Back
Runway 28 Runway 28 Runway 28 Runway 28

Partnership for Peace Participation; Leeuwarden, April 1, 2019

Frisian Flag 2019, part 3; Text and Photograph's; Alex van Noye & Joris van Boven

A special participation in the Frisian Flag exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base this year was the participation of the Swiss Air Force with their F/A-18 Hornets. The Swiss are from Meiringen in the center of the country. Switzerland is not a NATO member state and therefore it’s not standard they are participating in Frisian Flag.

The detachment commander of the Swiss delegation is Lieutenant Colonel (Oberst Leutnant) Studer. His accompanying tactical is "Studi". Studi has 1800 flying hours, of which about 900 hours on the Northrop F-5E Tiger II and more than 900 hours on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The Lieutenant Colonel was in the last class of pilots who had done his training on the BAE Hawk and he trained like all Swiss pilots on the Pilatus PC-7. His trajectory is a bit strange for a professional Swiss Air Force pilot, because normally the trajectory follows to fly the F/A-18. Flying with the F-5E is often left to the pilots of the Swiss militia. After Studer joined the Swiss Air Force as a youngster at the age of 18, he received his wings at the age of 21 and was fully employed by the Air Force at the age of 23. In addition to his flying career, he also made a leap by following a medical university education. To combine both courses, he flew with the Swiss militia on the F-5E Tiger until he had completed his university studies in 2011. In 2012, Lieutenant Colonel made the switch to the F/A-18 Hornet and was transferred to Fliegerstaffel 11 (11 Squadron) on Meiringen. It wasn't until January 2019 that Studer reached his current rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In connection with the upcoming evaluation period for the new type of fighter aircraft of the Swiss Air Force, the Frisian Flag exercise was the only foreign exercise in which the Swiss could participate this year. The NATO Tiger Meet in Mont-de-Marsan in France and the Tactical Leadership Program in Albacete in Spain and the Arctic Challenge exercise in Sweden will all be skipped this year, says Studer.

Studer indicates that the Swiss are participating in Frisian Flag with four planes and sixteen fighter pilots. However, one could only participate in the exercise for a short time. With the operational support of the first foreign aircraft evaluation at Payerne Air Base (the British Eurofighter), the Swiss Hornets and its pilots returned to Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon of the second week of the exercise. The Swiss Air Force had to

miss five Frisian Flag missions due to this sudden decision of the government, explained the Lieutenant Colonel. The Dutch organizers were very flexible in their response to the early withdrawal of the Swiss F/A-18s. "We will find a way to solve this, no problem," the Dutch said. Studer's goal on Frisian Flag was to give the young air force pilots a chance to operate in a major international exercise. All pilots who were present at Leeuwarden Air Base are operational Hornet pilots and are qualified as wingman or qualified as section leader. "The biggest gain of the exercise for the young pilots is to get out of the comfort zone and see that the Swiss tactics still apply in a much more complex environment" The four F/A-18s based on Leeuwarden will be controlled by sixteen pilots from all Swiss squadrons. According to Studer, all pilots are involved in all planning phases of the exercise.

After receiving the head office in January 2019 to participate in Frisian Flag, the first preparations began, the Lieutenant Colonel told. To prepare for the exercise, a four ship simulator was used in Switzerland where Leeuwarden had been programmed into the environment. Our young pilots could become familiar with the environment, the stops, procedures, runways and the airspace, Studer said. In addition, a number of OCA missions (Offensive Counter Air) were flown in Switzerland with twelve Hornets to train in large formations. The difference between flying in the Frisian Flag exercise and a Tiger Meet is the professional organization of the Dutch Air Force, explains Studer. "I love the organization and the uncomplicated mindset and flexibility of the training staff in combination with their professionalism". For a Tiger Meet, a similar major COMAO exercise is organized every ten years, while Frisian Flag is organized annually. Another difference is the social section, all Tiger pilots see each other every year while flying and during many social events, while with Frisian Flag they are more in the background, Studer admits. There are differences between NATO and the Partnership for Peace (PfP), but the preparations ensure that these differences are met. With many countries there are contracts for training refueling in the air, such as with the French C-135 and the German A310. The RAF Voyager is used for refueling during the annual Swiss training in Scotland, but due to contracts this is not possible during this exercise.

Of the sixteen Swiss pilots, six are division leaders (able to lead four ship formations), three wingman’s and seven section leaders (able to lead two ship formations). A deliberate choice had been made not to assume the role of commander of the mission, because the Swiss Air Force acted only in the air defense role. During the exercise, all countries would fly approximately the same amount of Red Air (~ 30%) and Blue Air (~ 70%) missions, says Studer. The F/A-18 of the Swiss Air Force is able to use the AIM-120 AMRAAM C-Model missile in air combat, while many NATO members use the B-model for Beyond Visual Range missions. About every two weeks, the Swiss F/A-18s practice with French and German combat aircraft and refuel in the air before these air battles. A typical mission consists of a detailed planning and starts at 7 AM in the morning. The frame of this planning was set up the day before by the Mission Commander, explains Studer. After this, various planning sessions and planning meetings are held until the preparations for the flight begin around 12:30 PM. The Frisian Flag flight takes longer than one hour and the mission starts with a visit to the tanker before flying to the target area. After the mission, a 45-minute debriefing takes place, followed by a massive debriefing with the other countries to evaluate the mission from all sides, says Studer. Finally, Studer says; "It was a great experience for us and I am very excited about this exercise in the heart of Europe. The Exercise contains complex scenarios, although not always realistic for us, but the goal was to train in a complex surroundings".




Contact Facebook Youtube Airfighters Google+ Google Maps About Runway 28 Blurb
© Copyright 2000-2020 AAM van Noye, All Rights Reserved


Flag Counter