Swiss Lightning?

Interview with Mike Kelley, Managing Director of Lockheed Martin Switzerland. In a swiss (boulevard) newspaper.

https://translate.google.ch/translate?h ... 81318.html

The SH are arrived.

https://translate.google.ch/translate?h ... janSpmSdXY

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government will split off its purchase of new fighter jets from its order of new surface-to-air defenses, it said on Thursday, setting a budget of 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.96 billion) for the jets alone.

https://news.yahoo.com/swiss-carve-figh ... nance.html

Switzerland earmarks Swfr6 billion for fighter replacement
17 May 2019 Michael Gubisch

"Switzerland's government has allocated Swfr6 billion ($5.85 billion) to replace by 2030 the nation's ageing Boeing F/A-18 and Northrop F-5 fighters as part of a wider overhaul of its air defences. The government states that the federal defence department has been tasked to draft by early September a procurement proposal, which has then to be approved first by the country's parliament and then voters via a referendum. However, that public vote will only cover the programme's budget – not the type and number of aircraft to be procured....

...The F/A-18s will reach the end of their service life by 2030, while the F-5s can only be operated for air policing operations in daylight and good visibility, the government says. It argues that the F-5s would "not stand a chance against a modern opponent".…"

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... la-458236/

This split of the surface to air & fighter acquisition will unfortunately probably doom the buy when the referendum rolls around. The entire Left are against spending on fighter aircraft and that may be enough, with a low voter turnout, to make the governement lose. I'm really not confident on how this is going to end up.

The Rafale is arrived in Payerne.

https://www.facebook.com/48011732912332 ... 025679700/

4 F-35A are arrived in Switzerland ( Payerne) for Testing.


https://www.facebook.com/armee.ch/video ... 856329030/


https://www.facebook.com/denise.frey.18 ... EfPq1sYnfk

That last photo of the F-35 is awesome indeed. I specially like the coloring of the sun reflecting on the F-35 (during sunset or sunrise?).

Swiss, do you happen to have a higher resolution version of that photo (or a link for that) ?

That last photo of the F-35 is awesome indeed. I specially like the coloring of the sun reflecting on the F-35 (during sunset or sunrise?).

Swiss, do you happen to have a higher resolution version of that photo (or a link for that) ?

Sadly not Ric. Its from a private FB page.

Sadly not Ric. Its from a private FB page.

Roger that Swiss.

After downloading the photo, I noticed that its resolution is not bad afterall (it's 1680x1120). Thanks for sharing it

Sadly not Ric. Its from a private FB page.

Roger that Swiss.

After downloading the photo, I noticed that its resolution is not bad afterall (it's 1680x1120). Thanks for sharing it

Your welcome Ric.

Air2030: Flug- und Bodenerprobung neues Kampfflugzeug (April bis Juni 2019): F-35A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72nPZYJkk7I [a female F-35A pilot seen in video]
Air2030: Flight and ground testing of new fighter aircraft (April to June 2019): F-35A

And of the four, they had to highlight the woman pilot. Not so subtle PC bullsh!t, nobody's fooled. She's there to fill a quota.

In other news, it's all over for the competition. None of the other aircraft under consideration will stand a chance, especially as the CPFH of the F-35 continues to trend downward.

All of Europe is going to be buying this thing, and with good reason: It simply outperforms everything else (except the F-22), by a country mile..

@mixelflick: never underestimate the power of a referendum in Switzerland on acquisition of these aircraft. That's the only thing that matters, at a time of rising environmentalist sentiment that is as Luddite as it comes. Switzerland is one of the few countries to have a lobby called "For Switzerland without Armed Forces". Aircraft choice won't matter if they have their game running to a tick, as I currently fear.

Flight Evaluations Begin For Swiss Fighter Contest
08 Apr 2019 Tony Osborne

"LONDON—Switzerland has begun flight evaluations of the combat aircraft bidding to be the country’s next fighter. Two Eurofighter Typhoons will touch down at Payerne airbase this week for the first of five two-week evaluations which are being conducted alphabetically by manufacturer name....

...Swiss officials say eight missions will be flown as part of the two-week evaluation, each with one or two aircraft. The tests will confirm the capabilities and performance of the aircraft against details of the offers submitted by the governments and the manufacturers. At least one of the missions will be flown at night.

Prior to the flight-test program in Switzerland, Swiss test pilots undertake simulator training work in the country of manufacture. “This is the only way to ensure that all candidates have the same test conditions,” says Bernhard Berset, project manager for the flight-testing program in Switzerland, in an interview published on the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports’ website.

He notes that flying in-country allows aircraft sensors to be tested against the same targets in the same environment and it also “ensures that the new systems will work in harmony with existing systems and infrastructures,” he said. It is unclear whether this also includes the ability to use the mountain cavern hangars at airfields like Meiringen in the Alps....

...Under current plans, the next aircraft to be evaluated will be the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, with the aircraft due to arrive in late April. These will be followed by the Dassault Rafale and the Lockheed Martin F-35 in May and Saab’s JAS-39E Gripen in early June. The deployment of the Gripen E will represent the first hops outside Sweden for the new Gripen variant."

Source: https://aviationweek.com/defense/flight ... er-contest

With the short runways of the Swiss, there is no way the typhoon and its canards in front would make it , imo.

Rafale is a bit under powered, but then so is the Gripen and F35 while the super hornet is getting heavier by the day.