Ministry Under Pressure Over Gripen Fighters

Feb. 14, 2012 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: SwissInfo; published Feb. 13, 2012)

(See link to Swiss Air Force evaluation report at bottom)

The defence ministry is examining allegations of purposely ignoring unfavourable results of evaluation reports to buy controversial Swedish fighter jets.

A spokeswoman said Defence Minister Ueli Maurer had no knowledge of the confidential reports leaked to a Sunday newspaper.

The allegations are the latest in a series of controversies over the purchase of new jets to replace the F-5 fighters for the air force.

The cabinet last November decided to buy 22 Gripen fighters, worth SFr3.1 billion ($3.4 billion) from Swedish company Saab, rejecting two other rival offers. But parliament is still to decide on the funding for the acquisition amid a challenge by a pacifist group to block it altogether in a nationwide vote.

Tests carried out in 2008 apparently showed that the Gripen fighter was clearly inferior to its rivals, Dassault’s Rafale and Eurofighter.

A report compiled later gave the Gripen slightly better marks but pointed out that it could not fulfil crucial demands of policing Swiss airspace.

The latest allegations have prompted a flurry of comments by parliamentarians and newspaper reports.

Critics called for Maurer to step down if he was found lying or hiding crucial facts. Others see the controversy as part of ongoing efforts to outbid rivals.


(EDITOR’S NOTE: In announcing its choice of the Gripen on Nov. 30, 2011 the Swiss defense ministry stated that “This evaluation showed that the three aircraft met Swiss military requirements, and were thus suitable for consideration as our country’s new fighter jet,” which is manifestly untrue, as can be seen in the report below.
However, defense minister Maurer said at the time that “The purchase of Gripen might not mean that we get the best fighter plane in Europe. But we'll have a plane that meets our expectations – and we haven't planned to break any world records in this area,” implying that while Gripen was not the best performer, it was clearly the least expensive.)


Click here for the Swiss Air Force’s evaluation report of the three fighters (24 pages in PDF format) on the Sonntags Zeitung website.