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FFV 116C  

 

During the mid-2000s, the Swiss AF began evaluations regarding the replacement of the 30 year old F-5E Tiger II. 

Called TTE - Tiger-Teil-Ersatz -Tiger Partial Replacement- (partial as two squadrons of F-5s would be replaced by one squadron of new aircraft), the evaluation started in 2007.

 

Only aircraft models already in service in the AFs of the respective manufacturing countries were considered.
 
In January 2008  armasuisse (the Federal Office for Defence Procurement) submitted a request for proposal to the
manufacturers Boeing, Dassault, EADS and SAAB. Boeing decided not to submit an offer, so the remaining candidates for the TTE were the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, Dassault Rafale and the EADS Eurofighter.

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The Gripen emerged as the winner of the evaluation, but its purchase rejected in a popular vote.  

A few years later, as part of the project "Air 2030", armasuisse and the SAF evaluated a possible New Combat Aircraft (NKF - Neues Kampfflugzeug) and a new system for ground-based air defense.Between April and June 2019, therefore, the candidates for a successor to  the F-5 Tiger and the F/A-18 Hornet (Gripen E, Rafale, Eurofighter, F/A-18E and F-35A) were planned in Switzerland in order to demonstrate their capabilities.

 

Saab withdrew from the competition two weeks before the start of the evaluations.The Gripen E (the version planned to be purchased) has not reached the level of capability that would have been required in order to carry out the planned missions.

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As is known, the F-35A was the winner of the evaluation.

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On this page we present a FFV 116C helmet, configured as the ones provided to the Swiss AF Gripen test pilots. Swedish equipment has an interesting and distinctive construction philosophy. Unfortunately related documentation is scarce, but we are working on it and will make updates to the page as soon as possible.