Partial Replacement of the Tiger Fleet: No Active Evaluation of Second-Hand Aircraft Option

Recently, the question of whether the acquisition of second-hand aircraft is a realistic option for the partial replacement of the Tiger fleet (TTE project) was raised. One suggested possibility is the acquisition of used Boeing F/A-18C/Ds, of which the air force already operates 33.>> Before the beginning of the evaluation of the three short-listed candidates, armasuisse examined several times the possibility of buying second-hand F/A-18s, but each time came to a negative conclusion.>> In the present situation, the acquisition of second-hand aircraft is not advisable for technical, financial and military reasons, because of the amount of work required to refurbish and modernize them. Furthermore, these would have a much shorter operational life compared to new aircraft.>> Given these factors, second-hand aircraft would no doubt not offer a better cost/effectiveness ratio than new aircraft.>> For these reasons, the option of acquiring second-hand aircraft is not actively considered a viable option for the TTE project.>> Nonetheless, if a manufacturer were to offer used aircraft before the project is concluded, this offer would be evaluated on the same criteria that were used for the three candidate aircraft whose ground and in-flight evaluations were concluded on 2 December 2008.>> -ends->