Our western neighbours are modernising 55 of there 71 resting Mirage 2000D with some important mid-life updates to fullfill there role 'till 2030. The biggest surprise is the installation of an external pod for a canon DEFA 30mm named CC422. The direction générale de l'armement (DGA) wants to give the bomber aircrafts more flexibility with that - needing no more the help of the Mirage 2000C or Rafale aircrafts to supress enemy troops / showing of force on the battleground. Other upgrades includes the change from MAGIG 2 to MICA air-to-air missiles and the possibility to further improve the weapon load and new defence and navigation systems.
Some important notes about the Mirage 2000D
- first flight february 19th, 1991; operational since april 9th, 1993
- integration of Link16 in between 2009 and 2011, called Mirage 2000D VI
- with the withdrawal of the Mirage F1 in 2014, Mirage 2000D received there ASTAC (Analyseur de Signaux TACtiques) reconnaissance pod
- 1st flight with mid-life update january 7th, 2021
An Mirage 2000D arriving at the Good Bye ceremony for Swiss Air Force's Mirage IIIS at Buochs airfield back in 1999
Yes, the Virus will not kill me (I hope). The most dangerous thing is my way to work - 12-15km each way and each day, but with a bit lesser traffic these days then a few weeks ago. My new eBike with Gen4 Bosch engine has much more performance than my old one from supermarket and the Spikes are a bit overdue in this winter - still, in the early morning some icy parts on my way.
Free time for the hobby is limited by that, but a few glimpses in my scan work of my archives is permitted ....
RIAT'99 Fairford - some unworked scans out of only five rolls of Kodachrome64 films (36 pictures each)
Yes - very different lineup to airshows these days. And reworked they are looking awesome - some of my shots available here:
Our Air Force is very kind to us military aviation lovers again and published some interesting schedules.
Main change is the opened QRA-schedule, now all days from 0600-2200h LT two armed Hornets are on 15mins Alert.
ALPNACH
EMMEN
Pistensperre: 27. Juli - 21. August 2020
Staffelflugbetrieb mit F/A-18 Hornet: 29. Juni - 24. Juli 2020
MEIRINGEN
Tiger-TK's mit jeweils mehreren F-5 Tiger und F/A-18 Hornet: Woche 7/8/37/38
PAYERNE
SION
Airshows 2020 - update April 29th,2020
Other interesting events in aviation, including ballooning and modelling. Mainly Switzerland. For the full schedule please visit flugzeugforum.de. The RIO in Ecuvillens is rescheduled to Gruyeres and will happen in 2021 again.
COVID19 saw and will cancelling a lot of events - so please inform you in avance on the official homepages !
January
05 Stuckli Ballonfiesta, Sattel-Hochstuckli (CH) - Reserve Feb 02 and 16 www.sattel-hochstuckli.ch
10/11 Youth Olympic Games Lausanne, Les Diablerets (CH) with Patrouille Suisse (10 TRG 1230-1305h/11 Demo 1145-1215h LT) www.lausanne2020.sport
12-18 Ballonwoche, Arosa (CH) www.ballonwoche.ch
16-18 Lauberhornrennen, Wengen (CH) with Patrouille Suisse in formation with SWISS Airbus www.lauberhorn.ch (16.1140h, 17. 1320h, 18. 1140h LT)
17-27 World Economic Forum WEF, Davos (CH) with restricted airspace 17(TRG)/20-25 out of Payerne www.bazl.admin.ch/wef
25-02 Festival International de Ballons, Château-d'Oex (CH) www.festivaldeballons.ch
06/07 Journée portes ouvertes de l'aérodrome, Bressaucourt (CH) www.aerojura.ch (Reserve: Sept 12/13)
13 Tag der Bundeswehr, Laage (D)
13 Hamilton Swiss Aerobatic Cup, Buttwil (CH) www.saa.ch
27 Seefest, Zug (CH) with Patrouille Suisse (1730-18h LT) www.zugerseefest.ch
July
11 OldtimAIR Flugparade, Stanserhorn (CH) www.stanserhorn.ch
11 Hamilton Swiss Aerobatic Cup, Bressaucourt (CH) www.saa.ch
29-24 Hornet Flugbetrieb, Emmen - LSME (CH)
31-02 International EAS Summer Fly-In , Langenthal-Bleienbach - LSPL (CH) www.experimental.ch August
01/02 17. Loorholz Flugtage, Leuggern (CH ) www.loorholz-flugtage.ch
07-24 Pilot school PilS with PC-21, Payerne (normally out of Emmen)
10-14 Flights with Dassault Mirage IIIDS, Payerne (CH) www.clindailes.ch
11-15 4th FAI Women's World Hot Air Balloon Championship, Nałęczów (Poland) http://balloons.aeroklub.lublin.pl/
15 Hamilton Swiss Aerobatic Cup, Motiers (CH) www.saa.ch 15/16 Flugfest, Hagenbuch (CH) www.flugfest.ch
21-23 Acro Show, Villeneuve VD (CH) www.acroshow.ch
21-23 32. OSV Treffen, Ambrì-Piotta - LSPM (CH) www.osv-ch.org
22 Hunterfest, St. Stephan (CH) www.hunterverein.ch
28-04 64th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, Wroclaw (Poland) 29/30 Dittinger Flugtage, Dittingen (CH) www.flugtage.ch
29/30 Tag der offenen Tür/40 Jahre Mountainflyers, Belp (CH) www.mountainflyers.ch
06-13 Swiss National Aerobatic Championship 2020, Bex (CH) www.saa.ch
12/13 Erlebniswochenende Sitterdorf, Sitterdorf (CH) www.erlebnisflugplatz.ch
20-26 24th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship, Sobota (Slovenia)
Another successful event perfectly organised by armasuisse and Dassault Aviation - with a lot of information again and many interested visitors, Media and Spotter side. And of course a lot of people from France interested to see there new aircraft from near.
Third candidate comes from just the country beside - la France ! With quite a lot of common training between our Air Forces and good relations, France is expected as a favourite. Now they have to show the capabilities of there new generation of fighter aircraft.
It's really intriguing that the 'normal' people know nothing about the duties of the Air Forces around the globe ... yesterday the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air, AdlA) announced an sorry for the sonic boom created by an Rafale Fighter to intercept an aircraft that have lost radio contact with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) on thursday evening:
(via fb)
Anyway, with those votation coming in Switzerland about the future of our Air Defence (Air2030) it's really important for all you readers out there to inform your family and friends about it. Our Air Force has not enough aircrafts left to fly regularly over crowded areas like Zurich just for fun and show of force, there is normally no need for leaving the regular training areas above the alps and jura mountains. Out of sight, out of mind ....
April
01-19 Training of the Swiss Air Force Display Teams in Payerne (08-19, Hornet), Emmen (25 April - 12 March, Patrouille Suisse), Locarno (PC-7 Team) and Alpnach (Super Puma Display Team)
12 PSFC Tag, Emmen (CH) mit Patrouille Suisse, SP und PC-7 Team (evtl. Hornet)
December
13 Ende regulärer Flugbetrieb Schweizer Luftwaffe um 1700h LT
Flight Schedule of the Swiss Air Force 2019
PAYERNE LSMP
Main events will be the Air Policy CAP's for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, the evaluation of the new fighter jets in summer and the week long visit of the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air, AdlA) end of August.
MEIRINGEN LSMP
A lot of Tiger activity throughout the year, but mostly only two aircrafts. PC-21 training out of Meiringen in spring and a very surprising event not yet ready for publication. The fighter aircrafts in evaluation for the NKF out of Payerne are also visiting Meiringen due there stay in Switzerland. For the Spottergroup at the Basevisits please contact me via flugzeugforum.de - Username Grimmi. Some places are still available at the moment.
EMMEN LSME
Main events are the Patrouille Suisse training week, the Hornet flights in August and some cargo aircrafts for Air Force (US Navy Herc's 'stealing' our F-5 Tiger aircrafts) and the RUAG, mainly Antonov AN-124.
Serge Dassault ( 4 April 1925 – 28 May 2018) was a French heir, business executive and politician. He served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Group and a conservative politician.
Groupe Dassault belongs to Dassault Aviation, worldwide known for famous Fighter and Business Jets like Mirage, Rafale and Falcon.
Armee de l'Air sent five (of there 99 remaining) AlphaJets to Switzerland, visiting our schooling 'till tomorrow. Unfortunally the weather ist not as nice today - but flights with Alphajets and PC-21 on mixed crews can be expected.
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform the trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties more ideally than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it. Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet.
Both the French Air Force and German Air Force procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. As a result of post-Cold War military cutbacks, Germany elected to retire its own fleet of Alpha Jets in the 1990s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators.
Armée de l'Air is using this aircraft for the famous Patrouille de France display team.
Alpha Jet in Service by the Belgian Air Component, second largest mid-european user today.
SABCA Gosselies in Belgium finishes with the last overhauled Belgian Air Force Dassault-Breguet Alpha Jet these days. The history of the Alpha Jet and Sabca started in the late 1970s when the factory was responsible for the assembly of 32 (out of 33 ordered) aircraft that were ordered for the Belgian Air Force in late 1973. In recent years the number of sightings of Belgian Air Force Alpha Jets was reduced considerably as in 2004 the first aircraft moved to Cazaux in France to be operated in the Belgo-French AJeTS (Advanced Jet Training School). In early 2017 the Belgian Air Force announced to end this collaboration and that future pilots would be trained in the United States instead. The future of the remaining Alpha Jets was uncertain, as the last flights of the aircraft were scheduled for mid 2019. At this moment 29 aircraft remain in service and as it appears now 25 of these aircraft will be offered for sale in small batches, the remaining four will be kept for preservation. Noteworthy is that the official authorization by the government still has to be given. So far no possible interested candidates have made themselves known to the Belgian Air Force.
