What iff more Drakens were exported

[Spey_Phantom]

OK, after the discussions about the A-10, A-6, Tornado,....
its time to focus our eye's on the J-35 Draken. (just hope there was no earlier topic started on this    )
i was thinking the following;

-Belgium

after the Mirage 5 order was cancelled the goverment ordered 65 Drakens in 1968, of witch 16 JRS-35 recce variants, 40 single seat intercepters and 9 2-seat trainers.
they were armed with AIM-9B and AIM-7 sparrow missiles. in 1999 they were retired and replaced with 36 Gripens.

-Germany

The F-104 didnt have the agilit to face off against the russian migs, so an order was placed for 100 single- and 24 2-seat Drakens to be used in the air defence and strike role. a total of 9 Luftwaffe units flew this aircraft up to 2002.

-Royal Air Force

The RAF was facing problems with the Hunters light capability and following the cancelation of the F-4 order, in 1965 the RAF ordered up to 230 Drakens of witch 150 were used in the attack/CAS role, pilots loved the Draken, bacicly because the double-delta wing could carry so much rockets/bombs, for witch otherwise 4 hunters were needed, the were retired in 2000.


anyone else got anny suggestions

[jonesthetank]

SAAB did try and market the Drakken to a few countries, but only got lucky at home, in Finland, Denmark and Austria


Swedish Aviation Pages

[Hatchet]

anyone else got anny suggestions

Norway, for anti-shipping, with Bullpups and later Penguins

More Danish ones in place of the Zipper for air-defence, with radar, Sidewinders and possibly Sparrows. Later replaced by Viggen interceptors. The Huns woulda been replaced by Viggen strike-fighters, and the strike Drakens would be kept until replaced by Gripens. Viggens would be replaced by Typhoon B)

USAF ADC - they look cool (there was one posted somewhere)

Canada - replacement for the CF-100, in place of the Voodoo

Switzerland - one neutral to another

Australia - in place of the Mirage IIIO

Israel - just because its me I wonder if you could shoehorn a J79 into it, and add some canards

[elmayerle]

The Draken article some years back in WAPJ included proposed and unbuilt J-35  variants, including one with a J79.  I want to do that one but with F-105B, et seq., Fieri-style inlets for a different look.

[Hammer-nikit]

Brazil evaluated the Drakken in the late 60's and eventualy bought the Mirage III, what if the Saab had won?

Regards,

Hammer

[Radish]

And Israeli...why not Israeli? I like the camo.
Israeli....Israeli....ISRAELI  

[B777LR]

Argentinian Drakens!
Sea Draken for the royal navy after cancellation of the harrier.
Sea harrier for the US Marines, following the cancellation of teh harrier.
USAF agresors.
Portugal?
South africa?
Pakistan?
Licence built for china?
Taiwanese Drakens?
A few for India?
Ethiopia and/or Eritrea?
Tanzania?
Iran? (its western, and neither an enemy nor allie)
Italy.
Spain.
South vietnamese!
North vietnamese!

[Son of Damian]

There was another proposed upgrade that didn't gain approval.

The Swedes seem to really like getting their money's worth out of their aircraft, and there was some reluctance to simply discard old Drakens as they were phased out of service. They were still excellent aircraft, if not quite the latest thing any more. In the late 1970s, SAAB resurrected the AJ35 strike-fighter concept in the form of a fairly drastic upgrade, known as the "35 MOD".

This upgrade envisioned fitting Filips with retractable canard fins mounted on the engine intakes; extended wingtips with a dogtooth; and a new strike-oriented avionics suite. The modifications would have allowed the fighter to carry a heavy strike load and still use the BASE 90 system of distributed short airstrips. 35 MOD was not approved.

To me this seems like something that Austria might have done to there Drakens considering how long they kept them in service.

[Family Guy]

don't know how you guys think off it, but i ever felt that switzerland was the ideal country for the draken...it would really fit into their caverns  

[Rogerolim]

Here is my first attempt of "what if" profile...  

Draken in brazilian colors...

[Family Guy]

hm.......pretty cool profile roger!

[elmayerle]

don't know how you guys think off it, but i ever felt that switzerland was the ideal country for the draken...it would really fit into their caverns

The J35H lost out there to the Mirage IIIS, but the Swiss ended up fitting the Mirage with the Draken's avionics fit.  IMHO, they should've just bought Drakens.  The evolution of the Draken in Swiss service could give rise to severl whify ideas.