Aircraft
Switzerland Starts New Round of Fighter Trials
In the coming weeks Switzerland will evaluate the five contenders for its new fighter program against a common set of mission scenarios
A two-seat Typhoon touches down at Payerne after the first sortie of the Swiss NKF evaluation. (photo: Eurofighter via Twitter)
A two-seat Typhoon touches down at Payerne after the first sortie of the Swiss NKF evaluation. (photo: Eurofighter via Twitter)

On April 11, a two-seat Eurofighter Typhoon lifted off from Payerne air base in Switzerland as the country’s armasuisse defense procurement agency starts a new round of evaluation flights of the five contenders for the country’s Neues Kampfflugzeug (NKF, new fighter) requirement. NKF is part of the wider Air 2030 program to upgrade Switzerland’s air defense capability, and also includes procurement of new ground-based defenses under the Bodluv requirement.