aviation - the past, present and future of flight

C

old War nervousness was easing

when Switzerland reassessed the

threats it faced in the mid-1990s.

A large  eet of vintage Hawker

Hunter ground attack aircraft was retired

in 1994 and the Dassault Mirage IIIs faced

their swan song. The Mirage IIIS  eet were

eventuallly stood down in 1999 and the recce

IIIRS in 2003.

Referendums are used to make many

national decisions in Switzerland and, in

1993, a proposed ban on new warplanes was

defeated at the polls, paving the way for the

purchase of 26 F/A-18C and eight F/A-18D

Hornets. All but two of the airframes were

assembled in Emmen by SF, a government-

owned aerospace company, since renamed

RUAG Aviation. The  rst example completed

in Switzerland took to the air for the  rst time

on October 3,1996. The Swiss Hornet  eet is

essentially the same build as US Navy C and

D models from the late 1990s.

The  rst unit to become operational on the

Hornet was 17 Sqn at Payerne in June 1997,

followed by 18 Sqn in the spring of 1998 and

then 11 Sqn, initially based at Dübendorf until

2005, but then moving to Meiringen when

jet  ghter operations ceased at the Zürich

air eld.

In 1997, the Swiss Air Force’s  ying

doctrine was very much as a national

self-contained force, with the exception of

a few excursions to Sweden, Sardinia and

annual dissimilar air combat training at RAF

Waddington, Lincolnshire.

Historically, information exchanges took

place with the US and Israel, but the sight of

Swiss  ghter jets abroad was a rarity, apart

from air show displays by the Hunters and

then Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs of the Patrouille

Suisse display team.

The arrival of the Hornet  eet changed

this and multiple non-NATO and NATO

exercises and events are now attended. The

most common deployments have been to

Ørland in Norway for the Nightway exercises,

but Luleå in northern Sweden has also seen

many Swiss visits for the Arctic Challenge

drills. Switzerland has limited airspace

and restrictions on low-level  ying and

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 29

Main photo: Hornets just west of Interlaken, returning to Payerne, after a dawn patrol. Wing tip-

mounted AIM-9X and Link 16 antenna are clearly visible. All photos Peter Lewis

Top: A 17 Sqn marked F/A-18 J-5017 from 15 years ago, landing on Runway 29 at Dübendorf.

carrying an AIM-9P Sidewinder on the right wing tip.

Below: Breaking above Lake Brienz. Swiss Hornets always  y domestic patrols with a central

fuel tank advising intercepted aircraft to contact the international VHF distress frequency.

28-33_swiss_hornetsDC.mfDC.indd 29 05/02/2018 12:56