Swiss fighter competition at Payerne April-June 2019

[Belgaviation]

The flight and ground trials with the five fighter aircraft candidates will take place in Payerne from April to June. The aircraft capabilities will be checked at the military airfield there in alphabetical order. The dates for media creators and spotters are also already fixed.

For each candidate, a total of eight missions with one or two combat aircraft will be conducted during four days of flight. The capabilities of the aircraft and the information from the submitted offers are checked. Beforehand, the providers have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with another flight with the specific procedures in the Swiss airspace. One flight will take place at night. For this, the starting times of the season must be adjusted accordingly, with the flights always ending before midnight. During bank holidays, no trial flights will be made.

The candidates are tested in alphabetical order according to the name of the manufacturer:
-- Airbus, GER, Eurofighter: in calendar weeks 15 and 16
-- Boeing, USA, F / A-18 Super Hornet: in calendar weeks 17 and 18
-- Dassault, FRA, Rafale: in calendar weeks 20 and 21
-- Lockheed Martin, USA, F-35A: in calendar weeks 23 and 24
-- Saab, SWE, Gripen E: in calendar weeks 25 and 26

Registration process for media professionals
In the run-up to the trials, the DDPS will inform the media on Monday, 8 April 2019, at 2 pm, at a media conference in Berne about the trials and the evaluation process (invitation to follow).

In addition, the manufacturers present their aircraft during the respective testing and are available to media representatives for questions during a morning session.

In order to gain access to the military site in Payerne and to participate in the presentation, media representatives must register individually for each occasion. The registration form for the first media event will be posted to armasuisse on the website of the DDPS on 2 April 2019 in the web dossier.

Registration process for spotters
For spotters and other interested people from the population, one afternoon is planned for each candidate aircraft, when they can see the respective aircraft from up close. In order to gain access to the military site in Payerne, the spotters must register for each aircraft type individually. The registration form for the first spotter event will be posted to armasuisse on the website of the DDPS on 2 April 2019 in the web dossier The number of participants is limited.

Airbus, Eurofighter:
Media Event: Fri, April 12, 2019 (morning)
Spotter Event: Fri, April 12, 2019 (Afternoon)
Registration from: Tue, April 2, 2019, 9:00 am

Boeing, F / A-18 Super Hornet:
Media Event: Tue, April 30, 2019 (morning)
Spotter Event: Tue, April 30, 2019 (Afternoon)
Registration from: Thu, 18th April 2019, 09.00 am

Dassault, Rafale:
Media Event: Tue, May 21, 2019 (morning)
Spotter Event: Tue, May 21, 2019 (Afternoon)
Registration from: Thu, May 9, 2019, 9:00 am

Lockheed Martin, F-35A:
Media Event: Fri, 7 June 2019 (morning)
Spotter Event: Fri, 7 June 2019 (Afternoon)
Registration from: Tue, May 28, 2019, 9:00 am

Saab, Gripen E:
Media Event: Tue, 25 June 2019 (morning)
Spotter Event: Tue, 25 June 2019 (Afternoon)
Registration from: Thu, 13th June 2019, 9:00 am