Saab's original project for the Saab-29
had envisaged it as a conventional monoplane powered by a de Havilland Goblin turbojet, but information on German swept-wing research which became available soon after the end of hostilities in Europe (combined with development of the more powerful de Havilland Ghost turbojet) resulted in redesign to incorporate these features. As the company had no experience of the behaviour of a swept wing it was decided to use a Saab Safir lightplane to test a wing of this configuration, a reduced-scale wing with 25° of sweep-back being installed and flown on this aircraft. Negotiations were initiated with de Havilland for licence-production of the Ghost turbojet in Sweden. The first of four Saab-29 prototypes was flown initially on 1 September 1948, but it was not until the spring of 1951 that the aircraft was ordered into production, being the first aircraft in its class to be production-built in Western Europe. Of cantilver shoulder-wing monoplane configuration, the Saab-29 had retractable tricycle landing gear, its powerplant mounted within the rotund fuselage, and with the pilot accommodated on an ejection seat in a pressurised cockpit.
Saab J 29A fighters began to enter service with the Flygvapen later in 1951, the type remaining in production until
April 1956, by which time a total of 661 had been built. They remained in service until 1958 when their gradual replacement by the Saab-32 Lansen began, and in 1961-2 30 ex-Flygvapen J 29Fs were supplied to Austria.
