The defence ministry wants to cease operation of the F-5 Tiger aircraft at the end of 2027. Air Force Major General Peter Merz told SRF radio that the jets would thus no longer be available to the Patrouille Suisse PC-7 Team.
“It is the intention of the defence ministry to discontinue F-5 Tiger operations at the end of 2027,” said Major General Merz on Swiss public television, SRF, on Friday. Due to the current financial situation, the army is prioritising its funds for new equipment.
This would mean the end of the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic squadron in its current form. “Patrouille Suisse will no longer be able to fly on jet aircraft if the Tiger is gone,” said Merz.
What future air shows would look like is not yet clear. Swiss defence minister Viola Amherd is currently discussing this with the security commissions, Merz said. One possible option is to deploy the existing PC-7 team on propeller aircraft.
Ultimately, the decision as to whether the F-5 Tigers remain on the ground lies with parliament. Critical voices have already been raised, as presented on SRF.
Procured in the 1970s
The Federal Council had already proposed to Parliament in 2018 that half of the 53 F5-Tigers in service at the time be decommissioned. The remaining 26 aircraft continued to be used to relieve the F/A-18 Hornet with secondary tasks and for Patrouille Suisse.
The Tiger fighter planes with a speed of 1,700 kilometres per hour, a length of just under 15 metres and a wingspan of eight metres, have been in service in Switzerland since 1978. Their production was discontinued in 1989 following the delivery of the 3,806th aircraft after more than 30 years.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc/amva
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Is reforming the Swiss pension system still possible, and if so, how?
Solutions still need to be found to meet the challenge of an ageing population and to improve the pensions of low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women.
Switzerland to step up humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Syria
This content was published on
The Swiss government decided to allocate an additional CHF7 million to the two countries in response to the escalating violence in the Middle East.
Report exposes widespread hygiene issues in Swiss hospitals
This content was published on
A Swissmedic report found that nearly all of the 25 Swiss hospitals inspected had issues with disinfecting, sterilising and packaging of medical products.
Swiss bank Mirabaud closes brokerage unit due to poor performance
This content was published on
The move spanning the bank’s global operations means a loss of 17 jobs, including five each in Switzerland and the UK, and seven in Spain.
Guterres condemns Israel’s plan to label UNRWA a terrorist organisation
This content was published on
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken out against a law proposed by the Israeli parliament that would classify UNRWA as a terrorist organisation.
This content was published on
The Swiss federal technology institute ETH Zurich is the best university in continental Europe, according to the Times Higher Education ranking.
NGO accuses tobacco industry and Switzerland of human rights violations
This content was published on
The anti-smoking NGO OxySuisse has accused tobacco companies of violating human rights and the Swiss authorities of being complacent.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.