Ah, I see. Switzerland needs a deep strike aircraft to attack Portugal, Greece, Poland, Sweden, etc. Have you looked at where you can reach with a Taurus fired from inside Switzerland?

This thread is about Gripen for Switzerland, & you’re giving reasons why it might not be the best aircraft for Australia.

Precisely… Switzerland does not need some massively-capable deep strike/heavy fighter!

Who are they going to fight… Germany? France? Italy? Austria? Leichtenstein?

The Swiss military is for internal security, air-space control, and as a nod to their traditional independence.

The reality is that, unless several neighboring nations together decided to invade, no single neighboring nation would attack the Swiss… due to the automatic retaliation they would face from the rest of Europe.

If that “anti-Swiss alliance” were to form, then whether they have Gripen, Rafale, F-22, or Piper Cubs as front-line fighters would make no difference… they would be overwhelmed.

In 1995 the Swiss implemented a defensive plan that made control of Swiss airspace its highest and main priority. Modernization of the Air Force to achieve this mission was subject to popular referenda challenging its cost and practice.

The mission of the Swiss Air Force is as follows:

* General control and protection of Swiss airspace.
* Guaranteeing air sovereignty by means of air policing tasking.
* Guaranteeing air defence throughout the country.
* Capability of executing airlift ops.
* Gathering and disseminating intelligence for political/military leadership.

Note that there is absolutely no mention of deployed operations or UN peacekeeping missions… thus the full combat capabilities of even Gripen would not be used except in a general European war where NATO forces have been driven back to where the Swiss government felt threatened… a very unlikely scenario since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A report in the Swiss news magazine FACTS (p. 20, 30 June 2009) reveals that in peacetime, the Swiss air force only provides ready-to-take-off aircraft during office hours on working days. The air force staff stated a peacetime 24/7 operational flying status as “mission impossible”, due to budget limitations and limited professional (flying) personnel capacity.

With this situation, how could any responsible Swiss government justify paying twice as much per aircraft (and an estimated 1.5-3 times the operational cost) to buy Rafale or Typhoon?

Here is a link where you can download the NATOPS (Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization) manual for the A-4E/F/G Skyhawk (thanks to the former RAN A-4G pilot call-sign Sinbad):

http://www.adf-history.com/adf/?p=72

The website has a “contact” button… perhaps you could e-mail him with your questions?

It was something like 170 Super Hornet Block I’s that were delivered with APG-73 and the “old” forward fuselage and nose assembly, before the Block II went into production with the new radar and nose.

There were 272 block 1 Super Hornets of both -E and -F configuration. All of these were completed with the AN/APG-73 radar.

However, starting with the 138th Block 1, the new forward fuselage designed for the “then still in development” AN/APG-79 was installed on the assembly line.

Upgrading of these 135 aircraft to block 2 standard with the AN/APG-79 and all other improvements began in 2008.

The remaining 137 will, according to current plans, remain in block 1 configuration. They will, as the F-35C is fully incorporated into the fleet, be relegated to second-line duties such as type conversion trainers with the FRAM squadrons, tankers aboard carriers, and so on.

After the Super Hornet production line closes, these will be cannibalized to keep the block 2/upgraded block 1 airframes flying.

Why is Norway Estimating $40 Billion for 52 F-35s While Canada Says 65 F-35s Cost Around $14 Billion? (excerpt)

Because Norway is most likely counting life-time costs and allowing a significant margin for further cost increases and currency fluctuations, while Canada is likely counting initial acquisition and set-up costs and using current cost estimates and currency rates.

Is that a reconn pod?

No, it is a M61 Vulcan cannon.

http://www.f-106deltadart.com/weapons_20mm_cannon.htm

Actually, in the back half of the bay, in place of the Genie missile, as the below photo shows:

McChord air museum FIX-A-SIX GUNPOD

The F-106 also put its missiles into the airflow.