Dutchy wrote:Will the Swiss vote for this proposal this time around?
That is not yet decided. Even if the parliament decides to avoid a vote, it is possible (if not likely), that a sufficient number of people (100000) will sign to enforce a popular vote anyway.
The plans already face a stiff headwind among many people here.
As the Swiss requirements are only air defence, I wonder whether there is no other option than to buy new aircraft every 30 years. Why am I asking?
For pure air defence you need much less than e.g. offered by the F-35. In one sense you need primarily a good airframe, that does not break apart after only some thousands flight hours. The 6000 hours of the F/A-18 are a bit disappointing IMO. If the structure would not get so weak after that time, the fighters would be fit for purpose much longer (in an air defence role). I also wonder why the F-5 keeps flying since the seventies, and for the F/A-18 (flying since the nineties) a replacement would be needed much earlier.
Maybe Switzerland should go for a good number of F-16s (either used or refurbished) or think a second time, how far we could get doing an Elbit upgrade with the Tigers.
All these thoughts from the perspective, how to convince a skeptical nation from the needed spendings....
