1985: The Draken Controversy

In 1985, following a lengthy discussion, the Austrian Federal Government decided to purchase 24 used Saab J 35 “Draken” fighter jets for the expansion of aerial surveillance. The planes, which had a residual operating life of about 10 years, had previously been in service with the Swedish Air Force and had undergone a major overhaul before being sold to Austria. As a result of the provisions of the Austrian State Treaty, the most significant technical change was the necessary dismantling of the guided missile system so that the aircraft would only have two cannons available as armament. The acquisition of the Draken fighter jets generated intense reactions from the political opposition and in the daily press, which polemicised against the purchase of alleged “junk planes” that were already over 20 years old. The climax of the debate generated two referenda, in 1985 and 1986, against the purchase of the planes and against their being stationed in Styria. These referenda, however, did not end up changing the previous political decisions. The planes arrived in Austria as of January 1988 and henceforth formed the backbone of the country’s aerial surveillance, not least in the context of the Slovenian War of Independence in the summer of 1991. Only in October 2005, 10 years later than planned, were the Draken planes, following 17 years of accident-free flight operations, definitively decommissioned from the Austrian armed forces.