__Switzerland is participating in a NATO air exercise in southern Italy from October 2 to 13 to help strengthen defence capacity and international cooperation.__
The Swiss army will send 45 soldiers to the NATO Tiger Meet in Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, the Federal Department of Defence said in a statement on Monday. Pilots will deepen their knowledge via the participation of five F/A-18 aircraft. This air exercise is one of the largest organised in Europe.
In total, thirteen countries are participating with over 70 combat aircraft, 15 helicopters and 1,500 soldiers. The objective is to test air defence beyond borders (joint force operating scenario), to exchange experiences and to compare capabilities.
Every year, the NATO Tiger Meet welcomes the air forces of several countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Switzerland, which is not a member of NATO, participates under NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PPP) programme. The Swiss air force has been a member of the NATO Tigers Association since 1981 and participated in the Tiger Meet since 2004.
I honestly don’t understand the purpose of it. What non-NATO adversary is Switzerland going to fight given its doctrine of neutrality? Some Russo-Sino-Hindu alliance that the West agreed to duke it out with in a conventional war but miscalculated and had to retreat beyond the Alps? Aliens?
Or is this just for the purpose of UN-approved humanitarian interventions? Did anyone ever had to employ some large scale, multi-national aerial combat operations in those?
The cynic in me says the main purpose is to let Swiss boys dream about being fighter pilots too.
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__Switzerland is participating in a NATO air exercise in southern Italy from October 2 to 13 to help strengthen defence capacity and international cooperation.__
The Swiss army will send 45 soldiers to the NATO Tiger Meet in Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, the Federal Department of Defence said in a statement on Monday. Pilots will deepen their knowledge via the participation of five F/A-18 aircraft. This air exercise is one of the largest organised in Europe.
In total, thirteen countries are participating with over 70 combat aircraft, 15 helicopters and 1,500 soldiers. The objective is to test air defence beyond borders (joint force operating scenario), to exchange experiences and to compare capabilities.
Every year, the NATO Tiger Meet welcomes the air forces of several countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Switzerland, which is not a member of NATO, participates under NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PPP) programme. The Swiss air force has been a member of the NATO Tigers Association since 1981 and participated in the Tiger Meet since 2004.
I honestly don’t understand the purpose of it. What non-NATO adversary is Switzerland going to fight given its doctrine of neutrality? Some Russo-Sino-Hindu alliance that the West agreed to duke it out with in a conventional war but miscalculated and had to retreat beyond the Alps? Aliens?
Or is this just for the purpose of UN-approved humanitarian interventions? Did anyone ever had to employ some large scale, multi-national aerial combat operations in those?
The cynic in me says the main purpose is to let Swiss boys dream about being fighter pilots too.