10/31/2025

Today, on Halloween, I’m resurrecting a Swedish ghost from the jet age: the Saab J35 Draken, the double-delta Dragon that taught the world how to fly sideways.

I’ve covered a lot of modern fighters on this channel; the Gripen, the F-16, the Mirage, but this one is special. The Draken was the jet that made Sweden’s airpower possible and inspired everything that came after. Long before stealth coatings and touchscreen cockpits, Saab’s engineers built a supersonic interceptor that could hit Mach 2, land on a forest road, and take off again before the Soviets could reload.

In this video, I break down how the Draken’s radical double-delta wing changed aviation forever, how it accidentally invented the Cobra maneuver decades before the soviets showed it off, and why this Cold War fighter was designed to fight World War III from the middle of a highway.

The J35 Draken wasn’t just fast; it was built for the apocalypse. Sweden’s dispersed airbase doctrine meant these jets operated from roads, refueled under pine trees, and kept flying when the world went dark. That spirit of independence and resilience still lives in the Gripen E today.

If you think the 1950s were all about leather jackets and jukeboxes, wait until you see what the Swedes were doing with aluminum and jet fuel. Stick around to the end, because this isn’t just a history lesson, it’s a reminder that smart design beats brute force, every time.

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!

Source: Wes O’Donnell