Switzerland opts for 22 Gripens

[Hans Rolink]

It is all good and well that Rafale comes out on top, but it does that with completely different weaponry than the other two. Both Typhoon and Gripen use in principle the same weaponry that the Hornet uses or could use without too much trouble.
Having two very different sets of missiles in a fleet numbering barely 50 would prove unsupportable, I believe.

Hans.

[Coati]

We also don't know what the criteria were which let to the ranking. I can imagine that payload, range and stealth are not the best points of the Gripen, but those criteria may be jugded as less importnat in the Swiss Air Force. Also, with the Gripen they are able to get a reasonable number of aircraft for the available money, to keep some sort of flying corps. I guess they would rather have 22 aircraft with shorter range and payload, then 10 or 12 Rafales. Besides the important fact Hans brought up. Two logistic systems in such a small airforce is extremely expensive indeed.

[pipichantal]

And what about the Patrouille de Suise? How does the future looks like for this team?

answer in german

Diese Frage ist noch völlig offen. Zuerst muss der Gripen auch tatsächlich kommen (Parlament, Volksabstimmung).
Dann - sollte alles positiv verlaufen - stellt sich die Frage, wann kommt er und, davon abhängig, wie lange bleiben die F-5 im Einsatz?
Dies alles bedarf zu gegebener Zeit einer Gesamtbeurteilung mit anschliessendem Entscheid.
Dieser Zeitpunkt ist noch nicht gekommen.
Danke und alles Gute.
Jürg Nussbaum
Chef Kommunikation Luftwaffe

[Niek]

Diese Frage ist noch völlig offen. Zuerst muss der Gripen auch tatsächlich kommen (Parlament, Volksabstimmung).

I still think it's pretty cool that in some countries you can vote if you want a certain type of of fighter or not.
I still remember the close call when the voting for the Hornet was done.

[Glidepath]

cool or uncool, it is much like real democracy should work.

Very keen to learn the outcome of their new fighter selection.

As for "DJ's" statistics, hope the final decision will be made based upon more recent comparison data then these..... think of newer / upgraded and matured radar, systems, weapons etc

[ehusmann]

cool or uncool, it is much like real democracy should work.

I really do hope that remark is meant to be cynical...

Erwin

[Glidepath]

think you are in the wrong place for such off topic remarks / questions...so

Has Suisse already considered and excluded option of a possible F-5X upgrade programme giving their fleet BVR capability, or are the airframes simply too old or too worn out for that?

[swissmember]

think you are in the wrong place for such off topic remarks / questions...so

Has Suisse already considered and excluded option of a possible F-5X upgrade programme giving their fleet BVR capability, or are the airframes simply too old or too worn out for that?

A Tiger upgrade for 30 machines was an option but the costs are too high (1 billion/milliard CHF) and they can't fly much longer than without an update. Another reason is that the operation costs increase more and more with every year. Anyway the Gripen will assembled in Switzerland (RUAG, Emmen).

[leonard van T]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... ebd0740c2e

So, maybe no Gripens after all ?


Leonard

[SquAdmin]

Hmm, wouldn't be the first doubtful win of the Gripen. Then again, these things are apparently pretty common in the fighter business...

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-3 ... -year.html

Saab Says Swiss Gripen Jet Fighter Decision May Take All Year

[papagio]

Jan 29/12: Post-final offer?!? Dassault makes Switzerland a new offer: 18 Rafale fighters for SFR 2.7 billion (EUR 2.24 billion, $2.96 billion), instead of 22 Gripens for SFR 3.1 billion.

If this is substantially less than their earlier offer to the Swiss, the Swiss could be forgiven for asking what has changed, and why the previous offer was so high. Meanwhile, submitting offers after a competition is done doesn’t win many friends in military or ministry circles. in this case, however, the audience is the Swiss parliament, which is supposed to begin discussing the fighter buy on Feb 13/12.

Hans Hess of parliament’s security commission confirmed to Le Matin Dimanche that he had received the letter, but Swiss defence minister Ueli Maurer told the Sonntags Zeitung that he wasn’t aware of the offer. If that’s true, it reflects very poorly on the responsible Dassault executives’ judgement. Ministers really don’t appreciate being blindsided, and have been known to bear grudges. Why make a powerful enemy, unless you have to? AFP via Yahoo | France 24.

[Coati]

If this is substantially less than their earlier offer to the Swiss, the Swiss could be forgiven for asking what has changed, and why the previous offer was so high.

Maybe the order of India for 126 aircraft of yesterday is the changing factor...?

[michel N]

I can't imagine the Swiss changing their choice for the Gripen. The Gripen is a good replacement for the Miliz-pilots which now use the F-5. The Rafale is a much more complex weapons-system, and would be more appropriate if the Hornet would be withdrawn from use.

[Hans Rolink]

I can't imagine the Swiss changing their choice for the Gripen. The Gripen is a good replacement for the Miliz-pilots which now use the F-5. The Rafale is a much more complex weapons-system, and would be more appropriate if the Hornet would be withdrawn from use.

Rafale would have been more logical in a standardisation move, i.e. replacing both F-5 and F/A-18. Than the problem of different weaponry for each type would have disappeared.
Don't underestimate the complexity of JAS-39's systems, BTW.

Hans.