Maintaining Neutrality By Force: SAAB J 21

In this video, we talk about a Swedish plane from World War 2, the SAAB J 21, an unorthodox twin-boom fighter and ground attacker with a pusher-prop. We first talk about Sweden during the opening stages of WW2, looking at their rapid increase in military spending, short term moves to shore up their military through purchases of planes like the Fiat Cr.42, Gloster Gladiator, and Seversky P-35. We also look at some of their actions in appeasing both Allied and Axis countries, from allowing Nazi Germany to move troops through Sweden after Operation Barbarossa (and in the Invasion of Norway) to taking in thousands of Jewish refugees on the other side.

We then look at the J 21 itself, their attempt to make an advanced, homegrown fighter that could match the fighters Germany and the Soviet Union, their two biggest fears, had. We discuss the positives and negatives of the design and how it tested and compared to other fighters from the era. We then look at a post-war advancement of the J 21, the J 21R, Sweden's first jet fighter that swapped the propeller out with a jet thruster. We then look at that design and its relatively short career into the 1950's.

We then conclude with a fun fact about Ikea, because I couldn't think of another way to transition to the end the video.

[JTA]

Who among us hasn't been guilty of falling for a good Saab story...

[Hiznogood]

As a Swede I have mixed feelings about our actions during the WWII. But I understand our politicians didn’t have much choice in the beginning of the war as our defenses was not strong enough to repel a Nazi invasion and for many the bigger threat was the Soviet Union as they had invaded our brothers in Finland. Later on when the Nazis brutality in Norway was more known, the attitude towards Germany changed among the citizens. Sweden also sold the so crucial ball bearings to the British, without them they would had problems building all those airplane motors.

Sweden also wired tapped the telegraph and phone lines going from occupied Norway to Germany and shared that information with the Allies. A police force made up by Norwegian refugees was put up in Sweden by the Norwegian government. They where meant to fight the Nazis and take over before any Soviet forces could had tried to invade when the Nazis left.

But still we sold iron ore to Germany and even if we had refused they most likely would had invaded Sweden too. So, what do you do when you’re between a rock and a hard place? Remember, the USA only got into the war in Europe after Germany declared war against them. Before that they where “neutral”.

[BHuang]

Arguably the best pusher fighter to see service and one of the few aircraft that transition into a jet aircraft successfully.

[krautyvonlederhosen]

Present time Sweden’s superior iron ore is an asset which cannot be overlooked with so much of the world recycling. The metal going into their large diesel engines is legendary, I had the privilege of working on the Polar Nohab. Excellent .

[wombatsauce]

Actually got to see one of these at the F15 museum in Söderhamn here in Sweden. It is very tall! Really fascinating plane. One of the people there was saying that they were hoping to restore the engine to running capability but was not sure the plane would fly again, but still neat to hear.

[lelmone]

In addition to being among the very few pusher configuration prop fighters to see military service, it was also one of only three prop-to-jet conversions to see any sort of serial production, the other two being the Yak-15 and the Supermarine Attacker. Great physical example of how Sweden did and still does like to design aircraft in unconventional and roundabout ways compared to the rest western world.

[DeeEight]

The Sverige-class coastal defence ships would be another example of how Sweden did defense differently in WW1/WW2. As fast as your typical WW1 battleship (23.5 kts), armored better than most battlecruisers of the era within the displacement of a light cruiser. The three of them were enough of a deterrant that neither the soviet nor german navies went anywhere near their waters during the war unless they had prior permission to do so. These three ships, easily out-classed the remaining Deutchland's and Hipper class heavy cruisers in terms of protection and firepower and thanks to that and about a four foot shallower draft could even give the Scharnhorst battleships a reason to be someplace else in the confined coastal waters of sweden.

[mikeinmelbourne]

Such a beautiful looking aircraft. Always been a fav.

[ThatsMrPencilneckU]

If Sweden sided with the Axis, Russia would have overrun Finland and invaded them from the East. Had they sided with the Allies, well, Germany had already overrun Norway, so it's not hard to image the consequences. As long as Sweden stayed neutral, the threat of allying themselves with the other side made invading them meant one more enemy where everybody had more than enough.

[edrosenquist]

Another great video!!! Your approach is perfect!!! Informative and fun. Keep it

[ronaldbyrne]

I’ve seen the kit boxes of this aircraft for years and years, and always thought the J21 was a post-WWII development. Until this video. 👍🏻🙂

[warpartyattheoutpost]

Swapping out the pusher prop for a jet engine reminds me of Japan's plans for the J7W Shinden.

[Snobiker]

Like most other countries at the time we tried to avoid being invaded or bombed by anyone. We were lucky to pull it off.

[markgarin]

They always had creative designs....love the AJ-37

[AnthonyHandcock]

All hail the Billy Bookcase. Mine is about 25 years old and still going strong.

I was never a student.

[retepeyahaled]

Good video. You could have made a good end to this video by stating that the real contribution of the J21 was that it was convertible to a jet plane and that it thereby gave Saab the opportunity to become a top quality Swedish flight industry up until this day.

[onkelmicke]

There was also the FFVS J22, a more conventional plane in production during the war.

[ErikssonTord_]

The Saab was one of the first aircraft with an ejection seat (cannon-powered, not rocket like most use today)

[lotharvonrichthofen]

J22 was an interesting single engined aircraft

Also, Sweden had some pilots that flew Gloster Gladiators for Finland against the Bolshevik Kommies

[RalfJosefFries]

in your introduction, it would be great (and perhaps fair) to also mention the french-english "Plan R 4" for the occupation of norway, sweden and finland - that was then canceled after the unlucky "operation Wilfried" and the start of the operation "weserübung" (german occupation of danmark and norway). I don´t want to "excuse" the german occupation of danmark and sweden, but I think it should at least be mentioned, that the english and french military also had some "plans" for skandinavia... unfortunatly the "Plan R 4" is today one of the great secrets of WW II that nobody wants to speak about - it scratches too much on the idea of "good vs. evil" - but how can you learn from history, when you only accept some of the storys (those that fit in your image how WW II was) but not all? And it should also be mentioned, that there was an large influence of german nazi-propaganda and nazi-espionage in danmark, norway, finland and sweden - hitler and his regime believed (also based on racial convictions about the "solidarity of aryan nations") that there was an large part of the population in these 4 countrys that supported the "aryan cause" and that will (one day) overthrow their governments and then fight side by side with germany. (An conviction that was total nonsense) - so that the idea of germany invading sweden was never realy an topic in the german headquarters: Sweden was always very willing to sell ore from the swedisch mines and other raw materials to the axis - at very favorable conditions - and was always very, lets say "flexible" about the realisation of it´s neutrality. And germany had other problems in those days than opening an new front... so the "need" for an swedish fighter was not so urgent as here implicated - more a thing of symbolic action and more to keep up with technology (succesfull) and, above all, a matter of national pride!