When the Swedish Air Force Saab 37 Viggen Saved the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird 

And if it had 2 working engines you would not have a chance to see it from below...

​@@bcdushman Actully the Vigen pilots did that all the time when the SR-71 flow in the Baltic region on its way to there mission. The SR-71 was always on a public fly list when it crossed radar sectors so it was easy for the swedish airforce to figure out when it would show up and Vigen pilots was constantly using the SR-71 for high altitude and high speed targeting practice. Ofc the Vigen hade no chans in keeping up in speed or altitude. But becouse of the advanced notice they could launch ahead of the SR-71 do a 180 and fly right at it at a lower altitude. With practise and radar cordination they could eventually predict the exact moment to light the afterburners and point straight up to se the SR-71 fly by and simulate a radar lock and missile launch. Ofc they never actully fired anything that would have been a decleration of war i bet. But eventually several Vigens did each there own successful attack run everytime the SR-71 flow past the Baltic for its mission.

@@Shiftry87 Thank you for the history lesson! Interesting stuff!

@@blameyourself4489 Really?? They don't fly anymore and haven't for over 22 years, so what's your point??? There's always an idiot who feels the need to show his arse. FFS....

@@fyoukungflu5881 his point was that Trump destroyed another thing we are here celebrating. He just made it poorly because he was too worked up to put it clearly

As a dane I would rather we had an alliance with Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland than be part og NATO.

Both Sweden and Norway, my home counties are prepared to deal with Russians in the air and absolutely dominate on the water. Not braggers, good stoic people. They are ready for a fight and will take Russians on as a first line of defense.

Well they do make alot of our equipment like Carl Gs and at4s

They’ll take you to the cleaners. I am a Swedish Citizen. I applaud your confidence and sentiments. Historically, Principalities of Moscovie and Kieve were Swedish. The word Roos is Swedish. ibne Fudhlan, the Abbasi Envoy of the 10th Century wrote about his visit and the treatment he was given by the Prince. Entire Scandinavia and Finland is Socialist in the Real Sense of the word. It has worked. One is allowed to make tons and tons of money as long one pays due taxes. However, Scandinavia without NATO, is not able to defend and thwart the possible invasion. That is Reality. Not only Scandinavia but even the Western Europe was too vulnerable to the Soviets. .

HAIL ODIN!

Sovjet didn't have anything against the Viggen at the time. Nor did the Nato. A Legend and a true lone wolf of it's time. The Viggen sound was the sound of freedom when it flew over our rooftops.

It's the Swedish thing to do. Never a doubt.

Fun thing is, before that, the Viggens of Swedish Air Force had, multiple times, gotten missile lock on the plane too, illustrating their rather understandable dislike of the USAF violating Swedish airspace.

@@oddballhippie7363 same with the Draken. Saab was killing it back then with fighter designs. They definitely visited the "one up's" aisle in Ikea and put NATOs aircraft to shame.

@@imadequate3376 I remember watching them do dogfights when i was a kid. Probably from Uppsala and Söderhamn, my town was between those bases. I still remember that background noise. I later experienced a STOL from close range. That was loud and impressive. -Peace and stay healthy.

finally a danish person who respects the swedish military

Cheers from Sweden XD

You traitors!

Tack!

Thank you brother

Rättelser: *Swede (stort S), "get proud" är egendomligt, använd "am proud", *themselves, och slutligen *professionally!!

@@thedude4795 Not only is it a bit silly to correct their spelling when you can easily understand, honour wasn't even misspelled.

@@thedude4795 but why?

You guys are hero's who rescued my Jewish grandparents from Nazis.. Also Covid lockdown nonsense. You should give a Nobel prize! I am putting in for Swedish citizenship .

too bad the US uses faul play to prevent countries from buying saab planes tho...

Thank you for sharing your memories, its quite heartwarming to learn you have been able to follow in your sisters footsteps.

That sounds really awesome! Thanks for sharing. Cheers from Sweden!

Hal May, thank you for the work and service you provide at SW. I feel fiercely proud of the work you do, especially under the wickedly tight security required to work in such a place. God bless you and your family .

To the Swedish pilots and their command apparatus, it is quite an honor to have been helped by you in this very desperate incident . I believe there may have been a similar incident during which we stood more than ready to offer the same assistance to you. The Swedes KNOW the right thing to do at all times and they can be relied upon to do it. Never provoke the Swedes or ANY Scandinavian military unit for any reason for they are always extremely well-prepared and well-trained....and they are such loyal allies. They deserve every ounce of protection they may ever request or require.

koltrast

@@joel9002 :)

SR-71 Koltrast!

I think Turdus Underpantsus would have been more relevant 😀

just doesn't have the same cool factor in Swedish 😄

Thank you Sweden. love and respect from India

Shivaji Vythi India is a true friend of USA. Amazing country 🇮🇳🇨🇦🇺🇸

Tanks! It may surprise you to know that Sweden and USA is very intertwined on a "Deep State" level! Has been for a long time!

Sweden, the nation that raided the whole Europe.

@@moravianmargrave6509 what's the relevance with this clip?

:D Blå gult!

Sverige är bäst! 🇸🇪

Those Swedish pilots, and their commanders who despatched them, all top blokes. Would US, Brit or other NATO guys go out to stand between Swedish planes and Russians? I hope so. They earned it.

Almost makes up for WW2! (Joke)

Your welcome American!

*laughs in svenska*

Your welcome- Sweden.

Yeah, Kelly Johnson could be Batman on his off time.

Haha 🤣

Best description of Viggen I've heard tbh ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fBE41A9VT3Q.html Did you know they had a horn? It was so they could honk at cars as they drove down the road.

@@karl-erikmumler9820 - That is freakin' awesome! BeepBeep!

@@jamesredman1263 Probably louder but wtf do I know? Still; not a lot of jets can 'honk' historically.

Being a Swedish person aiming to become a fighter pilot, I can definetly say that our military is mostly focused on defending ourselves and people in need, and while I may not speak for the viggen pilots that day, I can very well say that I hope that you guys over in America treat others the same way.

@@lightningthewolf oh yeah baby, what you aiming for, the gripen? I love those Swedish birds, such beauties.

@@potatopower707 Indeed, I mean, the only fighter plane that our military uses is the gripen, while the Saab 105 if used for training, if I'm correct, that is.

@@lightningthewolf hell yeah. I love Swedens, they don’t get enough appreciation, especially not their planes. After all, they were the first ones to create the cobra.

We lost a few on surveilance missions. Shot down by migs on international territory. During the cold war not anybody did anything on these matters. That Korean passenger jet in my time got me started.

I hope that you guys will help us in the future if “someone”trying to invade us.

nah, it was nothing. We just did the right thing. like PewDiePie use to do, bro dust to out Friends 🇸🇪🤜🤛🇺🇲

They should have shot it out of the sky.

It was our humble duty! Americans are safe in, around, over and under the Nordic country's land. We serve as brothers around the world. Here you are our family!

@@donquixote1502 - THANK YOU, much respect!!

Wow.. Nice to see a comment from a person who actually worked on blackbirds. All my respect to you!

@@kristofferhellstrom That bird went through a lot of engines. Very high maixtenance. When operating correctly? Nothing could touch it. Not even missiles. Now days, maybe the Space shuttle LOL

I like your name

@@Wloppish Thank you :)

Nobody recognizes Clarence, but you say Kelly, and heads nod. Note that Kelly Johnson was also behind the A-10 Warthog

The Blackbird is actually the national bird of Sweden since 1962. Did Kelly pick the name and if so, is that why he did it? The SR-71 Blackbird was operated by the USAF from 1964 to 1998.

Amazing name and fun story! ;)

Really interesting comment, thank you

Good thing you didn't try to shoot it down :) and it's cool that you as a former "enemy" is on youtube commenting about your experiences.

I think it's Lockheed A-12 on the Intrepid museum. A very, very close relative to the SR-71..

Thank you for your perspective.

Could you lock the distance beam at target? I remember the visible ghost echo on old crt rader monitors. Easy to se the speed .. just 1 cm = mach 1 and 2 cm = one FOXBAT in CS .. not exactly but close .. ;O)

Back then we were a force to be reckoned with. Had the 4th largest airforce in the world with over 1000 top of the line fighters, that even made the soviets think twice before acting.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" Even though Teddy Roosevelt said it, I feel like it applies very very well to Sweden.

The Swedes used that "Klingon-look" in their fighter designs for a reason! No need to fire the "photon torpedoes" if you can just SCARE them away, LOL! Salute!

@@mattgrant9479 Today the Swedes live in a world of dreams and are only interested in hosting Arabs and hating Israel.

@@mattgrant9479 there's always that one idiot in a thread... congrats!

And mine, Semper FI

You are not our friends. You are our enemies. Too bad most of us Swedes fall for your anti-Russian propaganda.

@@asdf3568 Sorry but I did not write propaganda. Where did you get that idea from, anyway? Be well.

@@nyrmk1 I was referring to the American government. Not you.

@@asdf3568 you’re kinda nuts dude us American civilians have not hate for Sweden dude and yeah we’re anti Russian who wants communism

And Japan have the best cars ey. VTEC kicked in yo.

@@jasonlay9492 Koenigsegg... just sayin 😉

During the cold War Sweden had one of the biggest airforce in the entire world. Housing over 1000 fighter aircrafts. Take the size of the country in calculation, and realize that's pretty impressive.

@@bjure8111 not even just the biggest, but arguable the best.

Highest respect from India. The swedish armed forces are highly professional... They make the best military weapons in world. A disciplined military force.

@andyandyandy360 it was more important that sweden stayed out of the war. Imagine how much iron the nazis would have got if they invaded.

Airmen are airmen......in an emergency, it's all hands on deck to save an airman.....as it was with ships on the sea.......

@@ZimowHD You know nothing of what you're talking about. Your mind is too shallow without understand the "why"?

Always.

We are not big and not funded well, but we got quality

Yup

For sure, especially with countries who claim to be neutral (like Sweden), who in pratice are everything but neutral. The same goes for WW II and every other war that ever has been waged, the plebs only hear the heavely sanitized political pro nationalistic versions. One of my hobbies is reading declassified files from various nations of WWII and the Cold war, often finding amazing stories, but also finding whole other truths than the ones they teach us at school and in documentary series.

@@minuterepeater2257 When I was growing up we had a World War One Royal Flying Corps pilot as a neighbour and you should have heard the shit he had to say. Completely different from anything you would read in any official history. The Billy Bishop claims were completely embellished in order to boost morale on the home front according to him in addition to a number of other things. I still have pictures that he gave to me way back in the 70 s. He was a real character.

@@iananderson7883 What stories did he tell you?

True enough. Know of some minor things (so they seem to me at least) myself. Canada here.

Damn that's awesome, a shame I'll never get to see it in action

Tunnan❤️❤️

@@danielnilsson5384 Tunnan is awesome to see in air :D But seeing (and hearing the deep roar from) two or four Viggen in formation licking the ground right over you is something unique!

My favorite is the Draken. Double delta wing shape is just so cool.

I totally second the thought. They all displayed an impressive English. Such might not be the case in my own country.

The accent of Lars Eric Blad when speaking English is VERY similar to some parts of Scotland, it's fascinating how the commonality of language goes much further than is first apparent. And yes, their ability to speak with such accuracy, far greater than many native English speakers is wonderful.

Sweden was the first country to recognize USA as a country. so it go way back

I don't know why someone would believe otherwise. Sweden and the US have always been best of friends. Anyone who ever goes to Stockholm, Sweden should take a look at the US embassy there. It's not just a small office building or an office in a building as is the case is some western European countries. The US embassy in Stockholm Sweden is a compound that sits on what I think must be at least two acres. Behind gates and fenced all around. So it's not an embassy you just walk into and say you lost your passport and need a new one. Highly secure. Just a guess but I believe this may be due to Sweden's close proximity to Russia and what has always been a strong and friendly relationship between Sweden and the US even though Sweden always maintained a "neutral" status rather than becoming a NATO member. Never any doubt who's side they were on though. And if Turkey could just stop their idiotic games of getting attention, Sweden will soon be part of NATO too along with Finland who's already in. The exact opposite of what Putin had in mind. What a fool he is.

This case is not so simple....In this situation, Russians can't shoot down SR-71, because is too big political and economical risky between Russia - U.S... maybe also Sweden. Remember, Russia is worlds biggest titanium producer and U.S and their world's mighty's army biggest customer, also today. But this is a typical herostory: west vs. east, David vs. Goliath, good vs. evil, 2 Viggen vs. 20 MiG's!!!!!!!. Who count and how many witness, how much is true, how much is hollywood, who ask also MiG -pilots, what happen...? Everyone can think..?.🤔

@@jyrkikoskinen8402 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-y5Z2Bb-wnls.html

Sorry, but thats the Norwegian flag's color... Swedens flag is Blue and Yellow ;)

Swedish flag is actually real nice in its simplicity. Like a suncross over blue water... is how i see it anyway. I hope viggen comes to wt soon, the draken is in at least... guess viggen is too good still compared to what else is in... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LVmyrLK1yDw.html but likely in 2021...we get it

To this day... To this day.

I'd say, he thought he was fucked. As he stated at the end, he wouldn't be here making this video giving his testimony if they didn't take to the skies....

@@per-erikfskerud5425 it’s also the US flag’s colors ;)

And has a catastrophic engine malfunction at 80,000' at Mach 3 and was able to survive that! The stress on that aircraft must of been tremendous. Thank you Sweden for watching out for our pilots that day.

That STILL owns Speed/Altitude records for aircraft.

with British technology

Same way they designed & built the olympic class liners in 1910-11

@@colinsdad1 Known records. A commercial satellite got a picture of a contrail that started from Nevada and it went across the US and miles over the Atlantic ocean. The contrail didn't have enough time to start breaking apart until the aircraft was somewhere over the Atlantic ocean.

Your welcome 🙂

What does QRA viggen mean?

@@Tjompa7 That, I believe is the Quick Reaktion Alert. The 24/7 alert to intercept unknown. They fly with live ammunition.

Draken did it as well. Getting a lock on an SR-71 was not hard. The issue was that no-one could get a firing solution.

@@lothwinmore2536 It is called "Incidentberedskap" ("Incident readiness"). And it is not actually 24/7. The readiness level varies depending on time of day, day of week, weather, national security readiness level, and other factors. At the highest level, the pilots are seated in the cockpit, ready to spin up the engines and be airborne within a few minutes. At lower levels, they can be resting indoors, and have up to an hour to get airborne. And sometimes, there is no readiness at all, simply because "nothing" ever happens at those times anyway. And the reason I know this is that I - as part of my military service - sat as the service crew for a few of these readiness teams.

@@michaelkarnerfors9545 The Swedish pilots named it QRA (quick reaction alert) when speaking English. In Swedish it is as you say “incident beredskap”

XC90: Too big engine in a too small motor bay = cooling issues. I'd strongly advise a MB suv of any type

I guess the cooling issues are not such a problem in Sweden. 🥶

What about "Geely"? Is "Volvo" a Swedish or a more or less "Chinese/Swedish" Brand?

I'm sorry the XC90 is a horrible car, and the big problem is the transmission not the cooling. They lifted the engine and transmission from the S80. In the S80 the trans and engine worked fine, but the XC90 was much heavier than the S80 and overtaxed the transmission causing premature failure.

@@mavo66 Volvo chinese? Of course it is swedish. I am astonished there are people who don't know the country of such a famous company

Jag är också svensk hej Richard

We have your backs as well.

You damned bet ya we would! 😀

America loves Sweden...

@@makeamericagreatagain7314 Sweden loves America...

I wish their cars would do the same.

@@nolongerusing7430 *coughs* They do, look at the amount of stories

@@saab9980 oh ok

@@saab9980 Fantastic cars! I own 4 Saabs, all reliable daily drivers! Saab for life!

Saab for life

You should come back to your homeland some day. You're always welcome :)

Vikings!!👍✌️

@Jeff Clark no, Sweden leaned towards the brits during the 40s. But you'll probably understand why they caved to some of the german demands, if you look at Sweden on a map from back then.

@Jeff Clark No, they did not let Germany use their territory to invade Norway. That's just a stupid lie, the Germans invaded from the sea. They did, however, let one German division pass through on it's way to the Soviet Union. This was one isolated event, and under a German threat of war. Compare that to the allied personnel who was permanently based in Sweden. Sweden even formed an Norwegian and a smaller Danish army in exile, using Swedish armaments, Swedish funds and Swedish training. And that without having to be threatened. Sweden really had no reason to favor Nazi Germany. It was a democratic nation, and heavily dominated by democratic socialists, the SAP. Not only was there a large ideological rift, the SAP had extra close ties with their German counterparts, the SDP. And the SDP was, as we all know, one of the first groups to suffer from Hitlers murderous henchmen. And, finally, with the fall of Denmark and Norway, even large parts of the political right started to shun Hitler, the heyday of pan-Scandinavian sentiments still being in living memory.

@Jeff Clark "German Soldiers on leave". The germans were unarmed, and going in the wrong direction. Permittenttrafiken also didn't start until after the invasion was completed, so I'm really curious how you can twist that into "use swede territory toninvande norway". The Swedish government was told that the Engelbrecht division would make it's way through Swedish territory, either on it's railroads or it'd fight it's way through. Sure, it was controversial, but it's another blatant lie to try and use that as proof that Sweden "leaned to" the nazis. As I said, Sweden caved on a few demands, but only to save herself, not to support the nazis. Check out operation Sonnie (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernt_Balchen#World_War_II), polititroppene (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_police_troops_in_Sweden_during_World_War_II), Den Danske Brigade (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Brigade_in_Sweden) for a few examples. I also know that the brits had intelligence personnel based in Sweden, mostly taking advantage of the telegraph lines running from Oslo to Copenhagen being tapped by the swedes.

@Jeff Clark Again, look at a map from back then. Sweden was totally surrounded by the nazis, of course they're gonna export stuff to them. They did sell ball bearings to the brits aswell, but had to smuggle it through the blockaded Skagerack. Also, no threat in '43? Spring that year was probably the most perilous time for the swedes, except maybe for early 1940. Trading with your de facto only neighbor during a crisis is not in any way, shape or form the same thing as supporting them. Switzerland played the same realpolitik as Sweden. The swiss, for example, attacked and shot down american planes while Sweden practically gave them a whole air field. The swiss also traded heavily with Germany, including strategic materials, not to mention all the looted gold and art that ended up there.

@Jeff Clark We sold iron to Germany, otherwise the Germens would have invaded Sweden. But one thing you have forgotten and it is Bofors automatic cannon that was on all allied ships in the Pacific Ocean it was Swedish cannons that ended the Japanese flight

Sweden is not in nato

​@@No-timeforimbeciles basically been for the longest time, with nato and especially USA. Don't get fooled by Olof Palme, he especially was close to usa. We might have tricked some russians along the way, who knows for how long, as Palme was killed..perhaps by moscow.

😢😢😮😊ü

Free huh... if that was the mission then the military would also be building sustainable housing, work for biotecture and permaculture projects at home as well over seas. They might a little bit, but this should be one of the main objectives. Basis for Higher quality of life

One could say the SR71 team made it to the Referee. And while in company of the referee, your team is off limits.

And it is hard work to keep them. Just sayin ...

Wow! Thanks for sharing your story! Really appreciate it

@@kristofferhellstrom Anytime

Shhh. That part's supposed to be silent you know. The others who have gotten their membership premiums revised lately might get the crazy idea we're skimping out over here.

Not really news to the swedish pepole :)

Yeah, yeah, and that's really doing much well to the world. The Swedish government goes very far in that, they even came up with some weird false accusations against Julian Assange in order to help the most war-mongering entity in the world to get hold of him. And that whilst Stockholm has become the rape capital of the world and none of these brave Swedes is doing anything against it... Bravo!

@@breakbollocks9164 You and APCOPILOT must be real fun at parties. 🙄

@APCOPILOT They're doing what's right because they're intelligent and mature enough to know better.

Bet they are even mentioned as trans-gender neutral and black lies matter :) :) :) (luckily it was well before all this political correct nonsense). Love the SR-71 - the greatest plane ever! Amazing Skunk Works creation (lead by the legendary Kelly Johnson).

Those bastards lied to me!

Dewd!!!! Swede!!! Dewd!!!! Swede!!!

Hahah

Too bad for IKEA and its famous reindeer meatballs...

If you were truly proud to be a Svea you would not have left.

@@matttrafton2725 not sure what you mean?

@@lespolaris6853 Why did you leave? Some Americans, like me, who grew up in this cultural wasteland would love to have had a barndom med underbar kultur.

@@matttrafton2725 Ah, now I see! I was working in the states and met a girl, and moved. Lived in Boston for 5+ years, I am back in Sweden since more than a decade now thus. My initial comment was probably not 100% clear. :)

@@lespolaris6853 Then you a back where you belong. Lycka till.