The Swiss government has elected to continue with its plan to replace its F-5E/F fighters but has delayed its decision to 2010 in the wake of increasing community opposition. The US$2.2bn (A$2.5bn) proposal to replace the remaining F-5s, most of which entered service in the 1980s, with up to 33 new Eurofighter Typhoons, Saab Gripens

Taiwan is reportedly considering mothballing its fleet of 60 Mirage 2000-5s because of the high cost of maintenance and support of the aircraft. A report from the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense claims the aircraft have proved unreliable in service meaning pilots were flying fewer than six hours per month, and that they cost more

Boeing says it has submitted two bids for AH-64D Apache and CH-47F Chinook helicopters to the Indian Air Force. The bids are to meet requirements for India’s attack and heavy lift helicopter competitions, and come on the heels of Boeing selling P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to India, its bid for at least 126 F/A-18E/F

The Pentagon’s Joint Estimate Team (JET) has re-affirmed its previous assessment of the F-35 JSF program, saying “substantially more money and time will be required” to complete development of the aircraft than is currently scheduled. The assessment suggests the program may even come close to the 25 per cent overrun trigger point which would incur

MASKargo is seeking leases on widebody freighters to replace its four Boeing 747-200Fs wet leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic. It is understood that the lease on the four 747s expires in April 2010, with MASkargo managing director Shahari Sulaiman telling Air Transport Intelligence that the cargo carrier is hoping to make a decision before then,

Boeing’s vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth told media in Sydney on October 26 that the economic downturn has “reached bottom and recovery has begun”, although recovery will be a “long, slow process”. Tinseth made the comments at a media conference where he presented Boeing’s Current Market Outlook, with a special focus on the Oceania