aviation - the past, present and future of flight

Gripen as a new fighter to replace the ageing

F-5 Tiger II. As a result, the existing Hornet

fleet’s hours are being stretched.

A potential US Foreign Military Sale

(FMS) transaction approved in August last

year, and valued at $115m, will give the

F/A-18s a mid-life update beyond the Link 16

addition and Upgrade 21. New equipment

would include Rockwell Collins ARC-210/RT-

1990A radios, with NATO Saturn frequency-

hopping capabilities, a Joint Helmet-Mounted

Cueing System, night-vision cueing

displays and ADS-B reporting. The existing

Raytheon APG-73 radar would have software

enhancements, with spares for the ALQ-165

jammer sets also included.

Since the beginning of Swiss Hornet

operations, there has been a constant

exchange of pilots both to and from the US

Navy. Some Swiss pilots have even become

carrier-qualified, but obviously never officially

deployed, as Switzerland remains a strictly

neutral country.

Swiss Hornet aircrew have also

exchanged to Dassault Mirage 2000

squadrons in Dijon and Luxeuil, France, and

to fly the Gripen in Sweden.

One of the issues Switzerland has with

operating American fighter jets is the way

the US insists on having an administrative

control of its export sales. Procedures dictate

that avionics containing encryption and

satellite navigation instrumentation, as well

as missile technology, are kept locked away

at all times when the Hornets are not flying.

The Swiss Air Force, therefore, has

to send its own security teams when the

F/A-18s fly abroad. These procedures are

frequently audited and occasionally practised

with deployments to Geneva or Zürich

international airports, where the pilot has

to maintain guard of his own aircraft until

security arrives.

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 31

Top: In the early 2000s, Dübendorf still housed fighter jets. The advantage of the naval concept

wing-folding Hornet was that it also saved space at a regular airfield.

Above: Two 17 Sqn Hornets departing Payerne airfield’s Runway 05 in the west of Switzerland.

Below: An F/A-18C seen over mountainous terrain in central Switzerland during a dawn patrol.

28-33_swiss_hornetsDC.mfDC.indd 31 05/02/2018 12:56