| Swiss Air Force Helicopters A brief look at rotary aircraft in the Swiss Air Force, following 'Arméé XXI |
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With the mountainous terrain of Switzerland and its vast areas that are difficult to access, helicopter transport is vitally important to the Swiss Air Force. 'Arméé
XXI': |
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Alouette III (V-250) flying through a snow covered mountain valley. |
| The Helicopters: |
| Left to right: SA316B Alouette III (V-261) arriving at Meiringen. Alouette III's (V-275, V-255 and V-270) at Axalp. |
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The fleet of Aérospatiale AS.332M-1 Super Pumas (Swiss Air
Force designation is TH89) is composed of 15 aircraft, purchased between 1986 and 1989.
Apart from troop and equipment transport, the Super Puma is particularly effective against
forest fires. Two Super Pumas are permanently kept on one hour alert status for Search and
Rescue (SAR) duties. They are fitted with FLIR and night vision equipment to assist the
crew with their duties. |
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Eurocopter AS.332M-1 Super Puma (T-312) departing Meiringen in October 2005. |
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Left to right: AS.332M-1 Super Puma's (T-321 and T-312) |
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The first of 12 AS.532UL Cougars (Swiss Air
Force designation is TH98) were delivered from 2002. 1 example (T-331) is equipped for VIP
transport and normally resides at Bern, Belp airfield, the rest are used for general
transport duties. |
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Eurocopter AS.532UL Cougar (T-340) during a display at Axalp. |
Left to right: Eurocopter AS.532UL Cougar (T-341), showing its versatility by water bombing the mountainside as part of the fire-fighting demonstration. |
| AS.532UL Cougars, T-342 (final aircraft
produced) and T-339. They are both performing at air displays. T-341 is shown ferrying
VIP's from 'Air 04' Payerne. |
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The Bases and Squadrons: At Payerne under Lufttransportgeschwader 1 (Air Transport Wing) there is; Escadrille de Transport Aérien 1 (Air Squadron 1) and Lufttransportstaffel 5 (Air Squadron 5). At Alpnach under Lufttransportgeschwader 2 there is Lufttransportstaffel 6 and Lufttransportstaffel 8. At Dubendorf under Lufttransportgeschwader 3 there is Lufttransportstaffel 4. Lufttransportgeschwader 3 also controls Lufttransportstaffel 3 with helicopters based at Mollis. Each of Air Squadrons 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 following
'Arméé XXI' are now made up of a number of Alouette III's, and Super Pumas
and or Cougars. Note, the helicopters are transferred from squadron to squadron as and
when required, and do not carry individual squadron markings. Bern Belp: |
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AS.532UL Cougars taxiing
out from Bern, Belp airfield. T-341 carrying temporary code '2' when ferrying VIP's to
'Air 04' air show at Payerne and T-331 which is in VIP configuration and is based at Bern. |
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Alpnach: |
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Alouette III's, V-266 taken by the viewing area gate and V-247 taken from the viewing enclosure itself at Alpnach and seen here arriving. |
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AS.532UL Cougar (T-331) which is in VIP configuration and based at Bern. This sequence of shots were taken from the viewing enclosure at Alpnach, and shows the Cougar arriving to pick up passengers, before departing just minutes later. |
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