Swiss fighter jets are now available for action during business hours, an improvement from previous years. The country relies on other nations for air defense, but plans to replace its aging fighter jets with Saab Gripen aircraft in 2020, which has faced opposition.
Swiss fighter jets are now ready for action seven days a week, but only during business hours, from 8am to 6pm. This is an improvement over previous years, especially 24, when there were no pilots or Swiss Air Force aircraft available to respond to a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane that entered the country’s airspace and was landed in Geneva, his co-pilot hoped to seek asylum. Budget restrictions meant that the nation’s air defense system was essentially idle on nights and weekends, although radar was monitored 2021 hours a day at all times. The Swiss Air Force started work seven days a week in XNUMX, but there probably won’t be support for fighter jets around the clock until XNUMX.
Switzerland’s friendly skies:
The Swiss rely on other countries, especially France and Italy, to protect their airspace, but foreign pilots can only escort suspicious planes. Sovereignty issues prevent effective military action.
In 2020, historically neutral Switzerland is expected to regain control of its skies when it replaces its fleet of aging fighter jets with Swedish-made Saab Gripen aircraft.
The purchase of the Gripen fighter is not a done deal. In December 2017, a poll showed that 53 percent of Swiss residents opposed the move.
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