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DEFENCE

flightglobal.com 8-14 March 2016 | Flight International | 21

India demand is a

big draw for Airbus

NEWS FOCUS P 23

A

second effort to pave the way

for Switzerland to acquire a

new fighter is about to begin, after

the rejection of a planned Saab

Gripen purchase following a ref-

erendum in 2014.

The Swiss public rejected the

government’s proposed purchase

of 22 Gripens to replace the

nation’s Northrop F-5s two years

ago, but defence minister Guy

Parmelin announced on 24

February that a preparatory period

is due to begin that will restart the

fighter acquisition.

The government says, after the

launch of preparation work by the

federal department of defence in

“spring 2016”, a study into the

acquisition of a new fighter will be

submitted to parliament in 2017.

Parmelin will form a group of

experts to produce a report outlin-

ing the needs of the armed forces

and the future of the Boeing

F/A-18C/D and F-5 fleets. The

group will be led by the chief of

staff of the army and supervised

by the chief of the army and the

chief of armament.

The government says, while the

Gripen E was rejected, the need to

replace its F-5s remains, and the

delay has added to the concern of

what will happen when Bern’s

31-strong F/A-18 fleet needs re-

placing. “[The F/A-18], although

technically up to scratch, is inevi-

tably nearing the end of its expect-

ed useful life, in 2025,” the gov-

ernment says. “If this deadline

should be extended five years, an

estimated Swfr500 million [$504

million] should be invested.”

The government says selection

of a new aircraft will be in 2020,

with deliveries beginning in 2025.

Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer

database shows the Swiss air

force’s F/A-18 fleet to be between

16 and 18 years old, while the F-5

fleet is 37 years old. ■

Second bid due for Swiss F-5 fleet replacement

PROCUREMENT BETH STEVENSON LONDON

T

he head of the US Air Mobility

Command says he is not over-

ly concerned about the Boeing

KC-46A Pegasus’s eight-month

development delay, and legacy

McDonnell Douglas KC-10 and

Boeing KC-135 tankers will not

start retiring until the next-genera-

tion asset is ready for combat.

Gen Carlton Everhart says he

plans to meet his counterpart at

the Air Force Materiel Command

to decide on an achievable initial

operating capability (IOC) time-

line once the $6.5 billion KC-46

development effort reaches pro-

duction. That “milestone C” deci-

sion is expected by May.

Everhart will announce an IOC

date after weighing progress vari-

ables, such as base construction

and modernisation and aircraft

delivery, as well as aircrew, boom

operator and maintainer training.

IOC could occur any time from

late 2017 to 2018. “It’s going to be

a realistic date out there and I

want to be able to meet it,” he told

the Air Warfare Symposium in

Orlando, Florida on 25 February.

The air force’s programme

executive officer for tankers

recently said Boeing intends to

deliver the initial 18 operational

tankers to the first combat-coded

squadron and training base from

March 2017 to August 2017, to

achieve a contractual required-as-

sets milestone. The USAF will

buy 15 KC-46A aircraft per year,

starting in fiscal year 2017.

Recent tests have moved the

programme closer to a milestone

C decision. The first boom contact

with a Lockheed Martin F-16

occurred on 24 January, with

726kg (1,600lb) of fuel transferred,

and during a Boeing F/A-18 dem-

onstration on 10 February,

1,310kg of fuel was transferred via

the KC-46’s centreline drogue sys-

tem. This was followed by a 635kg

transfer from the left and right

wing aerial refuelling pods.

A KC-10 then passed 2,810kg of

fuel to the KC-46 on 13 February

during a milestone test for the pro-

gramme.

The next demonstration will

involve probe-and-drogue testing

with a US Marine Corps Boeing

AV-8B Harrier II, followed by

boom refuelling of a Fairchild Re-

public A-10 and Boeing C-17

transport. The tanker must refuel

the three types to satisfy the mile-

stone C decision review board that

plans to convene in April/May. ■

DEVELOPMENT JAMES DREW ORLANDO

Pegasus charges toward production

Continued success in testing phase keeps 767-based KC-46A on track for milestone C decision by May, US Air Force says

Paul Weatherman/Boeing

The new-generation tanker received almost 3t of fuel from a legacy KC-10 during mid-February trial

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