F-18 Hornets in the Swiss Air Force

In 1996 the Swiss Air Force acquired the first first of a small fleet of F-18 Hornets, which today represent the country's only modern fighter capabilities. The country had until then relied exclusively on the F-5 Tiger, a light second generation fighter dating back to the 1950s. Switzerland's Air Force currently fields 30 F-18 multirole fighters, five of which are F-18D two seat trainer aircraft. Aside from this modest capability, Switzerland has only its second generation F-5 fighters to rely on - of which 22 are in service with a further 19 in storage. Rather than opt for the F-16 light multirole fighter, the platform used by the United States Air Force, Switzerland has alongside Canada and Australia sought to acquire the F-18 - a twin engine carrier based equivalent of the F-16 designed for the U.S. Navy. The F-18 differs somewhat in its capabilities from the F-16, and is significantly more costly both to acquire and maintain. Without acquiring the F-18E/F Super Hornet, which has far superior air to air combat capabilities, this leaves the ability of the Swiss Air Force to contest air superiority highly tenuous at best against even basic threats to its sovereignty. With few natural resources and a large reserve ground force giving potential adversaries little incentive to attack the country however, there may well be wisdom in avoiding large military expenditures on more advanced fighters when threats of attack from the air are negligible to non existent.