Swiss Air Force - Patrouille Suisse patch.
February 19, 2013
The outcry caused by the announcement of the "death" of the Swiss aerobatic team, the defense minister backtracked. But the aircraft will lose the Swiss colors.
The Swiss army will continue to have an aerobatic flight training, but not in red and white, said the defense minister in an interview. It would cost 50 million francs more each year to keep the F-5 Tiger aircraft currently used by the Patrouille Suisse, he said.
Actual colors of the Patrouille Suisse with F-5E Tiger II
In its previous announcement, he called the Patrouille Suisse of "Folklore" and claimed that his grounding was motivated by economic reasons. In reaction to these remarks, many politicians and citizens have exclaimed: "It is as bad to buy a plane that Gripen is Folklore".
Reactions to a possible suppression of the Patrouille Suisse surprised, says defense minister in an interview published Tuesday by the newspaper "Nordwestschweiz." "It has been clear for months with the shelved F-5 Tiger Patrouille Suisse no longer exist in its current form."
If Tiger F-5 were retained, the Air Force possesses three fleets after the planned purchase of Swedish Gripen: F/A-18, Gripen and the Tiger. According to the minister of defense, he "would cost 30 million francs more than today."
"We can not afford it." But the army will continue to have training in aerobatics. "We have planes and pilots trained accordingly. But we can not paint the Swiss cross on the devices. "
Problem of quantity
There is a problem of quantity, says the head of the Department of Defense (DDPS). The Air Force currently has 54 Tiger yet. Eleven of them made up the Patrouille Suisse. In the future, Switzerland will have more than 55 Gripen and F/A-18. "We can not do paint ten of them."
The defense minister said last week that the aerobatic formation of the Swiss army colors should disappear aviation landscape. He made the announcement at a meeting of the Committee of the security policy of the National Council.
F/A-18 Hornet in Patrouille Suisse, the question remains open
The question whether the Patrouille Suisse fly with Gripen or F/A-18 remains open, said the defense minister. The old Tiger could still fly two or three years. "But then it would definitely be finished."
Editor Note: there is actually a bigger problem of quantity, as I wrote in a previous article (see links at the end of the article), the performance of the Gripen are so inadequate that 3 Gripen to make the work of a Rafale, so to ensure all future missions with only 22 aircraft, the choice of the Rafale should win, it's a safe bet that the file will end in popular vote and in this case, the Gripen will be refused.
The Rafale, the best choice for Swiss Air Force!
Discover or read previous articles on this issue:
Choice of a new fighter aircraft of the Swiss Air Force: Description and comparison:
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/01/choice-of-new-fighter-aircraft-of-swiss.html
Swiss Air Force - The Gripen saga continues ...:
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/02/swiss-air-force-gripen-saga-continues.html
Patrouille Suisse: a boss flies to the rescue:
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2013/02/patrouille-suisse-boss-flies-to-rescue.html
Images, Text, Credits: ATS / Swiss Air Force / Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
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