The Air Force needed to equip the two fighter wings F 8 (Barkaby) and F 18 (Tullinge) near Stockholm with modern aircraft before the SAAB J 35 Draken was ready for service. Their mission were primary to intercept enemy bombers, which were expected to attack our country from high altitudes. 

The Hawker Hunter had been delivered in quantity to the RAF. The Swedish Air Force decided to order 120 Hawker Hunter Mk 50 from Britain. The deliveries started in August of 1955 and the last Hunter was in Swedish service about two years later. The Swedish designation became J 34.  

The J 34 was not fitted with radar (as the successor J 35 Draken)  and  was consequently a pure day fighter aircraft. Its flying characteristics was excellent. It was a fast aircraft - maximum speed 1.150 km/h in spite of the fact that the Rolls-Royce Avon 23 (RM 5B) engine lacked an after-burner. The engine gave a thrust of 4.080 kp.  

The armaments were from the beginning four 30 mm Aden automatic cannons. Later it could be equipped with two Sidewinder missiles (Swedish designation Rb 24).  

Wing F 8 was disbanded in the beginning of the sixties. Their J 34s were transferred to F 9 at Säve just outside Gothenburg. When F 18 got their new J 35 Draken, their Hawker Hunters served at F 9 and F 10 (Ängelholm) until 1969.    

For the Model Builder

Revell has made a model of Hawker Hunter F Mk 6 in scale 1:72. Catalouge number is 04350. Click on the thumbnail to see Amazon.co.uk's page for this model. 

Updated 2011-09-14