Exports, and failed export efforts, of Swedish military aircraft (original) (raw)
Saab 91 Safir
The Ethiopian air force, which was under rebuilding with the help of C G von Rosen, bought 16 SAAB 91A which were delivered in 1946-51 to be used as trainers.
When production was resumed they bought a further 14 of the SAAB 91B variant, in 1952-54.
Ten 91C were delivered in 1960 and they bought six more in 1963 and 1966.
Tunisia ordered fifteen SAAB 91D which were delivered in 1960-61.
The Norwegian air force bought 25 SAAB 91B in 1956-57 and five second hand Sk 50B in 1979.
The Finnish air force bought 20 SAAB 91C in 1958 and ten 91D in 1959. In 1962-63 they got a further five 91D. Two of them were fitted with cameras and belonged to a reconnaissance unit.
Austria bought 24 SAAB 91D delivered in 1964-65. Twelve were fitted out for basic training, twelve had a full navigation suite.
One, which SAAB bought back from the Swedish air force, actually ended up with the Japanese air force as a trials aircraft.
In addition to this it was exported to several civilian customers.
Saab B 17A
_Ethiopia_bought 46 B 17As which were delivered between 1947 and 1953.
[More on B 17.]
Tunnan
In 1952 Finland wanted to either buy aircraft (not possible as SAAB's production capability was barely enough for the Swedish air force) or the right to licence produce them.
Among the things considered on the Swedish side was that the engine was British and would thus require export permission, that Soviet espionage in the factory wouldn't matter "as Soviet designers hardly could learn anything from Tunnan's construction" but that a Soviet attack on Finland could mean that they'd get their hands on one for test flying was a cause for concern.
In the event there were no deal.
Later the same year Yugoslavia wanted to buy a production licence. The security concerns were the same as for Finland, but with lower judged risk an aircraft would end up in Soviet hands, so at first the air force was positive to the deal.
Later on there were doubts on the Swedish side of the type's suitability for the Yugoslavian industry (starting with something simpler and then go for something more modern would be more practical) and production jigs would probably fall under export restrictions, so the Yugoslavs were invited to discuss training issues and the like so they'd be better able to decide if they really wanted to build J 29s (and before they'd decided the air force certainly didn't want them to visit the engine factory). So there was no deal.
In 1953 SAAB advertised Tunnan in the branch media. It was specifically marketed in Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
Apparently Israel was interested enough that negotiations started in autumn 1953. They were abruptly terminated in spring 1954 for reasons which haven't been made public.
_Austria_were planning on Fiat G.91 in 1958, but for political reasons the deal was cancelled. USA and USSR offered types, but they choose Saab Tunnan, probably in part because they couldn't fully utilize a more modern design -- in part because of experience, in part because they weren't allowed to have missiles.
In 1961 they ordered 15 second hand SAAB 29F Tunnans for SEK 8 050 000:- and got the first in July. This included training of 15 pilots and 40 technicians.
Shortly thereafter they wanted one more squadron and were offered a loan of J 29As, but preferred to wait and got 15 second hand 29Fs (SEK 7 700 000:-) in 1963-64. This second batch was modified so that instead of the guns on the left side a camera suite consisting of three Vinten 70 mm focal length cameras could be fitted in 30 min. (In practice the 12 camera sets were fitted permanently.)
During 1961 four Tunisian pilots were schooled on Tunnan. But the Swedish government didn't approve export permission.
Lansen
Saab marketed Lansen during 1953-54 to Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Argentine, Venezuela and India.
India were somewhat interested in licence production of 25-40 Lansens at HAL. Saab delivered an offer in 1954. Interest increased in 1957 when series aircraft had flown and India then discussed a purchase of 10 photo reconnaissance and 20 fighter-bombers followed by licence production of 300 more. India purchased British aircraft instead.
South Africa also seriously discussed Lansen but never bought any (possibly because Saab didn't have export experience, possibly because the Swedish air force wanted their Lansens first and happily payed more even though they'd be cheaper with a larger production run, reasons which aren't unique for this case).
Pilots from the Finnish air force flew S 32C in 1957, but they really wanted fighters, so this was hardly a part of a genuine export drive.
Saab 105
Austria purchased 40 Saab 105XT, which is a variant with a 1290kp GE engine and designated 105OE, which were delivered in 1970-72.
Apparently a deal with Pakistan was pretty well underway but was cancelled as export permission couldn't be had.
It's also mentioned in connection with some Draken deals below.
Draken
Draken has been exported to Finland, Denmark and Austria. For details about that, see theDraken document.
When Switzerland cancelled its P-16 in 1958 they started looking around for a possible purchase. Draken and Mirage III were the main alternatives, in 1961 they choose Mirage (but I don't think they got all the improvements Dassault said they would implement to counter some of Draken's advantages). The Swiss variant would have been designated 35H.
In 1966 _Venezuela_showed some interest in 35XV which was an export version of J 35D. Lightning and Mirage III were also considered in 1971 and USA pushed F-5 when they put out a tender and were offered six 35G1 which were identical to J 35F, six 35G2 which were 35XD without the extra internal fuel, two 35GT two seat trainers and 24 105G which were the same as the Austrian Saab 105OEs. (Later adjusted to 15 Draken and 15 105s.) The Venezualan air force preferred Draken, but was well aware of the problem of getting US export approval of the Falcon missile and associated systems and thus recommended the government to go for Mirage. Additionally, there were apparently problems with getting Swedish political approval for an export, so the attempts at selling Saab 105 when Draken was out also failed.
Around 1971 a sale of 16 A 35X and 16 Saab 105 to Chile was discussed. Some say Draken was out of the game early, some that it was at the same time as Saab 105, in 1973 at the time of the coup.
Singapore asked for some information around 1978 but didn't have lots of interest.
It can be mentioned that a J 35A was test fitted in 1960, but most likely not flown, with (a single?) underwing tank(s) of 2000 litre capacity, mainly for ferry flights in order to show the aircraft to possible customers.
Apart from the 35G and 35H versions there was also a 35L which I believe also was an export variant.
Viggen
In the 1970's Viggen was a contender for the four nation (Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands and Belgium) NATO buy together with Mirage F.1, F/A-18 and F-16. It would have been different from Swedish Viggens the same way 35XD was, with lots more internal fuel and payload.
India was apparently interested in Viggen, but as it the engine was American it coulnd't be exported. They got Jaguars instead.
During 1965-1990 Saab marketed its military aircraft, Draken, Viggen and Saab 105, in 27 nations, and sold to three.
Gripen
Since this is an ongoing programme, please seethe Gripen documents.
More on Swedish military aviation
Document created 2000 Dec 04 last updated 2003 Nov 27by Urban