No more office hours for Swiss air policing missions
Until now, the Swiss Air Force was only able to police its airspace during “office hours”, meaning on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a 30-minute break during lunch.
The bizarre limitation came under fire in 2014, when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767, flying from Addis Ababa to Milano, was hijacked and diverted to Geneva by its co-pilot. As the incident took place at 6 a.m., the flight had to be escorted by Italian Eurofighter Typhoon and French Mirage 2000 fighters.
To remedy the problem, the Swiss Air Force launched the PA24 program in 2015. The aim was to reach round-the-clock readiness of two armed F/A-18 Hornets at Payerne Air Base through several milestones. In 2017, the availability was extended to the weekend. In 2019, the alert period was extended from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
As of December 31, 2020, the project will finally reach its objective of 24/7 air policing. "In 2020, the PA24 project has already made it possible to carry out 15 hot missions and 290 live missions, thus greatly contributing to airspace security and the application of sovereignty over Swiss airspace," the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport said. “To finalize the project at the end of 2020, nearly 100 additional positions in total have been created at the Air Force, the Army Logistics Base and the Command Support Base.”
The increase in air police capacity over 24 hours should cost an additional 30 million francs (€27 million) per year.
The F/A-18 Hornets should eventually be replaced by new aircraft, as the Swiss Air Force is currently holding a competition. Four contenders are currently in the race: the Dassault Rafale, the Lockheed Martin F-35, the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
US and French aircraft carriers join forces in the Arabian Sea
The French Navy Charles de Gaulle and the US Navy USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carriers began combined operations i...
First daytime test in 57 years for French nuclear air forces
For the first time in 57 years, France was able to carry out Operation Poker, which simulates a nuclear raid, in broad d...
German parliament approves €3B Eurodrone contract
The Budget committee of the Bundestag agreed to finance the pan-European MALE drone project....
Russian S-70 attack drone on schedule for 2024 delivery
The development of the first Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (“Hunter”) attack drone is on target for delivery to the R...