Image by Andreas Mathiasson

Europe is littered with abandoned military airfields.  Most have reverted back to the farmland they sprang from when war beckoned, their cracked runways and dispersals overcome by weeds.  Rarely are they inhabited by the wrecked remains of old fighter planes, but Rinkaby in Sweden is one of those rare exceptions.

Image by Jorchr

The former Rinkaby military airfield is used today as a shooting range to train Swedish, Danish and Norwegian soldiers in all aspects of combat.  The gate to the site is guarded by this Saab Draken (above), displayed in a dramatic take off pose.  But while it looks externally intact, this old fighter plane is a stripped-out old airframe with no engine or cockpit instrumentation to speak of.

Images by Andreas Mathiasson

Still, it has fared better than most of its aluminium counterparts at the site.  Less well known – due to the lack of public access at Rinkaby – is that at the far end of the base, several Draken airframes are rotting away along with other dumped examples of redundant military hardware.

Images via Google Earth

The images above from Google Earth show three concrete runways, with the “displayed” Draken towards the top of the picture (and inset).  To the right of the southernmost runway, adjacent to a copse of trees, can clearly be seen two more derelict Saab Drakens and a plethora of assorted debris that could once lay claim to being planes and vehicles.

Images by Andreas Mathiasson

Upon closer inspection, the state of these vehicles is obviously very poor.  The old training aircraft on the back of the trailer is more stripped-out hulk than plane.  Its cockpit control panels and space where the pilots’ seats were once fixed is now a mass of battered metal and tangled wiring.

Images by Andreas Mathiasson

The twisted remains of a third Draken suggests the vehicles have been – or soon will be – used as range targets.  All that’s left of this former fighter is a broken fuselage riddled with small arms fire, with torn and twisted metal around the engine nozzle.  The future certainly looks bleak for the other two (relatively) intact Draken airframes and trucks nearby.  With that in mind, the fuel drums and rusting iron bombs (bottom left) are an even more ominous warning of things to come…

Sincere thanks to Andreas Mathiasson for these rare images.  You can view more great photos at his website.  In addition, be sure to check out more abandoned aircraft at 28DL.

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