President Says Patrouille Suisse To Be Disbanded By 2016

During a parliamentary security meeting Tuesday in Berne, Switzerland, President Ueli Maurer said that the country's jet demonstration team, the Patrouille Suisse, would be disbanded by 2016. The team has been in existence since 1964.

The committee was discussing the purchase of 22 JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets when the question about the team was brought up. Maurer, who also serves as the country's defense minister, said "we will no longer have planes simply for folklore," according to a report from the Basler Zeitung daily newspaper.

Maurer is a member of the right-leaning Swiss People's Party. Martin Landolt, the head of the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland told the online news site 20Minuten.ch that Maurer did not understand the symbolic importance of the jet team to the country. That assessment was echoed by Christian Democratic Party leader Christoph Darbellay, who said the call to disband the team is a "provocation."

The French news service AFP reports that former Patrouille Suisse pilot John Huessy told 20Minuten.ch that the team has not had an accident since its formation in 1964, and that the iconic red planes with white crosses are "the best business card Switzerland has."

FMI: www.facebook.com/pages/Patrouille-Suisse/22809087947