Saab JA 37 Viggen by Tarangus

1/72 scale
Kit No. TA7203
Price: $39.99
Decals: Three versions – all Flygvapen (Swedish Air Force)
Comments: Engraved panel lines, highly detailed cockpit, internal intake trunking, optional position canopy, detailed landing gear, positionable dive brakes, external stores consist of centerline drop tank only

History

The Swedish Saab JA 37 “Viggen” (“Thunderbolt”) was the all-weather variant of a distinguished family of fighter-interceptor, attack and reconnaissance aircraft that served the Swedish Air Force for 34 years.  The prototype of the JA37, the definitive and final version of the Viggen, flew for the first time in November 4, 1977 and entered service with the Flygvapen in 1979. A single-seat all-weather interceptor that retained the attack capabilities of the earlier versions, it carried the Ericsson PS-46/A “Look Down/Shoot Down” Doppler multi-mode radar suite supporting missile armament, and was powered by an upgraded RM8B turbojet.

The Saab Viggen had been in service with the Flygvapen since 1971, the first and most numerous version being the AJ37, designed primarily for air-to-ground attack, with its air-to-air role being secondary. The JA37, as its designation implied, was designed for exactly the opposite mission profile, with the air-to-air mission being of primary importance. In many ways the JA37 required a complete redesign of the aircraft, requiring a modified airframe, different engine, different radar and avionics, as well as different weapons.

One of the biggest tasks was to redesign the engine for the demands of the fighter-interceptor mission. All previous versions of the Viggen had used the Volvo-built RM8A, a militarized variant of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D, a powerplant initially used on the Boeing 737 that Volvo had redesigned for supersonic combat with the addition of an afterburner. Instead of three RM8A’s two-stage fan and four-stage low-pressure compressor, Volvo designed an engine with a three-stage fan and three-stage LP compressor, with both spools having revised blading that made use of Pratt & Whitney research from the 1960’s. They called it the RM8B, and it featured a new turbine and a four-nozzle burner combustion system — all of which produced an engine capable of greater thrust at all speeds and altitudes, with better reliability at high altitude in particular and during severe maneuvers.

An impressive fighter, the Viggen was a state-of-the-art combat aircraft borne of a firm policy of indigenous design, established after Sweden fell victim to a U.S. arms embargo during WWII that suddenly suspended shipment of fighter aircraft in 1940. Sweden at the time had purchased some 300 Seversky P-35 and P-66 Vanguard aircraft, only 60 of which had been delivered. The Viggen — a true multirole fighter for its time — was designed to be as “battlefield friendly” as possible, able to use the Swedish network of highways as emergency runways, and able to be refueled and rearmed by a team of just seven, with six being conscript-level personnel. The Viggen also had an advanced onboard computer that negated the need for a dedicated radar operator, allowing more room in the fuselage for fuel and avionics. Rounding out the requirements was a folding vertical tail fin which decreased the aircraft’s side profile and allowed it to be housed in the various underground hangars positioned strategically about the country. If the Soviet Union had invaded, Sweden would have been ready.

Later variants of the Viggen, from the JA37 onwards, employed a newer and more powerful computer, the American CD107, which was license-built and further developed by Saab. The computing techniques and concepts, such as distributed computing, went beyond use of the Viggen. In addition to civil-orientated derivatives, it directly contributed to the computers used on board the Viggen’s successor, the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Various electronic countermeasures (ECM) were installed in the Viggen, provided by Satt Elektronik. The ECM systems consisted of a Satt Elektronik radar warning receiver system in the wings and the tail, an optional Ericsson Erijammer pod, a BOZ-100 chaff/flare pod, and later, infrared warning receivers. In total, the electronics weighed 600 kg (1,322 lbs.), a substantial amount for a single-engine fighter of the era.

On the JA 37 fighter-interceptor, the PS 37 pulse doppler radar of the earlier models was replaced by the more capable Ericsson PS 46, which had an all-weather look-down/shoot-down capability combined with the ability to eliminate ground clutter. Its range was reportedly in excess of 50 kilometers and it provided target illumination for the Viggen’s main armament of medium-range RB71 Skyflash missiles. The first production version of this radar was installed in the F-15 Eagle.

The JA37 had an automatic digital flight control system jointly developed by Saab and Honeywell, reputed to be the first such system in a production aircraft. To assist low altitude flight, a Honeywell radar altimeter with transmitter/receiver in the canard wings was used. The Viggen was also fitted with a Decca Type 72 Doppler navigation radar, and a Garrett AiResearch digital Central Air Data Computer, modified from the unit used on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

For armament, the Viggen had a ventral Oerlikon 30mm gun pod permanently installed just to the left of the aircraft’s center line. In addition, it could carry AIM-9 Sidewinder and up to four AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles in the air-to-air role. Designed to retain its attack capability, it could also carry two RB04E anti-ship homing missiles and two RB75 air-to-ground missiles, or a mix of conventional bombs and rocket pods when configured for ground attack.

In all, total production of Viggens numbered 329 aircraft, a far cry from the original 800-plus once envisioned. Production spanned from 1970 to 1990 and the type gave excellent service over 34 years of the critical and tumultuous Cold War period. The Viggen was never exported due to strict exportation rules adopted by Sweden, but this remarkable aircraft served 25 total Swedish Air Force squadrons during its long, storied tenure. The last JA37 was delivered in 1990, and the type remained in service until the Viggens were phased out altogether on November 25, 2005 in favor of the Saab JAS Gripen.

The Kit

In 2018, Tarangus released a meticulously detailed, scaled-down version of its Saab JA37 Viggen. The kit is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 165 parts, including 18 clear parts. Not every part is needed for the build; for example, two of the three cockpit tubs and one of the two center line drop tanks provided cannot be used, at least not on this kit. The cockpit is richly detailed with separate and well-molded rudder pedals, ejection seat, and control yoke; it features a main instrument panel that can best be described as the most three-dimensional this modeler has ever seen. Complementing all this are raised details on the side instrument panels of the cockpit tub, for which panel decals would be a poor substitute indeed. To top it off, there are separate, detailed parts for sidewall instrumentation.

The kit features intake trunking and parts for the intakes enhanced to an unusual degree by engraved panel lines. The turbofan blades and exhaust are also highly detailed. The fuselage is slightly complex, consisting of a dozen main parts: nose cone, forward fuselage halves (top and bottom), rear fuselage halves (right and left), intakes, canards — which have their own separately mounted trailing edge flaps — and the vertical tail. The boxed in main landing gear wells feature hoses along with raised internal ribbing and rivet detail.  The landing gear are well-detailed, complemented not just by the kit’s wheel wells, but the internal detail on the well doors, to say nothing of the painstaking molding of the gear themselves. There is an option to display the canopy open or closed, and the temptation for an open canopy will be great with the level of detail provided in the cockpit. Likewise, ventral dive brakes can be displayed open or closed.

While the JA37 is the fighter-interceptor version of the Viggen, and this kit is so pleasing in every other aspect, curiously Tarangus has not seen fit to include any armament. The only item in the way of something to hang off the aircraft is a single center line drop tank. Fortunately the Viggen carried AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, as well as rocket pods and conventional bombs, so appropriate armament can be found in most aftermarket U.S. or NATO weapons sets (Hasegawa and Italeri come to mind).

Markings

The kit decals are by Cartograf and are of excellent quality, perfectly in register with brilliant color. They all have a mild, glossy finish, with the exception of the number markings, which have a uniformly flat finish. Markings are provided for at least four different aircraft, although their units are not clearly identified by the instructions or the single sheet of color plates provided to assist decal placement. The first is for an aircraft of F4 Wing (based on the number on the nose) and bears the Viggen’s distinctive splinter camouflage scheme with gray undersides and includes large, high-visiblity numbers (“Orange 38”) for the wings and tail in a color best described as Day-Glo Orange. Decals for numbers four (4) and six (6) are also provided for different number combinations.

The second and third versions are for aircraft of F16 Wing, both featuring a paint scheme of dark grey upper surfaces over light grey under surfaces. The key difference between these aircraft are the tail and wing numbers (“Black 49” vs. “Day-Glo Orange 49”). The fourth version is for an aircraft of F17 Wing and appears in a natural metal scheme, and offers a choice between black or yellow markings for the wing number on the nose, as well as Day-Glo Orange for the wings and tail. Colors for the paint schemes are called in out in Gunze Sangyo and Mr. Paint numbers only.

Conclusion

This is truly a beautiful kit that is outstanding in its level of detail. If it is engineered as well as its molding suggests, it will meet or exceed the quality of any of the best Tamiya or Hasegawa kits.

References

• “Saab Viggen: Delta Defender”; Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, Vol. 1 Issue 12, pp. 224-231.
• Saab 37 Viggen Walk Around, by Mikhail Putnikov, Copyright 2013 Squadron Signal Publications, Carrollton, Texas.
• militaryfactory.com
• wikipedia.org