Swiss Air Force

Schweizer Luftwaffe · Forces aériennes suisses · Forze aeree svizzere · Aviatica militara svizra

The Swiss Air Force is a neutral country’s small, professional air-policing force of 30 F/A-18 Hornets flying from two bases, one of them a mountain cavern, that is shedding its militia past and its F-5 Tigers as it waits for about 30 F-35As from 2027.

55Combat aircraft

7Active air bases

1914Founded

30Types retired

CountrySwitzerlandFounded1914StatusActiveHeadquartersBern (Luftwaffenstab); operations centre DübendorfCommanderDivisionär Christian OppligerFly a jet from a Swiss air base

The story

The Swiss Air Force story: neutral, militia, and built into the mountains

The Swiss Air Force was born in a hurry on 31 July 1914, three days after the guns of August began, when cavalry instructor Theodor Real was told to build a Fliegertruppe with three aircraft requisitioned from the Bern national exhibition and nine pilots who brought their own machines. Neutral Switzerland fought no one, so for twenty years the air arm limped along on Häfeli biplanes built in the federal workshops at Thun and on Fokker C.Vs, its officers unconvinced that flying suited a militia army. It took the rise of Hitler to change minds: in October 1936 the Flieger- und Fliegerabwehrtruppen became an independent service, and Switzerland bought Messerschmitt Bf 109s from Germany and a licence for the Morane-Saulnier MS.406 from France, hedging against both future belligerents.

The hedge paid off in the summer of 1940. When the Luftwaffe cut through France, Swiss Bf 109 pilots shot down eleven German aircraft in six days of fighting for the loss of two of their own, an act of defiance that brought sabotage teams, diplomatic threats and, on 20 June, General Guisan’s ban on air combat over Swiss soil. From 1943 the guns turned the other way, as damaged American and British bombers wandered over the Alps: six were shot down by fighters and nine by flak, and 36 Allied airmen died. The lasting legacy of the war was the Réduit: sixteen airfields in the Alpine fortress, from Ulrichen at 1,344 m to Saanen and Ambrì, built by hand in 1941-43 with runways, shelters and, after the war, caverns blasted into the rock.

The Cold War Swiss Air Force was a British affair flown by part-timers. Vampires arrived in 1946, then 250 Venoms and 160 Hunters, so that by 1957 Switzerland was the first country whose fighter squadrons were all jets, most of them militia units whose airline-pilot and farmer aircrew reported for three weeks a year to their cavern war base and practised landing on motorways. The doctrine was clever and cheap; the procurement was not. The 1961 decision to build 100 Mirage IIIs on a deliberately low budget blew up in 1964 as the Mirage affair, the first parliamentary inquiry in Swiss history, which cost the defence minister, the chief of the general staff and the air force commander their jobs, cut the buy to 57 and permanently separated procurement from the generals.

The Hornet era began with a referendum. Pacifists gathered half a million signatures against 34 F/A-18s, but voters backed the aircraft in June 1993 and Emmen assembled them from 1996. The Hornet was too complex for militia crews, so the professional squadrons took it over, the Überwachungsgeschwader became the Berufsfliegerkorps in 2005 and, one by one, the war airfields closed: Ulrichen in 1999, Turtmann, Interlaken and Buochs in 2003, Dübendorf’s jets in 2005, Sion at the end of 2017. What was left was too small: in February 2014 a hijacked Ethiopian 767 had to be escorted to Geneva by Italian and French fighters because Swiss jets did not fly outside office hours, a national embarrassment that finally funded round-the-clock alert, reached on 31 December 2020.

Replacing the Tiger and the Hornet has been a decade of democratic drama. Voters rejected 22 Gripens in May 2014, then approved the Air2030 fighter credit in September 2020 by 8,670 votes, and the Federal Council picked the F-35A in June 2021. The 2022 contract for 36 aircraft at a supposedly fixed CHF 6.035 billion unravelled in 2025 when Washington demanded up to USD 1.3 billion more; in March 2026 Bern chose to take about 30 jets rather than ask for more money. The air force itself has shrunk to two professional Hornet squadrons, Fliegerstaffel 11 in the Meiringen cavern and the new Fliegerstaffel 35 at Payerne; the militia fighter squadrons have been stood down, the F-5s and the Patrouille Suisse stop flying at the end of 2027, and the Hermes 900 drones are seven years late. The first Swiss F-35A arrives in Arkansas in mid-2027 and at Payerne in 2028; the mountains, for now, keep only one squadron.

The hedge paid off in the summer of 1940.Swiss Air Force · verified 2026-09-07

At a glance

The Swiss Air Force in numbers

Service

Native name: Schweizer Luftwaffe / Forces aériennes suisses / Forze aeree svizzere
Founded: 31 July 1914independent service October 1936; named Luftwaffe since 1 January 1996
Commander: Divisionär Christian Oppliger, since 1 October 2025
Structure: Luftwaffenstab, Operationszentrale Luftwaffe, Fliegerbrigade 31, BODLUV Brigade 33, Kompetenzzentrum Weltraum (2026), Fliegerärztliches Institut
Operations centre: Dübendorf (with skyguide); FLORAKO radars on Pilatus, Scopi, Weisshorn and Weissfluh
Display teams: Patrouille SuisseF-5E, Emmen) and PC-7 Team (Dübendorf

Strength

Professional and civilian personnel: ~1,3002019 figure; about 1,600 career military quoted elsewhere
Militia on mobilisation: ~18,6002019
Pilots: ~335210 professional, 125 militia, 2019
Combat aircraft: 30 F/A-18C/D Hornet; 25 F-5E/F Tiger II heldabout 18 flown, disarmed, retiring by end 2027
Trainers: 8 PC-21 (7 serviceable), 27 PC-7
Helicopters: 44: 15 Super Puma, 10 Cougar, 19 EC635
Transport and special: 15 PC-6, 1 Global 7500, 2 Challenger 604, 1 Falcon 900EX, 1 DHC-6, 1 King Air 350C, 6 Hermes 900delivering
Annual budget: No separate air force budget; Swiss Armed Forces CHF 5.5 billion (2024), framework CHF 25.8 billion for 2025-28, target 1 per cent of GDP by 2030; F-35A ceiling CHF 6 billion

Infrastructure

Active air bases: 7Payerne, Meiringen, Emmen, Dübendorf, Alpnach, Locarno, Bern-Belp detachment
Closed or reserve air bases: 19Buochs, Mollis and St. Stephan kept for dispersal exercises from 2026
Jet-capable today: 3Payerne, Meiringen, Emmen
Flying squadrons: 2 fighterFl St 11, Fl St 35), 1 service-flight (Fl St 26), 7 air transport (LT St 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), 1 drone (Drohnenstaffel 7
Display teams: 2
Cavern hangars still in use: 1Meiringen
QRA: 2 armed F/A-18 on 15-minute alert at Payerne, 24/7 since 31 December 2020

In service

What the Swiss Air Force flies today

Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.

Type	Role	In service	Since	Units
F/A-18C/D Hornet25 C (J-5001 to J-5026, J-5022 lost 2016) and 5 D (8 delivered, J-5231, J-5235, J-5237 lost); 34 licence-assembled at Emmen 1996-99	Multirole fighter	30	1997	Fliegerstaffel 35, Fliegerstaffel 11
F-5E/F Tiger II25 airframes held by the army in 2025, of which 7 already laid up and about 18 flown; open sources disagree on the E/F split (DE inventory 14 E + 12 F including stored aircraft; EN inventory 15 E + 4 F). 110 bought (98 E, 12 F) in two batches 1976-85; 44 E sold to the US Navy, 22 more bought by the USN in 2020 and stored at Emmen	Light fighter, aggressor, target-towing, display	25	1978	Fliegerstaffel 26, Patrouille Suisse, Fliegerstaffel 19
Pilatus PC-21A-101 to A-108: 6 delivered 2008, 2 in 2012; A-105 badly damaged in a landing accident at Emmen on 28 November 2023, 7 in use since	Advanced/lead-in fighter trainer	8	2008	Pilotenschule der Luftwaffe
Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer (NCPC-7)40 bought 1982-83 (A-901 to A-940); 28 modernised to NCPC-7 glass-cockpit standard 2008-09; 27 in service	Basic trainer, display	27	1982	Pilotenschule der Luftwaffe (basic phase), PC-7 Team, Instrumentenflugstaffel 14
Pilatus PC-6/B2-H2M-1 Turbo Porter18 delivered from 1967 (V-612 to V-635 series); 14 with Lufttransportstaffel 7 plus one armasuisse trials aircraft HB-FCF	STOL transport and parachute aircraft	15	1967	Lufttransportstaffel 7, Fallschirmaufklärer Kompanie 17
Aérospatiale AS332M1 Super PumaT-311 to T-325; mid-life update 2012-14, one aircraft with FLIR for SAR	Medium transport and SAR helicopter	15	1987	Lufttransportstaffel 1, Lufttransportstaffel 3, Lufttransportstaffel 4, Lufttransportstaffel 5, Lufttransportstaffel 6, Lufttransportstaffel 8
Eurocopter AS532UL Cougar Mk112 delivered 2001-02 (T-331 to T-342); T-341 lost in the Maderanertal on 30 March 2011 and T-338 at the Gotthard hospice on 28 September 2016; T-331 in VIP fit; MLU completed 2022	Medium transport helicopter	10	2001	Lufttransportstaffel 6, Lufttransportstaffel 8, Lufttransportstaffel 1
Eurocopter EC635 P2+18 utility (T-353 to T-370) plus 2 VIP (T-351, T-352) delivered 2008-10 to replace the Alouette III; T-367 lost on 6 November 2024	Light utility, training and SAR helicopter	19	2008	Lufttransportstaffel 3, Lufttransportstaffel 6, Lufttransportstaffel 8, Lufttransportdienst des Bundes
Elbit Hermes 900 HFE (ADS 15)6 ordered under Armament Programme 2015 (D-11 to D-18, two replaced after pre-delivery crashes); first delivered 9 December 2019; by 2025 about four in Switzerland with two in operational Drop 3.1 standard and one on test with armasuisse	Medium-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance drone	6	2019	Drohnenstaffel 7 / Drohnengeschwader
Bombardier Challenger 604T-751 and T-752, ex-Rega HB-JRB/HB-JRC; replaced the Beech 1900D	VIP and medevac transport	2	2019	Lufttransportdienst des Bundes
Bombardier Global 7500T-787; being fitted with a self-protection suite in 2025	Government long-range transport	1	2024	Lufttransportdienst des Bundes
Dassault Falcon 900EXT-785, second-hand from Monaco; the English-language inventory lists it and the Citation Excel T-784 as withdrawn in 2025 after the Global 7500 arrived, the German inventory still carries both	Government transport	1	2013	Lufttransportdienst des Bundes
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin OtterT-741; ADS100 sensor since 2017	Aerial survey aircraft (swisstopo)	1	1976	Lufttransportstaffel 4
Beechcraft King Air 350CT-721	Aerial survey aircraft (swisstopo)	1	1993	Lufttransportstaffel 4
Pilatus PC-12HB-FOG, FLORAKO test bed at Emmen	Trials and liaison aircraft (armasuisse)	1	2001	—
Diamond DA42 Centaur OPAR-711 at Emmen	Optionally-piloted trials aircraft (armasuisse)	1	2012	—

F/A-18C/D Hornet30

Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer (NCPC-7)27

F-5E/F Tiger II25

Eurocopter EC635 P2+19

Pilatus PC-6/B2-H2M-1 Turbo Porter15

Aérospatiale AS332M1 Super Puma15

Eurocopter AS532UL Cougar Mk110

Pilatus PC-218

On order

Type	Ordered	First delivery	Note
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II (Block 4)	30	2027	Selected 30 June 2021 over Rafale, Eurofighter and Super Hornet; procurement approved by referendum on 27 September 2020 with 50.14 per cent; contract for 36 signed 19 September 2022 for CHF 6.035 billion. After the US refused to honour the fixed price in summer 2025 (extra cost USD 650 million to 1.3 billion), the Federal Council decided on 12 December 2025 to buy only as many aircraft as the CHF 6 billion ceiling allows and on 6 March 2026 declined the extra CHF 1.1 billion needed for 36, requesting a CHF 394 million supplement instead; the money covers about 30 aircraft, with the definitive number to be notified to Washington by mid-2027. Main assembly of the first Swiss aircraft began in May 2026. The first eight will be delivered from mid-2027 to Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas, for training; deliveries to Switzerland run from mid-2028 (Payerne), 2030 (Meiringen) and 2032 (Emmen), with later aircraft final-assembled at the Leonardo FACO in Cameri, Italy. Fliegerstaffel 35 at Payerne converts first.

Formerly operated

Every type the Swiss Air Force has retired

30 types, from the Häfeli DH-3 and DH-5 to the Pilatus PC-9/F. Peak figures are airframes taken on charge over the whole service life, not fleet strength on any one date.

Type	Role	Served	Peak	Replaced by
Pilatus PC-9/FC-401 to C-412; C-404 lost after a collision; four with RM-24 winches, four with Vista 5 jammers	Target-towing and electronic-warfare aircraft	1988–2022	12	F-5E/F service flights
Pilatus PC-24T-786, sold in November 2022	Government business jet	2019–2022	1	Global 7500
Beechcraft 1900D	Government transport	2007–2020	1	Challenger 604
RUAG ADS-95 RangerD-108 to D-134; two lost; system stood down 27 November 2019	Tactical reconnaissance drone	2001–2019	28	Hermes 900 ADS 15
Dassault Falcon 50	VIP transport	1996–2013	1	Falcon 900EX
Aérospatiale SE 3160/SA 316 Alouette IIIV-201 to V-284 bought in stages from 1964; 14 lost in accidents; only 35 in service after Armee XXI; last 20 retired 10 December 2010	Utility and training helicopter	1964–2010	84	EC635
Learjet 35AT-781 and T-782, bought from Rega	VIP transport	1987–2006	2	Falcon 50, Beech 1900D
Dornier Do 27H-2	Liaison aircraft	1958–2005	7	PC-6
Dassault Mirage IIIS/RS/BS/DS/C1 IIIC trials aircraft (1962), 36 IIIS (J-2301 to J-2336), 18 IIIRS (R-2101 to R-2118), 4 IIIBS and 2 IIIDS trainers; 100 planned before the 1964 Mirage affair cut the order to 57	Interceptor and reconnaissance	1962–2003	61	F/A-18 Hornet (IIIS), none (IIIRS)
BAE Systems Hawk Mk 66U-1251 to U-1270 under Armament Programme 1987, licence-assembled at Emmen; U-1256 lost in the Aletsch area 1990; 18 sold to Finland 2007-08	Advanced jet trainer	1990–2002	20	PC-21 and F-5F lead-in
Pilatus P-3Prototype A-801 plus 72 production aircraft (A-801 to A-873)	Basic trainer	1956–1995	73	PC-7
Hawker Hunter F.58/F.58A/T.68100 F.58 (1958-60), 52 F.58A (1971-76, mostly ex-RAF F.6), 8 T.68 two-seaters (1974-75); 28 lost	Fighter-bomber	1958–1994	160	F/A-18 Hornet (air defence); ground-attack role abandoned
Sud Aviation SE 3130 Alouette II10 bought 1958, 20 in 1964 (V-41 to V-70)	Observation and rescue helicopter	1958–1992	30	Alouette III
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire Mk 1/FB.6 and DH.115 T.554 Mk 1 trials aircraft (1946), 75 FB.6 built at Hatfield (1949), 100 FB.6 licence-built (1951-53), 3 assembled from spares (1960), 39 T.55 two-seaters (1953-56); 29 lost	Fighter and jet trainer	1946–1990	221	Venom, Hunter, Hawk
EKW C-3603 and C-3605C-401 to C-560 built at Thun and Emmen; 24 re-engined with a Lycoming turboprop as the C-3605 target tug in 1968-72 and flown until 1987	Ground-attack, reconnaissance and target-towing aircraft	1942–1987	160	Venom (attack), PC-9 (towing)
de Havilland DH.112 Venom FB.50/FB.50R/FB.54126 Mk 1 (FB.50), 24 Mk 1R reconnaissance (FB.50R), 100 Mk 4 (FB.54); licence-built at Emmen, Altenrhein and Pilatus; about 50 lost	Fighter-bomber and reconnaissance	1954–1984	250	Hunter, F-5E
Pilatus P-226 P-2/05 and 26 P-2/06 per the English inventory (52); the German inventory gives 55 (U-102 to U-157)	Advanced trainer	1947–1981	55	P-3, PC-7
Junkers Ju 52/3m g4eA-701 to A-703; all three flew with Ju-Air from Dübendorf after retirement, HB-HOT (ex A-702) crashed at Piz Segnas on 4 August 2018	Transport	1939–1981	3	PC-6 Turbo Porter
Bücker Bü 131 JungmannA-1 to A-84 plus 10 requisitioned from aero clubs (A-85 to A-94); mostly licence-built by Dornier Altenrhein	Primary trainer	1936–1971	94	P-2, P-3
North American AT-16 Harvard IIBU-301 to U-340, ex-RCAF surplus bought with the Mustangs	Instrument-flying trainer	1948–1968	40	Vampire T.55, P-3
Bücker Bü 133 JungmeisterU-49 to U-100	Aerobatic and combat trainer	1937–1968	52	P-2
Fieseler Fi 156 StorchA-96 to A-100; used for the 1946 Gauli glacier rescue	Liaison, observation and ambulance aircraft	1940–1963	5	PC-6
FFA P-16 and EFW N-20 Aiguillon5 P-16 prototypes (100 ordered, cancelled after crashes in 1958); 1 N-20.2 Arbalète flew 1949, the N-20.10 Aiguillon only taxied	Indigenous jet prototypes	1949–1960	6	—
Morane-Saulnier MS.406 / EKW D-3800, D-3801, D-3802, D-38032 MS.406H pattern aircraft, 82 D-3800 (1940-41), 224 D-3801 (1941-59), 13 D-3802A and 1 D-3803; the German inventory gives 224 D-3801 where other sources give 207	Fighter	1939–1959	322	P-51D Mustang, Vampire
North American P-51D Mustang, F-6D/K, TP-51D130 bought from USAAF surplus in 1948 at USD 4,000 each (113 P-51D, 15 F-6 reconnaissance, 2 TP-51D two-seaters); one P-51B interned 1944-45	Fighter, fighter-bomber, reconnaissance	1948–1958	130	Vampire, Venom
EKW C-3582 built plus 8 assembled from spares	Reconnaissance and ground-attack biplane	1937–1954	90	C-3603
Fokker C.V-D/E	Reconnaissance and light bomber	1927–1954	64	C-35, C-3603
Messerschmitt Bf 109D/E/F/G10 D-1 (J-301 to J-310), 88 E-1/E-3 including 8 assembled in Switzerland, 2 interned F-4/Z, 14 G-6/G-14 (12 of them the price paid in 1944 for blowing up an interned Bf 110 night fighter with its secret radar)	Fighter	1939–1949	114	P-51D Mustang, Vampire
Dewoitine D.2760 ordered 1929 and licence-built by EKW Thun; the English inventory counts 65 D.27 III plus 15 D.27 III-R	Fighter	1928–1944	66	Bf 109, D-3800
Häfeli DH-3 and DH-5109 DH-3 (1917-39) and 80 DH-5 (1922-40) built by K+W Thun	Reconnaissance biplanes (Swiss-built)	1917–1940	189	Fokker C.V, C-35

Air bases

Where the Swiss Air Force flies from, and the mountain airfields it left behind

Black pins are active air bases, hollow pins the Cold War dispersal network of cavern airfields that closed between 1994 and 2017. The blue pin is where you can fly a jet yourself. Hover a pin or a row for the units stationed there.

MiGFlug flies here Active air base Closed or reserveClick a pin to open the base page

Base	ICAO	Canton	Status	Runway	Based types
Sion	LSMS	Valais	MiGFlug · L-39 Albatros	07/25 · 2,000 m; 07/25 grass · 660 m	F-5E Tiger II, F-5F Tiger II, Mirage IIIRS
Alpnach	LSMA	Obwalden	Active	01/19 · 1,500 m	AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Bern-Belpfederal air transport base	LSMB	Bern	Active	14/32 · 1,730 m	Bombardier Global 7500, Challenger 604, Dassault Falcon 900EX
Dübendorf	LSMD	Zurich	Active	11/29 · 2,355 m; 11R/29L · 650 m	AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Emmen	LSME	Lucerne	Active	04/22 · 3,000 m	F-5E Tiger II, F-5E/F Tiger II, PC-21
Locarno	LSMO	Ticino	Active	08L/26R · 800 m; 08C/26C · 700 m; 08R/26L · 700 m	PC-7 Turbo Trainer, PC-6 Turbo Porter (jump aircraft)
Meiringen	LSMM	Bern	Active	10/28 · 2,003 m	F/A-18C/D Hornet
Payerne	LSMP	Vaud	Active	05/23 · 2,858 m	F/A-18C/D Hornet, AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar
Buochs	LSMU	Nidwalden	Reserve	06/24 · 2,000 m	Mirage IIIRS, Mirage IIIS, F-5E Tiger II
Lodrino	LSML	Ticino	Closed 2010	16/34 · 1,500 m	PC-6
Mollis	LSMF	Glarus	Closed 2007	01/19 · 1,707 m	Morane D-3800, P-51D Mustang, Venom
Interlaken	LSMI	Bern	Closed 2003	05/23 · 1,656 m	Hawker Hunter
Turtmann	LSMJ	Valais	Closed 2003	08/26 · 2,000 m	F-5E Tiger II, Mirage IIIS, Hawker Hunter
St. Stephan	LSMH	Bern	Closed 2000	14/32 · 1,742 m	Morane D-3801, Vampire, Venom
Ulrichen	LSMC	Valais	Closed 1999	05/23 · 2,100 m	Venom, Hawker Hunter, C-35
Frutigen	LSFR	Bern	Closed 1997	03/21 · 900 m	Morane D-3800
Reichenbach	LSGR	Bern	Closed 1997	03/21 · 805 m	Morane D-3800, Bf 109E
Kägiswil	LSPG	Obwalden	Closed 1996	03/21 · 780 m	Alouette II, Alouette III
Münster	LSPU	Valais	Closed 1996	05/23 · 815 m	C-35, C-3603
Raron	LSMN	Valais	Closed 1995	10/28 · 842 m	Hawker Hunter, C-3603
Zweisimmen	LSTZ	Bern	Closed 1995	17/35 · 587 m	Bf 109E
Ambrì	LSPM	Ticino	Closed 1994	10/28 · 1,245 m	Bf 109E, Vampire, Venom
Saanen	LSGK	Bern	Closed 1986	08/26 · 1,400 m	Morane D-3800/D-3801
San Vittore	LSXV	Graubünden	Closed 1955	grass · — m	—
Thun airfield	LSZW	Bern	Closed 1955	14/32 · 800 m	Häfeli DH-1 to DH-5, C-35, C-3603
Bex airfield	LSGB	Vaud	Closed 1935	15/33 · 700 m	—

Order of battle

Who is stationed where in the Swiss Air Force

Flying units by base under the 2026 organisation. Militia squadrons exist on paper all year and fly in refresher courses; professional units fly daily.

Payerne Air Base · LSMPFlugplatzkommando 11

Fliegerstaffel 35Fighter squadron · professional: F/A-18C/D Hornet
Lufttransportstaffel 1Air transport squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Lufttransportstaffel 5Air transport squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Fliegerstaffel 171976–2025: Mirage IIIS, F/A-18C/D Hornet
Fliegerstaffel 181975–2025: Hawker Hunter, F-5E Tiger II, F/A-18C/D Hornet
Fliegerstaffel 61983–2025: F-5E Tiger II

Meiringen Air Base · LSMMFlugplatzkommando 13

Fliegerstaffel 11Tigers · Fighter squadron · professional: F/A-18C/D Hornet
Fliegerstaffel 81980–2017: Hawker Hunter, F-5E Tiger II
Fliegerstaffel 71975–1994: Hawker Hunter
Fliegerstaffel 111959–1975: Hawker Hunter

Emmen · LSMEFlugplatzkommando 7

Patrouille SuisseAerobatic display team · professional: F-5E Tiger II
Fliegerstaffel 26Target-towing and service-flight squadron · professional: F-5E/F Tiger II
Pilotenschule der LuftwaffePilot school (advanced/jet phase) · professional: PC-21
Drohnenstaffel 7 / DrohnengeschwaderReconnaissance drone squadron · militia: ADS 15 Hermes 900 HFE (ADS-95 Ranger until 2019)
Lufttransportstaffel 7Air transport squadron · militia: PC-6 Turbo Porter
Fliegerstaffel 192018–2025: F-5E Tiger II
Zielflugstaffel 121991–2025: PC-9, F-5E Tiger II
Fliegerstaffel 171955–1967: Venom FB.50/FB.54

Dübendorf · LSMDSubordinate to Flugplatzkommando 7 Emmen; Air Force operations centre

Lufttransportstaffel 3Air transport squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Lufttransportstaffel 4Air transport and survey squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
PC-7 TeamAerobatic display team · professional: PC-7 Turbo Trainer
Instrumentenflugstaffel 141989–2025: PC-7 Turbo Trainer
Überwachungsgeschwader (UeG)1941–2005: D-3801, Vampire, Venom, Hunter, Mirage IIIS/RS, F-5E, F/A-18
Fliegerstaffel 111999–2005: F/A-18C/D Hornet

Alpnach · LSMAFlugplatzkommando 2

Lufttransportstaffel 6Air transport squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Lufttransportstaffel 8Air transport squadron · militia: AS332M1 Super Puma, AS532UL Cougar, EC635
Fliegerstaffel 191947–1994: P-51D Mustang, Venom, Hawker Hunter, F-5E Tiger II
Fliegerstaffel 111946–1997: Vampire, Hawker Hunter, F-5E Tiger II
Fliegerstaffel 81976–1980: Hawker Hunter

Locarno · LSMOFlugplatzkommando Locarno

Pilotenschule der Luftwaffe (basic phase)Pilot school · professional: PC-7 Turbo Trainer
Fallschirmaufklärer Kompanie 17Parachute reconnaissance company · militia: PC-6 Turbo Porter (jump aircraft)

Bern-Belp (federal air transport base) · LSMBLufttransportdienst des Bundes

Lufttransportdienst des BundesGovernment VIP transport · professional: Bombardier Global 7500, Challenger 604, Dassault Falcon 900EX

Buochs · LSMUWas a Fliegerstaffel 10 and 16 war base; activated by Flugplatzkommando Meiringen for exercise Revita in 2014

Aufklärerstaffel 101968–2003: Mirage IIIRS
Fliegerstaffel 161968–1999: Mirage IIIS
Fliegerstaffel 192000–2003: F-5E Tiger II

Timeline

Swiss Air Force milestones, 1914 to today

1914

31 July: three days after the outbreak of war, cavalry instructor Theodor Real is ordered to form a Fliegertruppe; he requisitions three aircraft from the national exhibition in Bern and the first nine pilots move to Dübendorf.

1936

The Flieger- und Fliegerabwehrtruppen become an independent service in October; rearmament begins with Bf 109 from Germany and licence-built Morane D-3800 fighters.

1940

Swiss Bf 109s shoot down eleven Luftwaffe aircraft in May and June for the loss of two fighters; after German threats and sabotage attempts General Guisan bans air combat over Swiss territory on 20 June. Eleven Réduit airfields are ordered in 1941.

1944

Swiss fighters and flak shoot down Allied bombers straying over the country (36 Allied airmen killed 1943-45); 6,501 airspace violations, 198 foreign aircraft landed and 56 crashed by 1945.

1946

Four Vampire Mk 1 arrive: Switzerland enters the jet age. 130 surplus P-51D Mustangs follow in 1948, then 178 Vampires, 250 Venoms and 160 Hunters, all British and flown by militia pilots from mountain caverns.

1964

The Mirage affair: cost overruns on 100 licence-built Mirage IIIs force the first parliamentary inquiry in Swiss history, the resignation of the defence minister and chief of the general staff, the sacking of the air force chief and a cut to 57 aircraft. The Patrouille Suisse is founded on 22 August.

1978

First F-5E Tiger II squadron operational; 110 Tigers bought in two batches by 1985 as the militia interceptor.

1993

6 June: voters reject the GSoA initiative against buying 34 F/A-18 Hornets (57.2 per cent no); Emmen assembles the Hornets 1996-99. The Hunter retires in 1994 and the service is renamed Luftwaffe on 1 January 1996.

2005

The professional Überwachungsgeschwader is dissolved on 31 December and jet flying ends at Dübendorf; Fliegerstaffel 11 moves into the Meiringen cavern in January 2006. Buochs became a sleeping base in 2004 and Sion is dropped in the 2013 stationing decision.

2014

17 February: a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines 767 lands at Geneva escorted by Italian and French fighters because Swiss jets are not on duty outside office hours. 18 May: voters reject the Gripen purchase (53.4 per cent no).

2020

27 September: the Air2030 fighter credit passes by 50.14 per cent. 31 December: the Luftpolizeidienst reaches 24-hour, 365-day readiness with two armed Hornets at Payerne.

2021

30 June: the Federal Council selects the F-35A (36 aircraft) and Patriot; the contract is signed on 19 September 2022 after Parliament approves CHF 6.035 billion.

2025

Parliament confirms retirement of the F-5 Tiger by end 2027 (Council of States 22-20 on 17 September); Divisionär Christian Oppliger takes command on 1 October; Fliegerstaffel 17 and 18 hold their farewell on 9 December before merging into Fliegerstaffel 35.

2026

6 March: the Federal Council abandons the 36-aircraft plan and asks Parliament for CHF 394 million, enough for about 30 F-35A; main assembly of the first Swiss jet starts in May and the first components are joined at Cameri in August. First deliveries due in the United States from mid-2027.

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about the Swiss Air Force

Can I fly with the Swiss Air Force?

No — the Swiss Air Force does not offer passenger flights in its Hornets or trainers. But you can fly a genuine military jet from a former Swiss Air Force base: MiGFlug has offered L-39 Albatros flights from Sion, the Valais airfield the Air Force closed in 2017, since 2004. Thirty and forty-five minute flights include aerobatics and time on the controls; jet operations there are limited to a handful of days a year by Swiss regulation.

Which fighter jets does the Swiss Air Force fly?

In 2026 the Swiss Air Force flies 30 F/A-18 Hornets (25 single-seat C and 5 two-seat D) from Payerne and Meiringen, plus about 18 of its remaining 25 F-5E/F Tiger IIs, which are disarmed and used only as training adversaries, target tugs and the mounts of the Patrouille Suisse. The Tigers stop flying by the end of 2027. Their successor is the F-35A Lightning II: about 30 aircraft are being bought within a CHF 6 billion ceiling, the first eight go to Arkansas for training from mid-2027, and deliveries to Payerne begin in mid-2028.

Does Switzerland really keep fighter jets inside mountains?

Yes, although far less than it used to. From the 1950s the air force blasted aircraft caverns into the rock at Alpnach, Buochs, Meiringen, Raron, Turtmann, Ambrì and other Réduit war airfields so that Venoms, Hunters, Mirages and Tigers could shelter, refuel and rearm underground and take off from a runway a few hundred metres away. Today only Meiringen still uses its cavern in daily operations: Fliegerstaffel 11 is the only Hornet squadron in the world that taxis out of a mountain each morning. The caverns at Turtmann and Ambrì survive empty, and the air force has announced that from 2026 it will again practise dispersal to the sleeping fields at Buochs, St. Stephan and Mollis.

Was the Swiss Air Force really only open during office hours?

For decades, yes. On 17 February 2014 a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 was escorted to Geneva by Italian Eurofighters and French Mirages because Swiss fighters were only on duty from 8 to 5 on weekdays, a fact that made headlines worldwide. The embarrassment forced Parliament to fund the Luftpolizeidienst 24 project: hours were extended in 2016, weekends added in 2017, 06:00-22:00 cover from 1 January 2019, and since 31 December 2020 two armed Hornets have stood 15-minute alert at Payerne 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with Emmen and Meiringen as alternates.

Why is Switzerland buying the F-35A, and how many will it get?

After voters killed the Gripen in 2014, the Air2030 programme re-ran the competition with Rafale, Eurofighter, Super Hornet and F-35A; the F-35A scored best on capability and lowest on cost, and the Federal Council chose it on 30 June 2021. The purchase of 36 aircraft, approved by referendum in September 2020 by a margin of 0.14 per cent, was signed on 19 September 2022 for CHF 6.035 billion. In 2025 Washington refused to honour what Bern believed was a fixed price, adding up to USD 1.3 billion. Rather than ask taxpayers for another CHF 1.1 billion, the government decided on 6 March 2026 to take as many jets as the ceiling allows, about 30, with the final number due to the US by mid-2027.

What was the Mirage affair of 1964?

Parliament approved CHF 828 million in 1961 for 100 licence-built Mirage IIIs on a deliberately low estimate. Swiss modifications, a Hughes radar, American Falcon missiles and JATO short-take-off gear pushed the bill up by CHF 576 million, and in 1964 the first parliamentary investigation committee in Swiss history found the government message had been misleading. Defence minister Paul Chaudet and chief of the general staff Jakob Annasohn resigned, air force commander Etienne Primault was dismissed, the order was cut to 57 aircraft and procurement was separated from the military command, which is why armasuisse exists today. The Mirages themselves served well until 2003.

Did the neutral Swiss Air Force shoot down aircraft in the Second World War?

It did, on both sides. In May and June 1940 Swiss Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilots shot down eleven German aircraft that violated the frontier, losing two of their own, until Berlin threatened reprisals and General Guisan banned air combat over Swiss soil on 20 June 1940. From October 1943 Swiss fighters and flak also brought down Allied bombers that strayed across the country, six by fighters and nine by anti-aircraft guns, killing 36 Allied airmen; crews were interned at Adelboden and Davos. Switzerland recorded 6,501 airspace violations during the war, with 198 foreign aircraft landing and 56 crashing on its territory.

Why does a neutral country need militia fighter pilots?

Switzerland’s defence rests on a militia army, and until the 1990s most fighter pilots were part-timers, airline captains, farmers and engineers who flew the Hunter and F-5 Tiger for a few weeks a year from their squadron’s war airfield. In 1982 about 600 pilots flew, only 200 of them professionals. The Hornet was judged too complex for militia crews, so its squadrons became fully professional when the Überwachungsgeschwader was turned into the Berufsfliegerkorps in 2005. The last militia fighter squadrons, 6 and 19, were called up for the final time in 2025, and the F-35A will be flown by professionals only.

Where can you still see or fly historic Swiss military aircraft?

The Flieger-Flab-Museum at Dübendorf holds the national collection from the Häfeli biplanes to the Mirage IIIRS and the Aiguillon prototype, and the Musée de l’aviation militaire de Payerne flies a Mirage IIIDS. Privately owned Hunters and Vampires in Swiss markings fly from Altenrhein, Mollis and St. Stephan, where the Hunterverein associations keep the old squadron aircraft alive, and a D-3801 Morane and a P-51D still appear at Swiss shows. For a seat in a jet, MiGFlug offers L-39 Albatros flights from Sion, the former Swiss Air Force base in the Valais, and the Patrouille Suisse can be watched on F-5s until the end of the 2027 season.

The part of the collection you can touch

Fly a jet from a Swiss Air Force base.

Sion closed to the Air Force in 2017. The runway is still there, and so is a L-39 Albatros with a second seat. MiGFlug has put civilians in real military jet cockpits since 2004.

Fly the L-39 Albatros from Sion

Continue the tour

Read the aircraft the Swiss Air Force flew

The fighterF/A-18 HornetThirty Hornets carry the whole of Swiss air policing until the F-35A arrives.Read the F/A-18 Hornet story The trainerNorthrop F-5 Tiger IIAggressor, display team and cheap hours: the Tiger stays until the end of 2027.Read the Northrop F-5 Tiger II story The long-serving onede Havilland VenomLicence-built in Switzerland and flown until 1983, sixteen years after the RAF gave up.Read the de Havilland Venom story

Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Schweizer Armee: Luftwaffe (organisation, Fliegerbrigade 31, BODLUV Brigade 33, Kompetenzzentrum Weltraum)structure as of 2026
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplätzelist of the seven active airfields and Sion
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz PayerneFliegerstaffel 35, LT Geschwader 1, Luftpolizei 24, staff, runway, motorway exercise 2024
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz MeiringenFliegerstaffel 11, QRA alternate, flying hours, staff
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz EmmenFlugplatzkommando 7, units, movements 2025, F-35A from 2032
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz AlpnachLT Geschwader 2, LT St 6 and 8, SAR rotation
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz DübendorfLT St 3, federal base, no jets
Schweizer Armee: Militärflugplatz Locarnopilot school, parachute reconnaissance, movements
Schweizer Armee: Aussenstandort Sionapprentice workshop remaining at Sion
Schweizer Armee: Ausserdienststellung der Kampfflugzeuge F-5 Tiger25 airframes, 7 laid up, retirement by end 2027, CHF 44 million savings, parliamentary dates
Schweizer Armee: Zahlungsrahmen der Armee 2025-2028CHF 25.8 billion framework, CHF 5.5 billion 2024 baseline, 1 per cent of GDP by 2030
VBS: Projekt NKF, neues KampfflugzeugF-35A programme history, 12 December 2025 decision, Hornet end of life 2030
armasuisse press release, 6 March 2026: Der Bundesrat verzichtet auf die ursprüngliche Anzahl von 36 Flugzeugenabout 30 F-35A, CHF 394 million supplement, CHF 6.429 billion indexed budget
Sky News (skynews.ch): Nur noch 30 F-35A und zusätzliches Bodluv-System, March 202630 aircraft, notification deadline Q2 2027, Patriot delays
VBS press release, 28 May 2026: Erster Schweizer F-35A erreicht wichtigen Produktionsmeilensteinfirst eight aircraft to Ebbing ANGB from mid-2027, first in Switzerland mid-2028
Federal press release, 14 August 2026: Schweizer F-35A auf Kurs, erste Komponenten werden in Italien gefertigtCameri assembly, Payerne 2028, Meiringen 2030, Emmen 2032
VBS: Projekt ADS 15, AufklärungsdrohnensystemHermes 900 status, dropped functions, delivery by end 2026, introduction by end 2027
20 Minuten, 15 January 2025: Schweizer Armee stellt Betrieb der einzigen Drohne einfour of six drones delivered, temporary grounding
SWI swissinfo.ch, 9 April 2025: Christian Oppliger wird neuer Kommandant der Schweizer LuftwaffeFederal Council appointment, in office 1 October 2025
Cockpit, 21 February 2025: Luftwaffenkommandant Peter Merz wechselt zu SkyguideMerz commander 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2025
Watson, 17 September 2025: Patrouille Suisse verliert Ende 2027 ihre F5-FliegerCouncil of States vote 22-20
Scramble Magazine: Schweizer Luftwaffe Fliegerstaffel 17 disbanded9 December 2025 disbandment, Fliegerstaffel 35, Cameri deliveries 2028-30
Sky News (skynews.ch): PC-21 bei Landung in Emmen verunfallt, November 2023A-105 accident 28 November 2023, fleet of eight
Swiss Wings: Militärflugplatz Sion 2017Last Call January 2017, closure 31 December 2017, squadron moves
Wikipedia (de): Schweizer Luftwaffehistory, squadron table, airfield list, commanders, referendums
Wikipedia (de): Mittel der Schweizer Luftwaffecurrent and historical inventory with serials, quantities and losses; cross-checked against the English list
Wikipedia (en): List of aircraft of the Swiss Air Forcecross-check of quantities and service years
Wikipedia (en): Swiss Air Forcepersonnel figures, WWII shoot-downs, ET702, QRA
Wikipedia (de): Fliegerstaffel 1 to 21 articles (Fliegerstaffel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)squadron histories, bases and types by period
Wikipedia (de): Patrouille Suissefounding 22 August 1964, Hunter to Tiger 1994-95, Emmen since 1994, end 2027
Wikipedia (de): Ethiopian-Airlines-Flug 70217 February 2014 hijacking and the steps to 24-hour air policing
Wikipedia (de): Mirage-Affärecredits, inquiry, resignations, 57 aircraft
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Payernecoordinates, runway 2858 m, 1921/1925 origins
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Meiringenopened 1 December 1941, cavern, runway 2003 m
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Emmenrunway 3000 m, history, units
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Dübendorfhistory, end of jet flying 16 December 2005, current use
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Alpnachcaverns, last Tiger 23 September 1995, helicopter base since 1964
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Locarnorunways, opening 1939/40, LSMO
Wikipedia (de): Flughafen Bern-BelpLSZB/LSMB, Lufttransportdienst des Bundes
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Buochssleeping base 2004, Revita 2014, closure 31 December 2017, 2026 concept
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz MollisFliegerstaffel 20, last course 2007, civil since 2020
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz St. StephanHunter until 1993, Hornet visit 2019, civil approval 31 October 2025
Wikipedia (de): Flughafen Sittenmilitary use, handover 1 January 2022, CHF 300,000 alternate fee
Wikipedia (de/en): Flugplatz Interlaken / Interlaken Airportopened 1941, maintenance centre, closed 2003; runway data from the English article
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz TurtmannRéduit construction, caverns, closure 2003
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Raronopened October 1942, given up 1995
Wikipedia (fr): Aérodrome militaire d’Ulrichendetailed history, units, closure 1999, Réduit airfield programme
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz SaanenRéduit field, military use to the 1980s
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz ZweisimmenRéduit field, military use to the 1990s
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Reichenbachbuilt 1943, struck off 1997
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz Frutigenopened 28 April 1942, struck off 1997
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Kägiswilbuilt 1943, struck off 1996, Rega plans
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Münster VSRéduit field, Fliegerkompanie 16 1943-44, struck off 1996
Wikipedia (de/en): Flugfeld Lodrino / Riviera Airportrunway 1941, Strada 91, RUAG centre, civil transfer 2023
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Ambrìcavern, Fliegerstaffel 8, closed 1994
Wikipedia (de): Militärflugplatz San Vittorebuilt 1941, struck off 1955
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz ThunK+W test field 1915, closed 1955
Wikipedia (de): Flugplatz Bexmilitary airfield 1925-1935

Figures verified 2026-09-07. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.

Swiss Air Force — Fleet, Air Bases & Order of Battle