Hercules swallows tigers
Repatriation commenced – first F-5 leaves Switzerland. It’s a well-known fact that the USA is the world’s largest arms exporter, which includes sales of its state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jet, for example. It’s less well-known that the Americans also buy military jets from abroad – but not in the way that you might think.
An F-5 Tiger II fighter jet belonging to the Swiss Air Force took off from Swiss soil in Emmen (Switzerland) for the last time recently. The flight didn’t take place under its own power, however, but in the belly of a KC-130J Hercules aeroplane of the US Marines. Why? Let’s take a look.
Switzerland’s office for defence procurement sold the US Navy 22 units of this type of aircraft, decommissioned from the Swiss Air Force in 2020. While the more than 40-year-old aeroplanes no longer meet the requirements of a modern interceptor jet, they’re still excellently suited as aircraft that can portray enemy units in the training of fighter pilots.
The various sections of the different military branches in the USA’s armed forces need quite a few such units. It’s just too bad for the Americans that they don’t have any more F-5s in their own stockpiles. They’ve thus been forced to buy back used aircraft from other countries. This also applies to Switzerland, which sold 44 of its coveted jets back to the USA in 2006.
A perfect fit
On 18 March the first of the 22 jets was dispatched on its trip over the big pond from Emmen by Ruag, with the C-130 once again proving its versatility. Without its wings, nose, radar antenna and some of its cockpit glazing, the F-5 fit nicely into the Hercules.
They were already received by the tactical air battle specialists at the Cecil Field naval air station (NAS) in Jacksonville FL on 21 March. It was the first unit in an initial tranche of four jets now being prepared for handover by Ruag in Emmen. The remaining 18 units are scheduled to be delivered by mid-2025.
The transport of the jets is part of the US Navy’s Artemis programme, under which the tactical air unit and its subcontractor Ruag prepare the jets for use by the US Navy and Marine Corps.