Swiss Air Force fighter aircraft cannot be replaced by helicopters. Corresponding allegations made by opponents of the procurement of new fighter aircraft are baseless. Combat aircraft — just like civilian and military helicopters — are essential for the safety of Switzerland and its population.
The Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA) supports an operational Swiss Air Force that can perform defense, air police and transport tasks for the army. The SHA therefore supports the procurement of new fighter aircraft for the Swiss Army. For factual reasons, SHA firmly rejects the claim by procurement opponents that fighter aircraft could be replaced by lighter and much cheaper aircraft.
Helicopters, drones, or light aircraft are no substitute for an army's fighter aircraft. Their climbing capacities, operating heights and speeds are not sufficient for intervention against modern, high-flying and fast-flying objects. They are therefore not suitable for air defense or for the entire spectrum of air police services. They can only be used to supplement fighter aircraft.
Without a functioning air force, the Swiss army as a whole has no future. The army forms an overall system for which fighter aircraft are irreplaceable for effective protection from the air.
The F-5E Tigers have been in service for four decades and only fly when the weather is good. The F/A-18s date from the nineties and can be used until 2030 at the latest. A replacement purchase is therefore urgently needed. Helicopters, drones or light aircraft are only sham alternatives for air defense, which are intended to undermine the need to procure modern fighter aircraft. To ensure defense from the air from 2025, the referendum on September 27 must set the course for the procurement of fighter aircraft with a yes vote.
The SHA calls on Swiss voters to accept procurement.
Air Force and civilian helicopters complement each other
Swiss Army helicopters are important means of bringing army personnel and equipment quickly and safely to any point in Switzerland or to support relief missions and peacekeeping measures abroad.
They complement civilian helicopters, which provide irreplaceable services for many areas of life in the mountains and lowlands. Transport for high-alpine construction sites, the construction of avalanche barriers, avalanche explosions to secure settlements, traffic routes and winter sports areas, transport for mountain farmers, hut and alpine care, assembly flights for antennas and cable cars as well as operations during extraordinary natural events and rescue missions for people and animals are just a few of them. As a public service, civil helicopters provide these services efficiently, ecologically and economically.
More information
Martin Candinas, President SHA, tel. 078 841 66 86
Philip Kristensen, managing director of SHA, tel. 058 796 99 60 /info@sha-swiss.ch
Christian Gartmann, SHA Communications, tel. 079 355 78 78 /media@sha-swiss.ch
About the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA)
The Swiss Helicopter Association brings together Switzerland's most important helicopter companies. The association represents its members vis-à-vis authorities and other organizations in Germany and abroad. It aims to protect, support and promote the common interests of Swiss and Liechtenstein helicopter companies.
Christian Gartmann is the Communications and Media Officer of the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA).