Book excerpt: The Saab 37 Viggen is a Swedish single-engine, short-medium range combat aircraft. Development work on the type was initiated at Saab in 1952 and, following the selection of a radical delta wing configuration, the resulting aircraft performed its first flight on 8 February 1967 and Viggen entered service in 21 June 1971. In November 2005, the Viggen was retired from service by the Swedish Air Force, the only aircraft operator. Viggen was the first canard design produced in quantity. This book is the most comprehensive on the Viggen yet published in English, with numerous photographs of the aircraft in service, several of which have never been published before, walkaround photographs of the preserved aircraft, illustrations from contemporary manuals, and color artwork.