The Hawker Hunter in Swiss Service

The Hawker Hunter in Swiss Service, by Alfred Damen

Looking for a modern fighter to replace the ageing DH-110 Vampire and DH-112 Venom first generation jet fighters the Hunter was evaluated in 1957 against the North American F-86F and the Folland Gnat (a little known British development). Liking what they saw the Swiss continued the evaluation with two Hunter F.Mk.6s on loan from the RAF.

This extended evaluation resulted in 1957 in an order for 100 Hawker Hunter F.Mk.6s, to be built as F.Mk.58s (s/n J-4001 to J-4100) to Swiss specifications. These specifications included a Hunter T.Mk.7 style brake chute, Swiss radio equipment and the strengthening of the ordnance pylons to take 880 lb (400 kg) bombs. Deliveries began in April 1958 with 12 ex RAF Hunter F.Mk.6s that had been brought up to F.Mk.58 standard. The remaining 88 were newly built as Mk.58s by Hawker at Kingston-upon-Thames, Greater London, UK, while they were flown from Dunsfold, Surrey. The Hunters took on the fighter/interceptor role while the replaced DH-112 Venoms were relegated to ground attack duties.

In the early 1970s the Swiss AF decided that a replacement for the Venoms was due – they had been in service since 1953 after all. This demand led to a very extensive evaluation, in which the McDonnell Douglas A-4M Skyhawk, the Northrop F-5E Tiger II and the Saab 105 were compared. To complicate matters even more, a 'fly-off' was held between the LTV A-7G Corsair II and the Dassault Milan (derived from the Mirage III-S).

To the confusion, surprise and frustration of all companies involved, the Swiss government decided to procure 52 additional (second hand, refurbished) Hunter F.Mk.58As (s/n J-4101 to J-4152) and 8 T.Mk.68s (s/n J-4201 to J-4208) trainers! This choice was defended from a cost-perspective. But even that position was difficult to maintain. For instance, the additional Hunters were delivered with the Rolls-Royce Avon 207 power plant and, as a result, the whole Swiss Hunter fleet had to be retrofitted with this type of engine. And there were many more details that together wiped out the savings advantage.

By 1975 it was obvious that the Hawker Hunter was no longer able to fulfill the air defense requirements of that time. Therefore in 1976 the Swiss government procured 66 Northrop F-5Es and 6 two-seater F-5Fs under the 'Peace Alps' program. They were to be followed in 1981 by 32 F-5Es and 6 F-5Fs.

By 1980 the Hunter entered its third decade of service with the Swiss AF. A program called 'Hunter 1980s' was initiated to modernize the strike fighter. Modifications included advanced avionics and the addition of an extra rocket launch rail on each wing. But the most striking modifications were the adaptation to the BL755 cluster bomb and … the AGM 65 B 'Maverick' missile. This last modification caused many to comment that '…by rights the Maverick aught to be carrying the Hunter, as it was the most advanced of the two…'

The curtain fell for the Swiss Hunter fleet at the beginning of the 1980s when it became obvious that maintenance costs for the ageing airplanes were rising sharply. The Hunters were phased out – replaced by F-5s who in turn were replaced by F/A 18s. The last Hunters were de-activated in 1994.

A surprising number of Swiss Hunters has survived, either on display in museums or actively flying. There are two reasons for this:
First of all a part of the Hunter force had been stored as 'sleepers' in mountain shelters (either natural or man made caves) where they were suspended on cables. Parts of nearby motorways were used as runways. These airframes therefore had seen only limited service.
The second reason is that under Swiss law it is not possible to sell these planes to other air forces. The choice was therefore to scrap the planes or to donate them to museums or historical airplane societies that would keep them flying in a non-military role. And as donating clearly is the cheaper of the two options this one was actively pursued.

To sum it all up:
A total of 160 Hawker Hunters were deployed by the Swiss AF over a period of 36 years as fighters, fighter-bombers and ECM platforms. During this period 25 Hunters have been lost to accidents (one was shot down accidentally by another Swiss Hunter) and 15 pilots were killed. Not a bad safety record!