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GRIPEN

Swiss senate says yes to Sweden’s Gripen jets

The Swiss senate voted on Wednesday to release 3.13 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) to buy 22 Swedish fighter jets, following suit after the lower house approved the plan.

Published: 19 September 2013 07:00 CEST
Swiss senate says yes to Sweden's Gripen jets

With 27 votes for and 17 against, the upper-house Council of States agreed to release funds to buy 22 of Saab’s Gripen JAS-39 combat jets, breathing new life into the controversial deal after it fell one vote shy of senate funding approval in March.

The deal will now likely be put to a popular vote as part of Switzerland’s direct democratic system.

Left-wing politicians have promised a referendum, though Wednesday’s vote means a popular ballot would concern only funding for the planes, and not the deal itself.

The deal has run into problems in Switzerland over concerns about the spending cuts it will entail in other areas.

Nearly two-thirds of those polled for a survey published Sunday said they were opposed to the Gripen purchase, and 60 percent said they did not want the Swiss government to buy any new fighter jets at all.

The deal is part of a larger order for the planes to be shared with Sweden in a bid to cut production costs.

AFP/The Local/og

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SYRIA

Danish jets have bombed Syria for the first time

The four Danish F-16 fighter jets sent to fight the militant group ISIS have entered combat in Syria for the first time, hitting targets in the Islamic group's self-styled capital, Raqqa.

Published: 5 August 2016 16:10 CEST
Danish jets have bombed Syria for the first time
A Danish F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from the tarmac of the Sigonella NATO Airbase on the southern Italian island of Sicily. Photo: Scanpix
“We can confirm that the Danish fighters for the first time attacked targets in Syrian territory,” Jan Dam, who heads the Danish Air Force’s international operations, told Denmark's Ritzau news agency. 
 
The four jets, which have been stationed at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase since June 17, have so far been flying surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Syria with combat missions limited to Iraq. 
 
Although he wouldn’t go into details, Dam said that the recent attacks on the Raqqa area had, amongst other targets, been directed at ISIS’s command and control facilities.
 
Defence Command Denmark, the command centre for Denmark's armed forces told Reuters that the attacks had also targeted weapons stocks and enemy personnel. 
 
The four Danish aircraft have already flown missions in the Al Anbar, Nineveh, Dohuk, Erbil and Salah Ad Din provinces of Iraq, dispatching 93 bombs in a total 67 missions since June 17. 
 
According to a press release, 100 Danish soldiers have also recently arrived at the Al Asad airbase in Iraq's Al Anbar province to train Iraqi security forces, replacing an existing team which was come to an end of a six-month tour. 
 
The Danish Air Force stressed that despite the greater risk of civilian casualties in Syria, there were “no indications that the Danish F-16 missions in Operation Inherent Resolve would be to blame for unintended civilian casualties.”
 
Defence Minister Peter Christensen (V) has acknowledged that the risk of civilian casualties would be greater in Syria than in previous Danish bombing raids over Iraq.