First
formed in 1914 as the Fliegertruppe, the Air Force was until 1996 known
as the Kommando der Flieger und Fliegerabwehrtruppen (Air force and
Anti-Aircraft Command) and as such subordinate to the Army. Since 1996
however, the term Luftwaffe is used for the independent Air Force.
During
the 1950's and 1960's any invading force would find itself in the middle
of a hornet's nest of Vampires, Venoms and Hunters, backed up in the
sixties with the then top of the line of European Mach 2+ fighters, the
Mirage III. The 1970's through the 1990's saw the retirement of the
Vampires followed by the Venoms and Hunters but on the other hand the
introduction of the F-5E Tiger II.
Historically
the Swiss Armed Forces have relied heavily on reservists who after their
period of military service would be called up annually for a two week
Wiederholungskurs (Rehearsal Course). In fact, the wartime Swiss Air
Force would have consisted for a major part of reserve personnel manning
squadrons which would in peacetime have lied dormant most of the time.
Only during exercises and actual conflict would these people and their
units be activated. However, the newer equipment like the Hornet with
it's complicated systems require constant training in order for it's
users to stay current and is thus less suited for "Milizia"
pilots. The older F-5 is a different matter in that respect.
he
end of the Cold War brought with it a considerable scaling down of the
Air Force, the Armee XXI programme is still ongoing at this time, but at
the same time more modern types like the F/A-18C/D Hornet and AS.332
Super Puma found their way into the ranks.
Transport
assets are few and are limited to PC.6 Turbo Porter light transports and
Super Puma and AS.532UL Cougar helicopters. Being neutral, the Swiss
train their pilots in-country on indigenous PC.7 trainers.
In order to fully exploit the possibilities of the fighters the
Luftwaffe does take part in training exercises abroad like Air Combat Manoeuvring above the North Sea from RAF Waddington
(NORKA) and night
flying training in Norway (NIGHTWAY).
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