High-ranking visitors arrived at the military airfield in Payerne VD on Tuesday morning. US Air Force Chief Charles Q. Brown (66) stayed in Switzerland for several days. After meeting army chief Thomas Süssli (55) and Pälvi Pulli (51), the head of security policy in the defense department, the Texas four-star general allowed himself to be guided through the air force base at the end of his visit.
One reason for the flying visit: the F-35 fighter jet. The army made clever use of the US delegation’s visit to once again drum up publicity for the new fighter jet, which the Federal Council decided to procure last year.
Tips from the US
Over 300 machines from the US armaments group Lockheed Martin are already in operation in the USA. Well over 1,000 are to join the US Air Force fleet in the next few years. “We are about to join the F-35 family,” said Swiss Air Force Commander Peter Merz (54). “We wanted to hear from the US delegation what their experiences were during the introduction of the new jet.”
In addition, bilateral cooperation between the two air forces was discussed, Brown said. “The US Air Force can learn a lot from small air forces like that of Switzerland,” he said without elaborating.
Ukraine war was taboo
The high-ranking US military did not want to comment on the Ukraine war. Questions about this were not allowed at the short media conference. In the talks between the delegations, on the other hand, the topic was certainly raised.
More on F-35 procurement