The F-35 and other warplanes descend on Switzerland this spring
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The Swiss have kicked off flying season for the five types of combat aircraft under consideration to replace the country’s aging fleet, with several demonstrations scheduled between now and early July.
The probes are part of the Swiss “Air 2030” program, an $8.2 billion project to buy new aircraft and ground-based equipment for policing the country's airspace. The evaluation phase began in earnest earlier this year, as Swiss officials took the contender aircraft for a spin in the simulators of their respective home countries. Now they want to see how the planes fare in the famously neutral nation, whose alpine terrain makes engine thrust and maneuverability handy attributes.
Bringing the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, the Dassault Rafale, the Lockheed Martin F-35A and the Saab Gripen E to the Payerne air base near Bern is a “significant effort” for the vendors and governments involved, said an industry official from one of the competing teams. But the payoff — an estimated $6 billion of the total Air 2030
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Switzerland needs a fleet of 30 or 40 aircraft to intercept aerial targets that fall outside the range of ground-based defenses. Officials want enough capacity to have four planes in the air at any given time during crises.
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Then, following the F-35 trials, the Saab
Gripen E is scheduled to complete the lineup of test flights in late June.….
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