COBI Saab AJ 37 Viggen Set 5915

COBI's Saab AJ 37 Viggen is a 1:48 model built from 881 blocks, 33 cm long, in Swedish Air Force grey with the tail number 22. The ailerons and wheels move, the cockpit opens for the included pilot figure, and an Rb 04 anti-ship missile is fitted. A collector's stand with a double movable pivot and a plate carrying the name, scale and Swedish flag is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.

The missile under the fuselage is the point

AJ stands for Attack, Jakt — attack first, air combat second — and the Rb 04 hanging beneath this aircraft is what the version was built around.

Sweden has a very long coastline and, in the Cold War, a realistic fear of an amphibious landing. Saab began developing an anti-ship missile in the 1950s, and the Rb 04 that resulted was among the first in the world to fly to its target and find the ship itself — the launching aircraft turned away as soon as the weapon was released, rather than guiding it in.

That mattered enormously to a small air force. A pilot who has to steer his own missile must stay pointed at a warship's air defences for the length of the flight. One who does not can attack from low level, release, and be gone before anyone sees him.

The engine came from an airliner

Sweden needed serious thrust and had no intention of designing an engine from scratch, so Volvo licensed the Pratt & Whitney JT8D — the engine of the Boeing 727 and the DC-9, one of the most-produced civil jets in history — and bolted an afterburner onto the back of it.

That had never been done to a civil turbofan. It required a new turbine and a reworked compressor, and the resulting RM8 gave the Viggen more thrust than anything else in Europe at the time. It is a good illustration of how a small country builds a serious air force: take what exists, and change only what must be changed.

In the COBI range

Set 5911 is the AJS 37, the 1990s multi-role upgrade with a thrust reverser and cluster dispensers. Set 5820 is the Gripen, which replaced the Viggen.

Specifications

Pieces: 881 · Figures: 1 pilot · Scale: 1:48 · Age: 9+ · Rb 04 missile included · No stickers
Model dimensions: 33 × 22.5 × 12.5 cm (13.0 × 8.9 × 4.9 in)