Air police now on duty 24 hours a day
From December 31, two armed fighter jets will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As recently as 2015, the Swiss Air Force was only on duty during office hours.
From Thursday, the Swiss Air Police will be available for deployment around the clock. Two fighter jets will circulate 24 hours a week from Dec. 31, 2020, and will be ready for action in no more than 15 minutes, according to the Swiss Armed Forces in a statement on Tuesday writes. The "Air Police Service 24" (LP 24) project could thus be implemented on schedule, according to the Defense Group.
The security project was launched on the occasion of a motion by Council of States member Hans Hess, who called for greater readiness in the air police service. As recently as 2015, the Swiss Air Force was only on duty during office hours. Since then, the air police's operational readiness has been gradually increased. In 2016, two aircraft were already on standby during 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays; since 2017, the aircraft have been on call 365 days a year.
15 "Hot Missions" and 290 "Live Missions
The two armed F/A-18s are mainly intended to intervene in "hot missions", for example in the case of aircraft that violate air sovereignty or seriously disregard air traffic regulations. Permanent missions ("live missions") involve random checks of state aircraft, which are only allowed to pass through Switzerland's skies with diplomatic clearance. In 2020, there were a total of 15 "hot missions" and 290 "live missions" carried out, according to the Confederation.
According to the Swiss Armed Forces, 100 additional positions were needed for the full expansion by the end of 2020. These were incurred by the air force, the logistics base, the army and the command base support. In the statement, the army also points out that in the future there could be more flight movements at ultrasonic speed outside the previously usual military flight times in order to secure the airspace around the clock.
Source: Swiss Army
