The JA37 Viggen is probably one of the few planes that managed to get a missile lock on the SR-71. This was mainly to try to push the northern flight path (over

The JA37 Viggen is probably one of the few planes that managed to get a missile lock on the SR-71. This was mainly to try to push the northern flight path (over Norway, then onwards over Russia) to pass north of Sweden, instead of crossing Sweden. Take a route of JA37, ascending on full afterburner at about 45 degrees, coordinating with fighter control (military ATC, also trained to assist fighters during air-to-air combat), so as to enable the missile targeting systems when the SR-71 would be in an optimal position in the cone. Most probably, the SR-71 would've been safe even if the missiles had been fired, but the goal was never to take it down, just to make them shift the overflight pattern to no longer be in Swedish airspace.