that space already was used for fuel. While less useful for peacetime patrols due to the lack of cannon, they would be able to form an emergency fighter sqn in wartime.

After reconstruction, the short J35A's went back to their former home in Uppsala, joining their technically very similar Sk35C's at the J35 OCU and forming the 161st fighter sqn, F16 Wing, flying alongside the J35F's of the 162nd and 163rd sqns. Having reached operational status, they were assigned to the low altitude air defence of the greater Stockholm area, and in wartime, they would have been accompanied by the Sk35C's, who would have formed the 164th (reserve) sqn in time of war. The remaining long J35A's, post upgrade being undistinguishable from the J35B, joined these at the reestablished F18 Wing, south of Stockholm, where they equipped four peacetime sqns, the 181 through 184 sqn. In case of an attack from the east (in reality the only scenario trained for), it was however anticipated that at least one of these sqns would be flown over the Gulf of Bothnia and handed over to the Finnish Ilmavoimaat, reinforcing the eight J35B's already operational there. In preparation for this, the Finns throughout the Cold War always trained about twice the amount of pilots needed to operate their Drakens.

The upgraded J35A/B fleet soldiered on during the tensions of the 1980's and 1990's, providing good service for a limited cost. In the late 1980's, as the JA37 sqns began repainting their aircraft in air superiority grey, the Draken sqns followed, however initially using a slightly darker grey hue on top as the Draken community felt that the Viggen scheme was somewhat on the bright side given the lower altitudes the Draken generally patrolled. However, later, in the 1990's, as the brightly coloured Swedish national insignia gave way to a grey sihouette variant, all Swedish air-to-air assets were given similar paint schemes to ease maintenance.
Also during the early 1990's, various system upgrades took place such as an entirely new radar, the PS021/A, replacing the PS011/A. The new radar meant a leap in general performance, most importantly providing for look down - shoot down capability and improved ECM resistance. Paired with a new monopulse seeker head and a better proximity fuse for the Rb27,also the low altitude kill ratio increased  significantly. Tested against fast, maneouvering  drone targets, several hits were scored at altitudes as low as 50 m. Another major improvement to the Falcons was an entirely new boost-sustain rocket motor, increasing the kill radius to at least 25 km for both the SARH Rb27B and its IR guided sibling, the Rb28B.
Integration of the Skyflash missile already in use on the JA37 Viggen was also considered but the aerodynamic properties of the bigger missile affected the flight characteristics somewhat negatively, and as the kill radius with a Skyflash targeted by a Draken radar didn't differ much from the radius achieved with the improved Rb27B Falcon, Skyflash missiles were seldom seen on early Drakens despite being formally cleared for use.
In the late 1980's, However, as the first JAS39 Gripens finally entered service in the late 1990's, these the least capable and now forty-year-old Drakens were the first to go, being replaced by new Gripens, as they became available.

The upgrade of the D/F fleet would however be significantly more complex. Several design studies were made, ranging from a rather lean refurbishment of the original airframe including a mainly air-to-air focused upgrade of capabilities, the Mod 1, via the increasingly more substantial Mod 2 and Mod 3 version, to the quite comprehensive Mod 4. This version built heavily on experience gained from the 35XD fighterbomber, designed and built for the Royal Danish Air Force during the 1970's.
Starting from the J35D/F hull and engine, the change in role from a medium to high altitude fighter to a low level strike/reconnaissance aircraft, the most important changes were to strengthen the airframe, the main work being performed on the outer wings to cope with low level turbulence as well as the much heavier war load. This was carried on four new pylons under the outer wings, plus two under the fuselage and two under the air intakes. To meet NATO combat range requirements, internal fuel volume was increased by 30% and besides the fuselage pylons, two of the wing pylons were wet, but intended for twice as big drop tanks, now totalling 4x1275 litres externally in ferry configuration. Naturally, the landing gear had to be significantly reinforced to cope with the increased take-off weight, going from just below 12 000 kg to over 16 000 kg. Finally, the interceptor avionics were largely replaced by low level nav/attack systems, leading to a rather different machine when compared to the contemporary Swedish J35F while externally all but similar.

The Swedish fighterbomber upgrade would however be even more ambitious. Entirely new outer wings were designed, increasing span with about a meter, now featuring a dogtooth leading edge and wingtip missile stations with integrated ECM equipment. Each outer wing had two hardpoints cleared for 1500 kg, allowing the inner, wet ones to carry a 35XD drop tank if not used for offensive load. Further, new pylons were provided for under the intakes, either for heavy offensive loads such as bomb racks or even the Rb15F anti ship missile, or for lighter air-to-air missiles. The larger internal fuel volume was also carried over from the 35XD and in addition to increased fuel storage in the new outer wings, total internal fuel volume increased by nearly 40% when compared to the original D/F setup. The much higher max take off weight, now well over 16 tonnes, necessitated use of the stronger landing gear developed for the Danish Drakens as well as some key airframe reinforcements brought in while thoroughly refurbishing the entire airframe.
The new wing and the change in aerodynamic properties brought increased manoeuvrability but also a need for a new flight control system to manage the reduced stability of the new airframe. In this process, the vicious super stall problem was mostly eliminated, providing for more careless handling and much better control at high alphas facilitating much better combat manoeuvering characteristics. Also, small retractable canards, or "moustaches", were added just behind the intakes, assisting in maintaining higher alpha at finals, resulting in lower landing speed and shorter landing runs. Still, however, a small fin tip extension was necessary to ensure lateral stability with aerodynamically cumbersome load forward under the intakes.
A brand new radar was developed, for the first time featuring both ground attack and intercept modes, allowing for targeting of the Rb15F missile as well as the Rb71 Skyflash SARH air-to-air missile, but due to the small antenna, targeting range was less than for the JA37. Also, new communications and GCI systems were introduced, matching the latest Viggens.

About 180 airframes were rebuilt into the new Mod 4 version, now formally dubbed the JA35G, the change of prefix suggesting the increased air-to-ground capabilities. The RSwAF, eagerly introducing the rebuilt Draken fighters into service from 1981,  found it a success. While not dirt cheap, the airframe cost was still only about 60% of that of a new Viggen fighter, and while not fully equal to the JA37 in air-to-air mode, especially BVR, the JA35G was a significant step up from the J35F, and also almost as good an attack aircraft as the AJ37. Moreover, its system layout allowed the pilot to easily switch between air-to-air and ground attack mode while in the air, making the JA35G the first true swing role fighter in the world. In the mid 1980's, the old blue/green camouflage was replaced by a two tone light grey air superiority scheme, reflecting the aircrafts main mission, and later in the decade, various avionics upgrades improved ECM as well as ESM capabilities. New weapons were integrated, such as the AGM-65 Maverick missile and the BK90 Mjölner glide cluster bomb unit.
In 1998, AIM-120 capability was added, keeping the Draken lethal well into the new century. However, once the J35A/B and AJ37 wings had converted to the new JAS39 Gripen swing role fighter, also the JA35G wings slowly begun their conversion from 2004 and onwards. The final flight was made from F12 in Kalmar on a sunny Thursday in October 2007, finally ending almost fifty years of Royal Swedish Air Force Drakens.

[steelpillow]

You are definitely a man after my own heart.
I have so many detailed backstories for them all that I am turning them into a historical novel.
What surprises me most is how often I get an idea and, as I research it, I find endless coincidences with reality giving it a life of its own. Very soon, it is feeding back into the model and I lose control over both.

[Pellson]

.. and I lose control over both.

Oh, how familiar isn't that.. 

I think this is one (admittedly of many) reasons for my slow building pace. I read up, and that takes time, and then I read up more and find conflicting data, and sorting that takes loads of time. And once decided, I continue on the kit just to find yet another angle that prompts a redesign, and so on and so forth.
But it's a lovely pastime!

[Pellson]

You are definitely a man after my own heart.
I have so many detailed backstories for them all that I am turning them into a historical novel.

Also - thanks for bearing with me. That does mean something to me.

I am somewhat worried that I'm boring you to death with these changes and updates, but it seems it's easier for me to reread and rework things when I see them here than just in an MS Word doc. But maybe I should colour my updated not to force y'all to reread every sentence as I go between versions.

I love reading others backstories.  A well written backstory should, in my mind, be as taken from a Clancy novel - closely integrated into the real world, neither straying too far from actual historical events nor stretching technology development too far to maintain plausibility. And quite a few of us here are really good at this which makes this an even better place to hang out. 

[NARSES2]

But it's a lovely pastime!

It is indeed and I think part of the beauty of it, is that our hobby caters for all sorts. From those who simply want to build a kit quickly straight from the box, to those who will spend months researching a specific aircraft /ship/tank etc before embarking on a months long scratch build of some obscure type or another.

Long may it reign 

[steelpillow]

From those who simply want to build a kit quickly straight from the box

I always want to build a kit straight from the box. It jut never seems to work out like that...

[PR19_Kit]

I always want to build a kit straight from the box. It jut never seems to work out like that...

I'm not sure that I ever have, EVER, even when I was young!