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Operator profile / Europe

Switzerland and the Tiger II

Nearly five decades of Swiss F-5s, a famous display team, and a fleet that ended up flying for the U.S. Navy.

A grey F-5E banking low through an Alpine valley above a lake
Original illustration A Tiger II threading an Alpine valley, painted for this site. It shows the kind of country the Swiss jets flew in, not a particular aircraft.
VariantsF-5E and F-5F
Bought98 F-5E, 12 F-5F[2]
Swiss serialsJ-3001 to J-3098 (F-5E)[8]
Planned retirementEnd of 2027[4]

Arrival

Switzerland bought its Tigers through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, 98 single-seat F-5Es and 12 two-seat F-5Fs in all.[2] NAVAIR gives the total as 110 F-5Es, counting the two-seaters with the single-seaters.[1] Most were assembled at Emmen. The first Swiss-built F-5E, J-3014, was rolled out there on 22 August 1978 and accepted by the air force that October.[3] Sources differ on the date the type entered service: Swiss reporting gives 1978, while FlightGlobal cites 1976 from the Swiss government.[2][4]

The Patrouille Suisse

The F-5E became most famous in Switzerland as the jet of the national display team. The Patrouille Suisse moved from the Hawker Hunter to the F-5E for the 1995 season.[5] Its red-and-white livery, with the Swiss cross under the wings, dates from 1991, before the team switched to the Tiger.[6]

Swiss Tigers were flown lightly, which made them valuable to the U.S. Navy when its own F-5s wore out. The Navy bought 44 of them over six years, flew each one out of Emmen in a C-130, and rebuilt them as F-5Ns.[1] In 2020 it bought 22 more, 16 F-5Es and 6 F-5Fs.[7] One of the first batch, J-3025, now has its own airframe record, and the full story is in The F-5 as an adversary.

The end of the Tiger

The F-5F lost its training role to the Pilatus PC-21 in 2008.[6] Switzerland's parliament later approved a decree to decommission the remaining Tigers, and the air force plans to fly them until the end of 2027.[4]

Status note

Retirement plans can change. Check current Swiss Air Force information before describing the fleet as retired or active.

Last updated

Sources

  1. NAVAIR | Final F-5N Tiger II delivered to the Fleet (2009)
  2. FlightGlobal | Switzerland begins turning over retired F-5 fighters to USA
  3. AirHistory.net | F-5E J-3014, first Swiss-built Tiger
  4. Swissinfo | Tiger fighter aircraft will definitely be decommissioned
  5. This Is Flight | Patrouille Suisse
  6. European Airshows | Patrouille Suisse
  7. Defense Daily | $265 million contract to modify 22 Swiss F-5s
  8. Targeta | Swiss Air Force, Payerne
All operatorsAirframe record: ex-Swiss J-3025 ›The F-5 as an adversary