Over the Baltic in 1963, a Swedish Saab 35 Draken faced down an incoming aggressor at Mach 1.7. By every rule of air combat, ...

The Saab 35 Draken, also known as ‘The Kite’ or ‘The Dragon,’ was the first Western European-built combat aircraft capable of breaking the sound barrier. Actually, the Draken busted through Mach 2.

Engineers at Saab had a radical idea for a new jet fighter, the Saab 35—they would use a double delta wing design (which would prove very popular at Saab). Delta wings are recognizable as large, ...