Saab 37 Viggen: Sweden Built a Jet and Chose Violence
“What if our fighter jet could also tell gravity to go fuck itself?”
Saul Goodbruh
1 min read
There are fighter jets.
There are cool fighter jets.
And then there’s the Saab 37 Viggen, a Swedish aircraft that looks like someone gave an aero.
And honestly? Sweden cooked.
Sweden Was NOT Playing Around
The Viggen was designed during the Cold War, when Sweden was like:
“Okay, so hypothetically, Russia decides to do some tomfoolery. What are we doing?”
The answer was apparently:
Build a fighter jet that can operate from highways.
Yes.
Highways.
The Viggen was designed around Sweden's Bas 60 and later Bas 90 air-base concepts, where aircraft could disperse across road bases instead of sitting around on giant obvious runways waiting to get absolutely obliterated in the opening minutes of a war.
So instead of:
“Sir, the runway has been bombed.”
Sweden could simply respond:
“Cool. There's another one behind the IKEA.”
Absolute gigachad infrastructure planning.
That Canard Setup Is CRAZY
Look at the Viggen.
The first thing you notice is the canards.
Those little forward wings aren't there because Saab wanted the Viggen to look spicy.
They were part of the aircraft's design for excellent short-field performance and high maneuverability.
The Viggen also had a gigantic delta wing, giving the aircraft that unmistakable:
“I am about to violate several laws of physics”
silhouette.
It looks less like an airplane and more like a government-approved flying Dorito.