Switzerland selects Lockheed Martin F-35A
The Federal Council of Switzerland announced its decision regarding the next fighter jet to fly with the colours of the Swiss Air Force: from four contenders, the country has chosen the Lockheed Martin F-35.
The F-35A will be replacing the McDonnell Douglas F/A18C/D Hornets and the few remaining Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II antiques that are still assigned to secondary tasks, the fifth-generation fighter jet was competing against the Dassault Rafale, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Despite making an offer, the Saab Gripen E/F was excluded as it will not be operational before 2023, one of the requirements of the tender.
The choice of the American offer might come as a surprise, after several Swiss politicians who had initially campaigned against the procurement later voiced their opposition to the Lockheed Martin F-35. “Purchasing the American F-35s, which are the most expensive, is excluded,” said Roger Nordmann, the leader of the Socialist group in the Federal Assembly. The threat of another ‘popular initiative’ (the Swiss referendum system) being launched would delay the acquisition of much-needed aircraft. As a reminder, in 2014, 53% of the Swiss electors rejected the funding to acquire 22 Saab Gripen E fighters, though they had been selected two years before by the Federal Council.
Yet the Swiss government chose to acquire 36 F-35A for a total of five billion Swiss francs ($5.4 billion) as it came superior in three out of the four criteria of the competition: efficiency, product support, and cooperation. Only in the area of direct offsets did the F-35A lag behind its competitors. “I am convinced the F-35 will give Switzerland the capacities to counter any air threats,” commented Viola Amherd, Head of the Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport.
Lockheed Martin F35-A
The Lockheed Martin F-35
Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
Lockheed Martin is the prime
F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and
BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) F-35A, the short takeoff and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B and the carrier-based (CV/CATOBAR) F-35C.
The aircraft descends from the Lockheed Martin X-35, which in 2001 beat the Boeing X-32 to win the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. Its development is principally funded by the United States, with additional funding from programme partner countries from NATO and close US allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and formerly Turkey. Several other countries have ordered, or are considering ordering, the aircraft. The programme has drawn much scrutiny and criticism for its unprecedented size, complexity, ballooning costs as well as delayed deliveries, with numerous technical flaws still being corrected. The acquisition strategy of concurrent production of the aircraft while it was still in development and testing led to expensive design changes and retrofits.
The F-35B entered service with the US Marine Corps in July 2015, followed by the US Air Force F-35A in August 2016 and the US Navy F-35C in February 2019. The F-35 was first used in combat in 2018 by the Israeli Air Force. The US plans to purchase 2,456 F-35s through 2044, which will represent the bulk of the crewed tactical airpower of the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for several decades. The F-35 serves as the backbone of allied airpower for 13 nations and now including Switzerland. Playing a critical role in joint domain operations, the fighter brings unprecedented situational awareness, information sharing and connectivity to the coalition. The aircraft is projected to operate until 2070.