Schweizer Luftwaffe - History
The beginnings of military aviation in Switzerland can be traced back to the year 1891, when the General Staff considered the procurement of a captive balloon. With the purchase approved, a group of volunteers reported for duty at the first Airship Recruit School in Bern in 1900.
On 2 December 1912, at their general assembly in Fribourg, the Swiss Officers‘ Association decided to ask the public for a national donation in order to establish a Swiss air force. On 1 January 1913, the call was signed not only by senior military commanders and 39 members of both the Council of States and the National Council but also by Federal Councillor A. Hoffmann, Head of the Military Department. Subsequently organised flight shows, events, collections and special sales raised the impressive sum of CHF 1,734,564. In 1916, the Military Department acquired 17 aircraft, 14 reserve engines and equipment, and had a hangar built in Dubendorf at a cost of CHF 866,000, taken from the aviation fund.
As soon as war broke out, officials immediately changed their tune. On July 31, 1914, Theodor Real, Cavalry Instructor and pilot, was entrusted with the formation of a flying service. The first thing he did was to commandeer three aircraft on display at the National Exhibition in Bern. In December 1914, the unit moved from a makeshift airfield at Beundenfeld near the Wankdorf football stadium in Bern to Dübendorf near Zürich. The first outpost was at Claro in the Southern Swiss canton of Ticino. As the pilots themselves saw little action during the war, they concentrated on development and training instead. The crucial importance of air superiority, air reconnaissance and air-to-ground combat became apparent during the First World War (1914-1918) . But although Air Forces gained in importance rapidly during that war, they still failed to achieve war-winning status. Gradually, however, the Air Force developed into the third main branch of the armed forces, next to the Army and the Navy.
In the period between the wars, the fliers, administered by a Section Head of the General Staff, were viewed as an auxiliary force. Dübendorf, as the first permanent air base, was followed, from 1919 onwards, by the ones at Thun and Lausanne, and later by Payerne (established in 1921).
Further milestones include the foundation, in 1921, of the Air Force recruit schools, NCO schools and officers' training centers; then came the founding of today's Air Force Medical Institute in 1924; the integration of air-to-ground combat tactics in 1930 (temporarily discontinued since the phasing out of the Hunter fleet in 1994); the introduction of the Aircraft Observation and Communication Service in 1934; and, in 1938, the opening of the first Signal Recruit School.
In October 1936, a radical change took place. In view of the political developments in Europe and the general rearmament, the importance of aerial warfare was finally recognised also in Switzerland. As a result, the Air Force was declared an official branch of the defence forces, and the Department of Aviation and Anti-Aircraft Defence was created, under the command of a major-general.
In January 1937, the Swiss Department of Aviation and Anti Aircraft Defence were handed over their first Bücker Bü 133C Jungmeister aircraft, which had been constructed in the Bücker factory near Berlin. In May 1937, the first K+W C-35 two-seater fighter aircraft that were of mixed construction followed. Although the 90 aircraft procured proved themselves, they were already outdated when delivered.
On 3 August 1936, under the command of the department for artillery, the first anti aircraft artillery recruit school (red AAA) with four officers, nine NCOs and 49 recruits was carried out at the Kloten military training grounds. Colonel Ernst von Schmid was the first school commander. Our anti aircraft artillery/AAA force was founded in 1936 because the Head of the Federal Military Department, Federal Councillor Rudolf Minger, ordered on 19 October 1936 the creation of the department of aviation and active air defence, which on 10 November 1936 already, was renamed ‘Department of Aviation and Anti Aircraft Defence‘.
Within a remarkably short time, the aircrew strength was doubled, and the first batch of previously ordered Messerschmitt Bf 109 combat aircraft arrived just in time before World War Two broke out. In January 1939, the aviation corps received from Germany 10 Messerschmitt Bf 109D-1 ’David‘ for re-training and in June of the same year 30 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 ‘Emil‘ fighters. When mobilisation was declared on 30 August 1939, Flight Coy 6 in Thun and Flight Coy 21 in Duebendorf had already been equipped with these state-of-the-art high-performance fighter aircraft, while the rest of the flying units had only the hopelessly obsolete Dewoitine D-27 fighter monoplanes and Fokker C.V-E reconnaissance aircraft as well as the K+W C-35 at their disposal. An additional 50 Bf 109E-3 aircraft were delivered to Switzerland after the outbreak of war, between October 1939 and April 1940.
The Swiss Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Force were mobilised on August 28, 1939 - three days before the war broke out. With a total of 86 fighters and 121 reconnaissance and ground support aircraft at their disposal, only three of the 21 Air Force units were actually considered fit for active service; five did not even have any aircraft. This deficiency was gradually made good by the procurement of further Messerschmitt fighters as well as several Morane-D-3800 fighters manufactured under license. 1943 was the year when the Federal Aircraft Factory in Emmen was founded.
The Air Force soon withdrew into the Alpine redoubt. Defended airfields were established, e.g. at Alpnach, Meiringen and Turtmann. In 1942/43 the Air Force firing range at Ebenfluh/Axalp was put into service. Established in 1941, the Air Surveillance Wing was ready for service from 1943 onwards. A night fighter wing, formed on a trial basis in 1944, was disbanded again in 1950.
Together with Anti-Aircraft Defence - then still in the process of formation - the Air Force did active service partly as a whole, and partly on a rotational basis. During the first months of the war, the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Force saw action only sporadically. But after May 10, 1940, when Germany launched its offensive against the West, triggering the second general mobilisation of the Army, violations of Swiss airspace by German aircraft multiplied.
The resolute fighting spirit of the Swiss pilots and gun crews, who saw the fiercest action at the beginning of June, was to become the impressive symbol of Switzerland's spirit of resistance. They shot down several aircraft of Göring's Luftwaffe in aerial combat, albeit at the cost of three airmen's lives. On June 20, effective until the end of October, 1943, the Swiss Supreme Commander, General Henri Guisan issued a ban on air combat activity above Swiss territory, for political reasons. In September 1944 a fatality occurred when a Swiss aircraft was shot down by a US crew.
Anti-Aircraft Defence was entrusted with the protection of Swiss neutrality. During the first months of the war it was only sporadically in action as the majority of frontier violations took place along the Swiss frontier. Later, the heavy anti-aircraft brigades were often in action and nearly all the batteries went into action at some point. The simple fact of their existence and their constant readiness for action played an important deterrent role. The Aerial Reconnaissance and Observer Corps played a particularly important part as it was the only source of information for the Air Force as well as for meteorological and ground observers. During the war there were 6,501 instances of border violation; 244 foreign aircraft landed or crashed on, or were shot down over Swiss territory; 1,620 aircrew were interned. As the war progressed, so did the mission of the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Force. Collaboration with the ground forces and inflexible organisation were among the areas most in need of improvement.
During the Cold War, a multitude of nuclear weapons and thousands of conventionally armed fighter bombers were stationed throughout Europe. The Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) created a 'balance of terror.' Spurred on by this situation, aerial warfare technology raced ahead. These international developments had a direct bearing on Switzerland's overall armament strategy. With the introduction of the Vampire in 1946, the Air Force took an early and bold step into the jet age. Very soon a decision was made to invest in the building of caverns for aircraft, the establishment of command and control and an underground Operations Centre.
1954 was marked by three major events: the opening of the first Air Radar Recruit School, the commissioning of the first early warning radar systems and the introduction of the concept of mountain radar stations. This led, in 1965, to the acquisition of the early warning and command guidance system Florida, which is currently being replaced by the newer Florako system. In the Sixties, several important projects for the strengthening of ground-based anti-aircraft defence were realised, among them the radar-equipped medium-calibre guns with the integrated fire control system 63 'Superfledermaus,' as well as the Bloodhound missile system (in operation from 1964 to 1999).
Switzerland's own development of combat aircraft was discontinued in 1958 after the termination of Projects P-16 and N-20. In 1964 the procurement of the Mirage fighter (Mirage IIIS in operation until 1999) caused a scandal due to the severe budget overrun involved. Head of the Air Force Etienne Primault, Chief of the General Staff Jakob Annasohn and Defence Minister Paul Chaudet sooner or later all had to resign or left prematurely. What followed was the complete restructuring of the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Force effective as of February 1, 1968. This led to a separation of users and procurement officials. Air Force, Air Base Logistics and Anti-Aircraft Defence were converted into brigades, and the Armed Forces Meteorological Group and Avalanche Rescue Service were assigned to the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Command. Today's Parascout Company was established in 1969.
1972 was the year of historic major maneuvers, with 22,000 participants, and also of the zero decision by the Swiss cabinet concerning the proposed procurement of a new ground support aircraft. The evaluation proceedings forming the basis for the decision between the American LTV A-7 Corsair II ground attack aircraft and the French Dassault Milan fighter-bomber caused a rift within the Air Force. The growing significance of electronic warfare brought about the first systems operator training programme, in 1979. C³I Brigade 34, formed ad hoc in 1984, was converted to a regular brigade in 1991.
The end of the Cold War brought about a series of massive changes. The downsized Air Force of today is the outcome of the amalgamation of the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence, implemented in 1996 as part of the reorganisation of the armed forces.
Time and again the Swiss Air Force has found itself at the mercy of the politicians. No other branch of the armed forces stirs up such strong feelings as the Air Force. Onet recent example of this is the 1993 referendum aimed at preventing the procurement of 34 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet interceptor aircraft. As in 1912, however, the people decided in favor of their Air Force. …and so YES to 34 FA-18 Hornets.
But on May 18, 2014 voters rejected the purchase of Swedish fighter jets for Switzerland’s air force. Final results show 53.4% of voters came out against the acquisition of 22 JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets by the Swedish Saab company. It was the first major defeat for the government in a ballot on military matters for 20 years.
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