Fighter Aircraft: Swiss Air Force Actually Choose Rafale

Swiss Air Force is actually likely to choose French-made fighter aircraft, Dassault Rafale, the Swedish-made rather than plane, Saab Gripen. However, cost considerations make the Swiss government finally chose the Gripen.

Swiss Defence Minister Ueli Maurer in Bern on Tuesday (2/14/2012), defended the government's decision to impose a choice on the Gripen, the reason the plane was offering the best price and maintenance costs in the long run than the two competitors, the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Cabinet decided to buy Swiss-made Saab Gripen of Sweden in November 2011, and intends to order 22 aircraft with a total price of 3.1 billion Swiss francs (USD 30.6 billion) to replace the fleet of Northrop F-5 Tiger they are elderly. Package price includes weaponry, logistics, training, and various other key elements.

Maurer's statement came after Sunday (2/12/2012), the weekly newspaper in Zurich Sonntagszeitung publish what they believe to be confidential AU report contains a recommendation after the Swiss Air Force pilots to try out three European fighter jet in 2008.

In the report, the Swiss Air Force is actually more inclined to recommend the Rafale or Typhoon dibading Gripen. According to them, Gripen is the only plane of the three options that do not meet "minimum requirements", especially when carrying out the mission of defense air patrol and air strikes.

"Rafale is recommended as a new fighter aircraft for the Swiss Air Force. Best alternative is the Eurofighter (Typhoon)," concluded the report.

Swiss Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Markus Gygax, who also attended the joint press conference Maurer, also defended the government's decision to choose Gripen, saying the current Saab Gripen has developed a new model, which is much better than their version of a trial in 2008. This new model aircraft, the Gripen NG, mentioned already meet the "minimum requirements" Swiss Air Force needs.

However, Maurer said it would still consider buying Gripen keputsan this again if the Dassault and the Eurofighter to offer more attractive than the Saab.