RUAG Press Room

RUAG and Tactical Air Support (Tactical Air) have been linked by a strategic partnership for a year now. As a subcontractor, RUAG has been performing specific MRO services on the F-5 aircraft as well as the overhaul of the associated engines and selected structural work for the US Navy as part of the “ARTEMIS” project. The US Navy acquired the aircraft from the Swiss Air Force around three years ago.

Archer recently completed a six-week wind tunnel test campaign of the Midnight aircraft configuration in our wind tunnel. The testing allowed Archer to gather valuable data for further validation for the Midnight vehicle configuration, aerodynamic models, external load predictions, aircraft performance, stability and control characteristics, and performance degradation under icing conditions.

The Swiss Air Force retired the PC-9 fleet at the end of 2022. The DDPS is responsible for liquidating and selling the last three PC-9s by the end of this year. As a long-standing material competence center for the single-engine turboprops, RUAG also plays an important role in the decommissioning. The capacity freed up can be offset by the maintenance, repair and overhaul of other propeller aircraft.

The "Landing Gear Refurbishment Program" achieved all the milestones for multiple F/A-18 jets in 2022. In cooperation with international part-ners in Finland, Australia and the US, RUAG checked, dismantled, re-worked and re-installed the F/A-18 landing gear of its national customer.

The US Navy has awarded an F-5 modernization contract to the US-based company, Tactical Air Support (Tactical Air). RUAG will take on maintenance work on 22 F-5 aircraft and their engines, as a subcontractor. The project is a comprehensive modification program and includes, among other things, a cockpit and radar upgrade developed by Tactical Air Support.

After around three years, the last of a total of nine modernized Cou-gars of the helicopter fleet were returned to the Swiss Air Force as part of a ceremonial handover. The series modernization program received approval from the Federal Council in 2018 on the occasion of the Army Dispatch and started in early 2019 with the conversion of the first Cougar. This was possible thanks to confirmation of readiness for series production by means of the prototype.

The functions of self-protection systems must be guaranteed at all times. With the compact, 4-in-1 "missim" test device, the third generation from RUAG, users can quickly and easily check the proper functioning of flight systems. A reliable check of self-protection systems before each use guarantees the necessary safety.

RUAG is strategically targeting new markets in the helicopter sector and investing in optimizing the maintenance of dynamic components. The upcoming investments in the future of the dynamic component workshop at the Alpnach site will improve the ability to plan, adherence to schedules and reliability of maintenance work.

RUAG has just concluded a 10-year license agreement with Collins Aerospace for the maintenance and overhaul of rescue hoists for helicopters. As a result, from 2022 our main customer, the DDPS, will benefit from significant improvements in our infrastructure, employee skills and expert knowledge with regard to maintenance and overhaul.