The Rafale has landed: the second candidate for the Partial Tiger Replacement in

[tigershark]

The Rafale has landed: the second candidate for the Partial Tiger Replacement in Emmen
Bern, 09.10.2008 - The second candidate for the Partial Tiger Replacement (PTR) landed in Emmen this morning. With the arrival of the French Rafale aircraft in Switzerland, the second series of flight and ground tests for the PTR is about to begin. In November, the third and last candidate, the French EADS Eurofighter, will follow.

Today at 11.25 hours, two Rafale aircraft landed at the Emmen (LU) airbase. These two-seaters will be stationed in Switzerland for about a month from 9 October 2008. As part of the flight and ground tests from Emmen as main airbase, around 30 flights are planned, some of which will be carried out at night. In addition, about 50 sorties will be made with F/A-18 und F-5 aircraft, which will serve as targets and for flight tests within the PTR - F/A-18 formation. The evaluation flights are part of current flying contingents and will not lead to additional flight movements at the respective airbases.

The next steps
The arrival of the European EADS Eurofighter is planned for 6 November 2008. The flight and ground test procedures will be identical for all three types of aircraft.

In parallel to evaluating the flight and ground tests, the tenders that were handed in on 2 July 2008 will also be examined. The collected data will serve as a basis for a second call for tenders in January 2009. After evaluation of the second tender, optimised with respect to equipment and price, and the subsequent preparation of the evaluation report in May 2009, the selection of the aircraft type is planned for July 2009.

Note for the media:
An offical event is planned for media representatives on 28 October 2008. Participation requires prior accreditation, as the event will be held within the premises of the airbase in a secure environment. The media may register under the following link, using a contact form. Persons registering with this form will be informed in due time.

Note for persons not representing the media (spotters):
As part of the flight and ground tests, a brief event at the Emmen airbase, but outside the secure zone, is planned for 17 October 2008. Access to the aircraft will not be possible.
Address for enquiries:
Sonja Margelist
Deputy Head Communication armasuisse
031 324 60 42

Source
http://www.news.admin.ch/message/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=21921