Switzerland, National council approved the new fighter jet acquisition

Switzerland National Council

After the Federal Council which had recommended the passing of a special budget to order 22 new fighter jets, the Swiss National council has halso voted  the acquisition of new aircradts to replace the F-5 tiger II.

Rafale Assembly line, Merignac France ©Dassault Aviation

The 24heures web site also confirmed that Armasuisses officially ranked the Rafale first after the 2008 technical evaluations, in front of the Eurofighter and the Gripen.
The evalution was including some 30 flights per aircraft during which swiss test pilots were able to assess Air2Air, Air2Ground and recce capabilities of the 3 contenders. Compliance to the Swiss Air Force facilities and maintainability of each jet were also evaluated.


Though, the Eurofighter consortium is said to be leading on the offsets ground with about €6.6 billions while the Rafale International proposition would be around €5 billions.





The rafale offsets offer would include :

• A Rafale final assembly line and maintenance center
• The production of structural items
• The Mica missile production
• The development of the Rafale HMD, the OSF-NG and Spectra self defense system
• Several othe military or civilian industrial cooperations (CFM-56 engine, Falcon business jets, military and civilian avionics)

According to 24Heures, the Rafale main avantages were its excellent results during the evaluation (It fullfilled 95% of the Swiss technical requirements) ad its price would match the Swiss budget. Conversely, the Eurofighter would be too expensive both to buy and maintain.