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| A-36 bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons |
International Military - Since long ago, Russian-made defense equipment has been scary for many countries, including the US and China. How not, the article is that the country is able to produce a successful defense equipment system that has become a legend. Call it the MiG-21 which triumphed during the Cold War.
The fighter jet also succeeded in becoming a major milestone for Indonesia in seizing Irian Jaya at the beginning of independence.
Reporting from tni-au.mil.id, the MiG-21F Fishbed C (the designation given by NATO) which is also owned by Indonesia was the most feared intercept fighter in the west at that time. At that time, America was actually still giddy, considering the newly modified F-4E Phantom, still doubtful to compete against the MiG-21.
In addition, the seriousness of the MiG-21 threat to US warplanes has led the US Navy to establish an elite Top Gun combat school. Apart from the US, Sweden also feels the same way. The country was known to be building bombers that could deliver nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union (now Russia).
The bomber was an A-36 which had a proposed range of about 250 miles (410 km). With that range, the bomber could hit targets in the Baltic States, which were under Soviet control, and even the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The Saab A-36 may be able to fly long distances, but it can also hit targets quickly.
Not only that, Saab engineers actually studied many configurations while developing the bomber. This included the swept wing as well as the delta wing design, which later became the most suitable delta wing allowing the aircraft to reach speeds of around Mach 2.
Reporting from the National Interest, the Saab 36 is a twin-engine supersonic bomber. Target value to Sweden is in the Baltic - the Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are just across the Baltic Sea, and Poland and East Germany are practically next door to Sweden too. Unfortunately, this A-36 will never fly.
His Project 1300 was abruptly canceled in 1957 before any prototype aircraft had even been built. Although the Saab 36 bomber never entered serial production, work on the Saab 36 contributed in part to the development of the Saab 37. The Saab 37, on the other hand, was a fighter aircraft that was one of the first successful jets to incorporate a delta wing design.