Thought this was a cool photo. The Viggen has been retired from the Swedish Air Force but was a visually striking aircraft. I wasn’t aware that the vertical fin could fold down, but the Swedes had/have an extensive network of underground hangars:
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
I was geeking out to a video of the Fins taking off from a highway in F-18s and E-2s the other day.
The Winter War was not that long ago, and the Finns are wisely keeping their stuff wired tightly.
Ivan thinks he has a long memory, I bet the Finns have a longer one.
There are little bunkers like that scattered all through Sweden. During the Great Nordic Biker War there where military vets who were fully patched members of the Hell’s Angels that broke into a few for some hardware, nothing more than a padlock to keep them out. Took out a rival’s clubhouse with an M72 LAW.
Cool pic’s!
The Swedes also have an interesting network of “emergency airfields”, which are two lane highways that are widened in strategic locations around the Country and have markings and recessed lighting for various kinds of aircraft. I have been to that Country several times and the Swedish Secret Police (Säpo) doesn’t like foreigners taking pictures of these locations. The locals also are closed-mouth about their network of “airfield” highways.
That’s pretty cool!
There was some sort of article in Aviation Leak and Space Technology years ago about those roads, if I recall correctly. They had a couple of pics, and they also mentioned that hosts seemed a wee bit agitated.
AW&ST never let security get in the way of a good story!!
Very true. I remember reading stuff in there that made my jaw fall open.
Switzerland also has such bunkers and airfields.
Haha, I read the title as SAAB Vegan and was trying to figure out how the smelly hippies made a car a vegan.
Umm…Viggen means “vigor” or vitality. Not a non-meat eating lifestyle! LOL
Saab built many performance versions of their cars and titled them “Viggen” as well. Nice vehicles that would keep up with anything BMW or Mercedes put out.
I am still rocking an 02 Saab 9-5 Aero and plan on willing it to my daughter next year when she gets her license.
-brickboy240
I think the amazing things about the Swedes is that with a population of under $10 million and with a relatively small defense budget in percentage of their GDP, they have managed to build world class fighter aircraft. When introduced in the early 1970s the Viggen was definitely one of the top fighter aircraft in the world and their current Gripen is a great aircraft at a very affordable price.
The SAAB J-35 Draken first flew in 1955 but it looks modern even by today’s standards:
Built by SAAB, powered by Volvo…
As the owner of several Swedish cars and Swedish Mausers…yes…the Swedes are every bit the craftsmen that the Germans are. Compare a 96 Swede Mauser to it’s German counterpart…the Swedish rifle is usually better machined and more accurate. Some of the Saab cars were dogs but I have had a few that were less trouble than either of the 3 Series Bimmers I owned. Volvo makes some very reliable and safe cars. I ran a 1991 Volvo 240 nearly 300k miles on the original engine and tranny.
Yes…the Swedes build some very good machines! LOL
-brickboy240
Not to mention the women!
Based on this I think I need to massively upgrade my garage.