The Hunter Mk.50 (designated the J34) was acquired by Sweden in 1954, after being considered for an interceptor aircraft that would mainly attack bombers at high altitudes. The J34 could be considered as a stop gap while the J35 Draken was still in development. While the J29 Tunnan was the backbone of the Swedish Air Force, the Hunter was deployed around Stockholm to protect the capital from incoming bombers. It was given to the F8 and F18 air wings and, while it retained its standard armament, it was also armed with the RB24 air-to-air missile. The J34's biggest flaw proved to be its lack of radar, this meant successful interceptions could only happen in daytime and with clear skies (this probably motivated SAAB to give the J35 Draken all-weather capabilities). Sweden acquired 120 J34s; they started to be phased out in favour of the more modern J35 in the 1960s, being given to less prominent air wings like the F9 and F10 squadrons. The last J34 in service was retired in 1969.
Introduced in Update "Fire and Ice", the J34, like all Hunters, is a very capable subsonic fighter, it sits in the transonic area, where its speed is very close to breaking the sound barrier. Topping out at 1109 km/h when fully upgraded, you will see yourself out speeding even supersonic fighters. This is because the J34 has a very good acceleration above 700 km/h. Its armament is also very capable against air targets, the four 30 mm ADEN cannons can destroy most aircraft with a short burst, while the RB24 missiles are very useful to attack enemies that are distracted or moving slow. You also hold your energy pretty well, being capable to energy trap aircraft like the MiG-21, Milan and other delta wing fighters with ease, however it should be noted that the manoeuvrability below 700 km/h is very bad, and since the aircraft lacks countermeasures, staying fast and agile is your best chance to stay alive.
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Belt | Belt filling | Armor penetration (mm) at a distance: | |||||
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10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1000 m | 1500 m | 2000 m | ||
AP/HEI-T | 37 | 34 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 5 | |
AP/HEI-T/AP | 37 | 34 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 5 | |
HEF-I/HEI-T | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
AP/HEF-I | 37 | 34 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 5 |
Flight performance | |
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Survivability |
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Weaponry | |
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