Saab 18 The SAAB 18 was a twin - engine bomber and reconnaissance aircraft , designed and built for use by the Swedish Air Force by Svenska Aeroplan AB ( SAAB ) in response to a 1938 design competition . Due to delays , it did not enter service until 1944 , but quickly became the standard Swedish bomber aircraft . Serving in the bomber , reconnaissance and ground - attack roles , it also assisted in the development of ejection seats and air - to - surface guided missile s until its replacement by the Saab Lansen in the late 1950s . Design and development . Intended as a replacement for the Junkers Ju 86 in service with the Swedish Air Force , the requirement that led to the Saab 18 called for a three - seat fast reconnaissance aircraft . AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstädernas Aeroplanavdelning ( ASJA ) , SAAB , and AB Götaverken ( GV ) submitted designs for consideration by the Swedish Air Force . GV ' s GV8 appeared to be the best suited to the requirement ; however , its cost and the departure of their chief designer resulted in SAAB — the company having merged with ASJA in the meantime — being awarded a contract for development of their design . As a number of Americans were on the design staff of SAAB and ASJA , the Saab 18 ' s design shared some similarities with American designs . The outbreak of World War II in 1939 led to a change of priorities by the Swedish Air Force , and production of the Saab 17 was accelerated , at the expense of work on the Saab 18 , which , along with a change of requirements that added the role of medium bomber to the specification , resulted in the first flight of the aircraft being delayed until 19 June 1942 . Manned by a crew of three — a pilot and navigator under a glazed , offset canopy , and a bombardier in the nose — the Saab 18 prototype was a mid - wing monoplane with twin vertical stabiliser s , and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R - 1830 Twin Wasp radial engines . Armament consisted of three machine guns , one fixed firing forwards and controlled by the pilot , the others being in flexible defensive mounts for use by the navigator and bombardier . Up to of bombs could be carried in an internal bay , while up to eight bombs could be carried on underwing hardpoints . Flight testing showed that the aircraft was underpowered . However , as there was no immediate prospect for the acquisition of more powerful engines , the Saab 18 was ordered into production in both bomber ( B 18A ) and reconnaissance ( S 18A ) versions . Operational history . The B 18A entered service in June 1944 , and quickly became Sweden ' s standard medium bomber aircraft . As license - built Daimler - Benz DB 605 liquid - cooled , inline engines had become available , they were incorporated into the improved Saab 18B , which first flew on 10 July 1944 . Ordered into production as the B 18B dive bomber , the 18B design was further developed into the T 18B , which was planned to be a torpedo bomber variant . Due to difficulties with the torpedoes , however , the T 18B was instead developed into a heavy ground - attack aircraft , mounting a Bofors cannon under the nose . By the late 1940s , the third crewmember ' s position had been eliminated , reducing the crew of the aircraft to two ; the provision of air - to - ground rockets and improved bombsight s had removed the requirement for a bombardier . By this time the Saab 18 had established a reputation for suffering a serious rate of attrition , and this led to the decision to outfit all of the surviving aircraft with ejection seats for the pilot and navigator / gunner . Production of the Saab 18 totaled 245 examples , with the last T 18B being delivered in 1948 . Used in trials of early Swedish air - to - surface missiles , the Saab 18 remained one of Sweden ' s frontline ground attack and reconnaissance platforms until the late 1950s , when it was replaced by the jet - powered , swept wing Saab 32 Lansen , the B 18B and T 18B being replaced by the A 32A in 1958 , with the last S 18As being replaced by S 32Cs in 1959 . Survivors . Only a single example of the Saab 18 survives today : a B 18B , " Red David " , at the Swedish Air Force Museum , one of a group of eight aircraft lost in a snowstorm in 1946 , that was recovered and restored in 1979 .