Saab Draken WHIF Ideas

[zenrat]

The biggest What If regarding the Draken is What If I could find one in the one true scale.
They're like rocking horse poo.

That's a very subtle mod H.  Probably fool a few pickers of nits and counters of rivets.

[Weaver]

Cheers.

There are other things you could do in combination with it. A multi-petal afterburner (with or without a more modern engine) would be one possibility, as would a Viggen-style ejector intake, possibly with a thrust-reverser.

An alternative engine which needed more mass flow would be problematic due to the way the intakes are blended into the wing. Making them bigger would involve a lot more redesign than it did for say, the Mirage/Kfir conversion.

As an alternative to the ventral fins, slim fairings could be fitted between the inner and outer wings with dorsal and/or ventral fins on the back end of them. These could be either fixed fins used in conjunction with the existing central fin, or more radically, they could be much bigger and equipped with rudders to replace the central fin entirely. The result would be rather like the Rockwell HiMAT test aircraft, and would give much better effectiveness at high AoA. The front of the booms could house ECM equipment, or alternatively, MiG-25-style CW illuminators for SARH missiles.

[perttime]

One of the problems with the Draken was it's small forward fuselage, giving a tight cockpit and a small radar. ...

The seat may well have to be raised and the cockpit bulged to maintain vision over a longer nose during landing...

I've been in a Draken simulator cockpit, and it wasn't roomy
I recall they were pretty particular about the size of the pilots: too long thigh bones, and everything below the knees gets left behind on an ejection.

A bigger nose would also be taller top to bottom.

[NARSES2]

I recall they were pretty particular about the size of the pilots: too long thigh bones, and everything below the knees gets left behind on an ejection.

That's always been a memory I've held about a BBC programme on RAF Fast Jet Pilot training from years ago. One of the first tasks at Pilot Selection (then at Biggin Hill) was to sit the guys in a tin bath. If they didn't fit, then "sorry lads, no fast jets for you. Transports suit ?" Apparently it was exactly the right size.

[PR19_Kit]

I was lucky enough to be able to sit in the front seat of a Tornado GR4 once, and it was a tight squeeze for me at 6'1".

There was NO way I could have ejected from it without leaving my kneecaps behind under the panel! 

[ysi_maniac]

Saab Jagare (destroyer in Swedish)

[Jesse220]

Has anyone thought of a modernized and/or Stealth Draken?

[Weaver]

Has anyone thought of a modernized and/or Stealth Draken?

Funny you should ask: I found this today:



Posted on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Motocar_cutaway/status/1005900474384617473?s=20 by @Motocar_cutaway
(The original is much bigger if you want a hi-res version)

Motocar Cutaway are well worth following since he/they do lots of these modified what-if cutaways.

[Weaver]

Looking at that fat-nosed Draken profile I did back in 2016, I decided to do side views of it to see what it looks like.

There are two side views: the first treats the new forward fuselage as a pure body-of-rotation, just like the real-life one, while the second has the radar bulkhead lowered relative to the cockpit in the manner of a Mirage, which gives a better view over the nose, but would possibly be harder to build as a model. I swear that the radome is a symmetrical body-of-rotation in both cases: the impression that it's upturned is just an optical illusion! (Makes me wonder now if I've been unfair to the Swift all these years...)

The real life Sk-35C trainer had ventral fins that are, I suspect, just bolted to the outer wing main hardpoints, which is fine since it had no operational role, but won't do for the single-seater. I've therefore moved the fins on my version inboard and further back. You could probably make them bigger, but I was worried about them getting a battering from turbulence generated by the inner wing pylon/stores and open undercarriage doors in front of them.

[Jesse220]

Has anyone thought of a modernized and/or Stealth Draken?

Funny you should ask: I found this today:



Posted on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Motocar_cutaway/status/1005900474384617473?s=20 by @Motocar_cutaway
(The original is much bigger if you want a hi-res version)

Motocar Cutaway are well worth following since he/they do lots of these modified what-if cutaways.

Nice man. But it could use twin tails.

[Weaver]

Nice man. But it could use twin tails.

Wouldn't be hard to do with the Draken either. You could unbolt the outer wings and insert a fin in the gap. It could extend both above and below the wing: the latter wouldn't be good for stealth, but it would be good for high AoA maneuverability.

The biggest problem with stealthifying the Draken would be the intakes: they're dead square-on to a radar ahead of the plane, and they're part of the wing structure, so any change gets complicated real quick. The 'diverterless' bumps in the picture wouldn't do much: the engine face is already shielded pretty well: it's the intake lips that are the problem.

[Jesse220]

Nice man. But it could use twin tails.

Wouldn't be hard to do with the Draken either. You could unbolt the outer wings and insert a fin in the gap. It could extend both above and below the wing: the latter wouldn't be good for stealth, but it would be good for high AoA maneuverability.

The biggest problem with stealthifying the Draken would be the intakes: they're dead square-on to a radar ahead of the plane, and they're part of the wing structure, so any change gets complicated real quick. The 'diverterless' bumps in the picture wouldn't do much: the engine face is already shielded pretty well: it's the intake lips that are the problem.

Ok.

[PR19_Kit]

How about fitting a proper Ferri intake as well as the DSI?

[Weaver]

How about fitting a proper Ferri intake as well as the DSI?

Just creates an internal corner which is a great radar reflector. The best reshape might be to slice them the other way, at the same angle as the outer wing leading edges, thus concentrating the radar return into a few 'spikes' as possible in unhelpful directions. Good luck reprofiling the wing and intake lips though: it'd be doable on a clean sheet of paper design, but then you wouldn't be starting from a Draken in the first place if you were doing that...

Of course, if you don't care about stealth 'cos it's the '60s and you just want to go faster and look cool, then Ferris would be the go-to option for giving a Draken variable intakes...

[PR19_Kit]

The F-35 has sort of Ferri intakes.............