History of The Swiss Air Force - Later Cold War History

Later Cold War History

In 1972, with the option of nuclear weapons discarded and the likelihood of operations beyond the Swiss border severely restricted, the Federal Military Department (EMD) decided that the next generation of aircraft acquired by the Swiss Air Force would be for close air support. While resurrection of the P-16 was discussed in the Swiss press (FFA had continued theoretical development the aircraft at its own expense, with its final variant, the AR-7, to be equipped with a Rolls-Royce RB168-25 engine), the choice narrowed to the Milan (a joint Swiss-French prototype variant of the Mirage III) and the American A-7G Corsair II, each of which had strong advocates within the Swiss Air Force.

Still reeling from the "Mirage affair", when the Milan project failed from lack of orders and the recommendation for purchase of the A-7 was cancelled, the Air Force instead purchased 30 additional, surplus Hawker Hunters in 1973 to improve its ground attack capability (the small number of Mirages were reserved for reconnaissance and interceptor roles).

The end of the 1970s saw the introduction of the Northrop F-5 Tiger II. In 1976 the Federal Council ordered 72 aircraft, all of which were delivered by 1979. A followup order for 38 in 1981 brought the totals to 98 single-seat F-5E and 12 two-seat F-5F, which were deployed in five squadrons headquartered at Dübendorf. Initially the Tigers were responsible for air sovereignty below 30,000 feet (9,100 m), but some also took on a ground attack mission as the Hawker Hunters were phased out.

In 1985 the Mirage IIIS fleet, nearing 20 years of operational service, began a major upgrade program to improve the capabilities of the aircraft. The interceptors were retro-fitted with canards manufactured by Israeli Aircraft Industries on the air intakes to improve maneuverability and stability at landing speeds, new avionics and countermeasures, and redesignated the Mirage IIIS C.70.

Meanwhile, the lengthy nature of the Swiss aircraft procurement process, reinforced by the embarrassments of the Mirage Affair, resulted in the simultaneous acquisition of a new fighter to eventually replace the Mirage. The Swiss considered the Dassault Rafale, Dassault Mirage 2000, the IAI Lavi, the Northrop F-20 Tigershark, and the BAE Systems/Saab JAS-39 Gripen fighters before choosing the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon for a fly-off evaluation held in May 1988. From that competition, the Federal Council chose the Hornet in October 1988. The Hornets were to be virtually "off-the-shelf" models, nearly identical to those operated by the U.S. Navy but with stronger titanium alloy frames for an anticipated 30-year service life.

However the competition was reopened in 1990 to allow for a reconsideration of a European fighter, the Mirage 2000-5. In June 1991 the choice of the Hornet was reconfirmed, and the political struggle to have its purchase approved by referendum began. In the meantime, the Soviet Union was dissolved, and with its dissolution the Cold War ended.