SwAFHF SAAB SK37 Viggen display at Stord Airshow 2018 

True story: when I joined the Swedish Army, age 19, during basic training in the early 80s, the Viggen was still in active service. At one point we were ordered to show up at a certain ridge, far out in the wilderness, at a certain time. We stand there waiting, having no idea what to expect, then there's a call on the radio that we should pay attention. Few seconds later and they patch in a pilot going "I'm 20 seconds from target, coming in low and fast from the east" and then the Viggen blast by, BELOW us through the valley, with that insane roar from its engine. The pilot then did a little airshow for us, out there in the middle of nowhere. When the plane disappeared our CO said "and now you know why you should fear air power".

I just love the low cost, STOL Swedish fighters. So very much to the point; so very effective. Draken, Viggen, Gripen - very impressive machines!

I know why i like sweden. This is more than only a plane. It's art. A 👍 from Germany.

Viggen, the greatest technical achievement ever made in Sweden. Truly a machine worth to be proud of.

1:14 - That flying hat! In America we would NEVER get that kind of love from the backside of any jet, much less this beautiful SAAB SK37!

My grandfather, Victor Horton, was a NASA test pilot and flew the triple sonic YF-12 and SR-71 Blackbirds. He always spoke very highly of the Viggen. I didn't find out why until years later: it was one of the few aircraft that had successfully intercepted a Blackbird.

I served in the SAF at the end of the Viggen era. Fancy beeing woke by a squadron of these taking off 100 meters from your pillow, passing overhead. My intestants shiver to the memory..hell I miss this.

It’s a good thing that this Viggen is still flying! I think it’s a unique and impressive aircraft and also an example of what the Swedish aviation industry is able to build.

The Swedes make excellent fighter aircraft, amongst a lot of other great things. The mighty U.S airforce has enormous respect and regard for the Saab Gripen, which is huge kudos to Saab, and Sweden.

What a lovely piece of Swedish engineering, almost as beautiful as Concorde. I love the canard effect on performance capability. I really like it that the Swedes use highways as strategic airfields too. Magic stuff. Thanks for posting this really powerful footage.

My parents took me to the 1972 Farnborough Air Show at the age of 7 and loved it but was so scared when the Saab Viggen was displayed!! Never forget the noise!!!!!!

I can still remember the air show at my small hometown, I think I was 10 years old. 43 years ago. That Viggen blew over that air field and the sound and the impact, my entire body was shaken up. That engine BEAST.

Here in California, my local Saab car dealer (Tor's in Lompoc) was owned by a Swedish gentleman who grew up near Trollhättan. His father worked in the old underground Saab airplane factory, so it was a true Saab family! He told lots of cool stories about Drakens and Viggens at airshows, and how he'd watch them pull out of a forest hiding spot and use the public road for take-off! Sadly, he is no longer in business but what a great guy, a true Saab fanatic and motorhead.

Tunnan( the Barrel,) Draken and Viggen and now the Gripen are all wonderful aircraft and bear good witness to swedish know how. (From Iceland)

Absolutly LOVE that aircraft! A real mans fighter, so gorgeous to look at, and you can feel the power in your chest, the sound is just amazing! Wow, and Wow again!!

I may be a Brit but for me this is plane has always been awesome. It not just a brilliant design aerodynamically but it also has that psychological impact in its silhouette, rather forbidding... a bit like the effect the Stealth bomber did when I first saw it at Farnborough in the 90's.

As much as this airframe and what it can do, my thank you to the camera operator! Well done.

even today the Saab viggen is and always will be one of the most advanced fighter aircraft ever built , far ahead of its time a true ATF

" I love the smell of SwAFHF SAAB SK37 Viggen taking off in the morning! It's the smell of victory! "Now that's my kind of an Aircraft!

Gripen: "Mom, who's my father?" SAAB: "Come on, son, sit here and look at its video of him..."

From my recruit... Viggen was something else! The ground was shaking... That monstersound when taking of with the afterburners was insane, Raw Power!

I still remember my first takeoff Zon 3 !! Now i am 77 years old ! Viggen was fantastisk !!!

That takeoff is incredible; wheels off the ground almost immediately. Swedish jets are really something else

I absolutely love this plane. When I was a kid and we spent the summers in Stockholm's archipelago, it was powerful to see two planes in formation flying very fast and low over the sea which happened quite often.

All the Swedish jets are works of art

Saw Viggen, couldn't click fast enough. I love these double-arrowhead scifi-looking beasts! Starting at about 06:56, if you're wearing headphones, you can hear the car alarms going off in the parking lot. :D Protip: At an airshow, lock you car but don't set the alarm. The aircrafts will set it off.

……….. I sincerely want to deeply thank you for this video, I was totally in, it shocked me, amazed me, that was one of the best videos I’ve seen. No music no BS, I was there, living the moment in front of this beautiful monster… Saab jet fighters fascinate me so much… Huge thank you @StordLufthamn for the share, big salut 🫡 from France ViNZ.

I absolutely LOVE the sound of that machine!

As a kid we had Viggen flying over our house a couple of times every week. That roaring sound used to make me feel safe and these days it fills me with nostalgia. Jet sounds are all but gone these days..

I was always convinced that this fighter is miles ahead of its time! Too bad one does not see in this video how it drives backwards with thrust reversal, turns and starts again in the direction from which it had landed previously! Great plane!

I love the sound of the afterburners from the viggen.❤️

Such an iconic aircraft the SAAB SK37 Viggen! Thank You So Much for this lovely nostalgic video! SAAB Forever! ♥️🌷🕯

One of the coolest and most innovative airplane ever designed. Way ahead of its time.

The most beautiful fighter jet ever made. Period.

A fighter ahead of its time, what a beauty!

What a survivor! outstanding. So ahead of its time...

Sweet, manouvereable, bloody fast (2.0M), heavily loaded at its time, superb good looking. And roaring like hell!

I grew up in a Sweden where you'd hear this sound on a daily basis.

Just go give you an anecdote about the Swedish pilots flying this beast in this era: They basically always practiced flying at war time conditions. They flew very low over treetops, sometimes betweeen the treetops at ridiculous speed. They practiced war during peace time, because the Swedish military defense knew the obstacle they were training for: a total invasion from the Soviet Union. Because of this, many, many pilots died, because of any slight error. Many great pilots lost their lives. That also meant Sweden had the 4th biggest air force in the world during the cold era, with a world class airplane (at every pace), with world class pilots. They were absolutely ready, because Sweden expected an invasion and wouldn't accept to play dead again as in ww2. In the 80s, Sweden was at its peak in defensive capability. 800.000+ soldiers with Ak4s and KSP58 (machine guns), Carl Gustav recoilless rifles, STRV103 (a Stug on steroids) and then a huge amount of this airplane. There were premade bunkers and tank obstacles ready to go in the forest where I grew up, all over. Forts with big cannons ready to go, aimed towards my own city to support fighting troops who lost ground. All with the strategy of hit and run warfare and mobility - and then some bite back for every inch. And the Swedish people knew exactly what to do and which defensive bunker to go to, covering the entire society. Sweden even built its railroad inland up north, which hurt the economy, but protected the logistics a bit more. In this era, the Swedish airforce was absolutely ridiculous compared to the size of the country, as was the entire defense. The country was prepared in air, at sea, at army and at civilian level. When the cold war ended, Sweden went back to total slacker mode, unfortunately. The society thrived, while always preparing for war. You can only withold neutrality by having alot of firepower, which Sweden learnt through the second world war. The number of airplanes Britain defended their island with, was the basis for defending Sweden, while not assuming there wouldn't be any airbases left after the first strike. And basically all weapons were manufactured in the country. I am proud of this heritage, because it shows what a small nation can do if they're hellbent on doing it, with great minds, talent and a great sense of societal responsibility. Sweden would've been a hellhole to conquer, which was the strategy: it would've cost more to invade Sweden than the rewards of conquering it. Sweden guaranteed a victory would never be worth it for the aggressor. A clear Pyrrhus battle for anyone to see. A small mammal with dangerous fangs. I grew up in Boden, a military stronghold during the 80s in the north, a stronghold for a ton of military bases. I always heard and saw Viggen (which was AWESOME), I always heard distant machinegun fire from the mountains during weekends. Sometimes the windows vibrated from the force of various things, most often the Viggen, sometimes from artillery I guess, or air bangs? It was a constant exercise to prepare to fuck up the aggressor all around me. I can't say I was afraid, ever. As a child I thought it was normal and really cool. Those sounds made me feel safe, because I knew all that power was to protect me. They were Swedish warriors. After the IMF destroyed the Swedish economy in 1985, it was all over. Now we're just a puppet state of the capitalist globalism, where people are worth as much as cattle. I miss our neutrality, alot.

One of the coolest planes ever built!! The first time i stood behind one on the flightline, when it took off; it blew my mind!! It feels like the earth is shaking so the whole planet will brake into small pieces!! Another cool experience was in Duxford, England when the avro Vulcan gave the wolfHaul, the vulcanHaul! it shakes the air and whole sky around you, its soo cool and almost a little scary! Experiences of a lifetime!!!

Setting off car alarms!! Nice one!!

Talked to a former Viggen pilot in spring of -18 and he claimed that, when Viggen was new, they tried to land it hard but the ground effect was so strong that they hardly exceeded 17 ft/s. That´s 11 mph (18 km/h) vertical speed. Would probably work on an aircraft carrier.

Love the look of the older SAAB jet planes. They look like something out of a SCIFI movie.

Legendary Cold War fighter plane. Truly epic! A real marvel of engineering, so advanced for its time.

Still a beauty....Saabs are amazing aircraft!

For an STOL jet fighter conceived in 1952, that first flew in 1967, tha was an insane takeoff! It took less than 900 m on the runway before blasting off vertically to engage action!

Stukas had a diving siren to intimidate. The Viggen had its engine. Their roar was insanely loud. Viggen didn't have a max speed, they ran out of fuel first. A pilot accidentally entered the stratosphere during a mistake in an exercise. The only plane to get a missile lock on a Blackbird. Amazing aircraft for its time. Notice the car alarms being activated by the Viggen in the video, lol.

FANTASTIC SOUND of the powerfull viggen. I CAN´T GET ENOUGH OF IT

Thank You So Much for All who have Designed , Engineered , Flown & Maintained the SAAB SK37 VIGGEN Fleets over the decades >>> Bravo Zulu! 🌷🌿🌍💜🕊🇸🇪

The show-off takeoff always amazes me. It just trips a few steps from standstill and hurls itself up into the air. And a steep climb and immediate steep turn to add spite to offense. ...Still today, despite all them modern fighters with tremendous thrust/weight ratios.

As a kid in the cold war 80's I grew up with these beasts in the sky, patrolling the airspace in the south of Sweden. Almost every week I could see (and hear) them coming. The roar was incredible. They always came in a pair. If you saw them coming in at low altitude, you better protect your ears. I'll never forget when they did their low altitude fly-by's close to our village.

I loved it as a child, and at 45, I still do...gorgeous plane

What a majestic fighter aircraft! And the camouflage pattern is the best i´ve ever seen......

For being such a big engine the startup is crazy fast. And the sound.... omg you have to hear it live to understand

Nice too se SK-37 back again! Very good video as well!

Awesome display and video! It is wonderful that the SwAFHF has brought this two-seat Viggen back in the air. Hope to see (and film) them on an airshow this year. Hopefully at RIAT. :)

That is one gorgeous bird!

Thanks for the excellent footage, lovely to see the legendary fighter in action. Afterburner triggering the car alarms is epic and also thanks for the slow motion touch down.

When I grew up in Sweden those planes made us feel a bit safer during many cold war years. We saw them quite often, even though not living close to a base. Nowadays I am proud to live in Linköping, where all SAAB fighters have been and are designed and built. It is really fascinating that a small city with around 150.000 people still can compete with new fighter jets and it warms my heart when I hear retired people here talking about memories from their years at SAAB.

She sounds great!!! Rips through the air!

still one of the stylished jets ever

The sound alone makes my toes crumble. When i was a kid they always flew around . I miss the awesome power i could feel when they passed by....,

As an Englishman the Viggen along with the Avro Vulcan are my all time favourite aircraft. Fond memories of the Viggen lighting up Finningley and Waddington airshows.

Back while stationed at Finthin Army Airfield in Germany during the mid eighties these birds brought out the most skylarkers. The sound they made... well, it's EPIC.

An excellent war bird, years ahead of its time. SAAB have never been shy to try something new. The single seat version was beautiful, the hunchback trainer not so much. Thanks for posting the great video. Easy to see the roots of the Gripen.

Wow. Awesome to see the viggen again. What an underestimated plane, overshadowed only because the Gripen was just so good. This plane can still keep up, its top speed and tactical maneuverability can go up against any pre-5th Gen fighter. Awesome clip

This has got to be the best vid on youtube for this awesome aircraft. Love the Viggen.

Wow that looks so scary. Love Sweden

Remember seeing one at a Farnborough Air Show in the 1970s . Fantastic!

He didn`t do the "waving" to the audience when he did the low speed fly by. They used to do that in the old days. With the aircraft of course !!

One of the best looking and finest Fighter Aircraft ever...

She still looks futuristic even after 50 years; fast stood still. Nice display and video!😎👍🏻

What an awesome afterburner view and the Sound ^^

I remember the distinctive sound from the viggen overpasses from when i was a schoolboy. Still gives me goosebumps. Sounds amazing 9:15

She can still set car alarms off what a beast

On my list of all time favorites, and one of the coolest looking aircraft perhaps ever. Great to see her fly, thanks.

From side on it looks like a cross between a Buccaneer and a Phantom.....but from overhead or beneath it looks like a Christmas tree....gotta hand it to the Swedes for coming up with an attack aircraft that is terrifying but at the same time celebrates Yuletide. Seriously though, an amazing aircraft from an amazing manufacturer. Hats off to the Swedes. xx

A SR-71 Blackbird passing over Swedish airspace got radar and missile locked by a JA 37 Viggen at around 20.000 meters altitude. Another time Viggens protected a Blackbird with engine failure. The Viggen pilots got awarded medals for the effort. The Viggen was much more agile than this video shows. It regularly practiced takeoff and landing on regular Swedish country roads. The modern JAS 39 still does this today. Awesome birds! =)

@ 4:05 That sound ALWAYS gives me goosebumps!!!

Love it! This aircraft just got its markings back from when it was based at F 15 Söderhamn, 50 kilometers from my home. :)

The Viggen roar and car alarms going off!

Great video of a fantastic aircraft! And I love the camo scheme they had. Well done Sweden!

Beautiful aircraft and performance! I'd never seen one flying, live or recorded. Thanks for the video!

From the time she started to move at the runway to all landing gears left the ground took only 10 sec ... What a powerful engine and short distance take off ! ! She's not only a pretty but also a Monster in the air ! ! Distinguish & Excellent Swedish technology... That's why I am now driving a Saab ! !

My favorite aircraft, the mighty Saab. Love it

멋지다 ~!!! 지금 당장 현역으로 운용되어도 될 것같은 진보적인 디자인이다. !!! 브라보 !!! 비겐 !!!

Wow! What an awesome video of this beautiful Viggen! Beautiful camo paintings! Liked! Greetz

Love the viggen and love the camo scheme!! Beautiful aircraft. 👍

That's probably the most bad-ass weaponized war-plane in green camo I've ever seen...it doesn't even have a full missile load out yet. What a work of art.

Remember sitting in a canoe in the middle of the mountain lake close to my family's cabin as a child and watching pairs of Viggen from F4 from Frösö practice dogfighting in the sky above me. Made quite the impression on a twelve year old boy to see fighter jets booming and zooming above his head, at times low enough that you could clearly see the three golden crowns on the blue air force roundels.

At first: SALUTE for this perfect filming! My opinion: SAAB Viggen - the flying Viking Axe! Enjoy this Video with full throttle on good Sound System or a high Quality Headphone... the amazing mighty VIGGEN !!! Big THX for this footage !!! Regards, Frank ( Germany ) ;o)

That loud and noisy old beast. It even sets off car alarms in the video..=)

That landing though DAMN!! And no shoot..clearly an interceptor

1:12 maybe that wasn't the best spot to stand lol

That is some impressive short takeoff!! Such a nice plane to see

I really love this plane. Brings back childhood memories of seeing these planes flying overhead all the time. Now we very rarely see the air force. It’s a shame. But great video! 👍

Great video , thank you for sharing! Loved the car alarm he set off on takeoff!

Everlasting Viggen..such a beauty awesome !

This Swedish Viggen is just an absolute beauty.

Love the Navy style , no-flair landing , you can the see the nosweheel compress and the reverse thrust come on . Brilliant vid . Valdigt Speciellt Flygplan ! The whole plane looks so bloody angry !!!! Wales UK