Last week, some 250,000 Airpower visitors cheered on the armed forces’ air force in temperatures of up to 33 degrees, spicy Top Gun music and cold beer. The next federal government will approach the issue less euphorically.
Because she will most likely have to make the hated successor decision. Our ‘old’ Eurofighters from the first series were supposed to remain in the air until 2037. The first successors should arrive in 2034 at the latest in order to be able to replace them in an orderly manner. Which in turn requires that the purchase contract be finally signed in 2029 – so in the next election year. Note: finally signed. Which aircraft it will be, with which equipment and with which armament, the number of units and the training modalities – all this must be decided in the years in advance, calculates aviation expert Georg Mader in the ‘Krone’ interview.
But it goes even further: the next coalition partners will have to concern themselves primarily with the question of what we actually want in the coming decades. Still a minimalist air police that only checks civilian aircraft that have lost radio contact? Or a system that maintains air superiority even in a warlike climate, can support ground troops or even hit supply lines of advancing enemies behind the front.
Expensive, uncomfortable questions
The next problem depends on this fundamental decision: will we have to protect the next aircraft on the ground better by means of structural measures at the airports? Against drones, for example? Do we need alternative landing sites on motorway sections, as is the case in Sweden or Switzerland? And won’t the pilots have to train more often and therefore fly more hours than before? Expensive questions that the upcoming coalition will have to deal with.
Although there have been promises from all parties for higher investments in the federal army, which have been broken off, “we have lulled ourselves into a false sense of security,” even SPÖ spokesman Robert Laimer said in the spring. But he and especially the Greens are also skeptical about the army’s ever-lengthening “shopping list.”
The debate about the successor to the Eurofighter has begun
The ‘star’ of the air force this weekend, the US-made F-35A, is also causing discussion. The ultra-modern stealth aircraft, which is currently being purchased by more and more neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic and Switzerland, is also being marketed in Austria as a secret Eurofighter successor. Whether Austria needs a highly complex attack aircraft designed, among other things, for strategic bombing and battlefield surveillance far behind enemy lines is controversial. The Swiss justify the purchase by saying that although the attack aircraft would not kick in anyone’s door (quote from Peter Merz, chief of the Swiss Air Force), they wanted to use the superior sensor technology to better reconnoiter the enemy.
If you ask around among the pilots of the Bundeswehr, some are calling for a new Eurofighter version, like Tranche 4 or even 5 (Tranche 1 is currently flying in Austria). The retraining effort for pilots and technicians would be low and the logistics would be in order. For the next legislature this could mean: the posters “Social Fighter instead of Eurofighter” by Alfred Gusenbauer are coming back.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
