JAS 39 „Gripen“ – the Swedish fighter - ground attack aircraft

The Swedish concern SAAB has specialized in the production of military aviation since the forties of the 20th century. Airplanes J 29 "Tunnan", J 32 "Lansen", J 35 "Draken", J 37 "Viggen" were designed and produced here. They stood out for their characteristics and technical solutions. For example, the "Viggen" was the first duck-type jet fighter. In 1980 the Swedish government began a test program to develop an aircraft to replace the "Viggen". The new plane received the designation JAS. The initial project was submitted in April 1981. It was decided, that it would be a triangular wing aircraft with elevators at the front - a duck type design. In order to reduce the mass, composites are widely used in the construction (starting mass is limited to 8000 kg). The plane had to have short take-off and landing characteristics (acceleration and landing path should not exceed 800 m), because it was planned to use straight sections of highways as reserve airfields in wartime. The first serial plane was produced on September 10, 1992. By the end of 2002, 140 planes were to be delivered, of which 14 were two-seaters. Later, the order was increased to another 160 planes. Also available for export.

The model is well designed and well detailed and is not a lightweight model, so we recommend it for beginners and less experienced modelers with no cockpit interior, opaque cockpit hood, included undercarriage, incomplete or no outboard armament. Antiquarian publication.