| The Drakens of Finland |
The second and final new-build Draken order came from the Suomen Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) in April 1970 for 12 all-weather interceptor
35XS (export Suomi) aircraft to be built in Finland by Valmet from Swedish "knock-down" parts. Seven J35Bs, stripped of all-weather avionics,
were leased to the Ilmavoimat in 1972 as the 35BS in preparation for the new aircraft and were bought outright in 1976.
The first new build aircraft were delivered in April 1974, the last of the new aircraft arrived in 1975 and all were designated 35S.
Six ex-Swedish J35Fs (as the 35FS) and three Sk35Cs (as 35CSs) were bought in 1976 at the same time as the 35BS aircraft mentioned above,
and another ex-J35F (18 aircraft) and Sk35C (2 aircraft) order followed in 1984. The arrival of two-seat trainers in Finland meant that pilot conversion
could now take place "at home" instead of in Sweden.
Initially Drakens were delivered to HävLLv 11 of the Hämeen Lennosto (Häme region Wing) based at Tikkakoski near Jyväskylä in central Finland.
Later, HävLLv 11 relocated to the extreme north, taking up residence at the base of Rovaniemi within Lapin Lennosto (Lapland region Wing).
In 1984 a second Draken unit was formed as HävLLv 21 of the Satakunnan Lennosto (Satakunta region Wing) at Pirkkala, near Tampere in south-western Finland.
A restriction to Air Force total strength according to the Second World War peace treaty is not to exceed 60 combat aircraft.
However, this restriction does not include training versions of front-line fighters or dedicated trainers possessing a secondary tactical mission.
Consequently, the SAAB 35S and SAAB 35FS interceptors are classified as combat aircraft while the SAAB 35CS two-seaters and SAAB 35BS
transition fighters are classified as trainers.
All of the J35Bs were retired by the end of 1995 and four of the five Sk35Cs have been retired. HävLLv 11 at Rovaniemi remained flying the Draken until its last
flight on August 16, 2000.
Sources:
Tony Buttler - Draken, A Swedish Masterpiece (Air Int'l 03-2000)
Jan Jorgensen - SAAB 35 Draken (ISBN 1 85310 729 8)
In this summary you can see the Ilmavoimat operators of the Saab 35 Draken.
|
| Finnish Draken Squadrons |
| Wing: |
Squadron: |
Base: |
Type: |
Period: |
| HävLLv 11 |
1 flight
2 flight |
Rovaniemi |
35S
35FS
35CS
|
1972 - 2000 |
| HävLLv 21 |
1 flight
2 flight |
Tampere-Pirkkala |
35S
35FS
|
1984 - 1997 |
| KoeLtue |
|
Kuorevesi-Halli |
35S
35FS
|
|
|
|
|
