The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF.

In January 1958, the government of Switzerland order 100 Hunters to replace their existing fleet of de Havilland Vampire fighters. Swiss Hunters were operated as interceptors, with a secondary ground-attack role. By 1975, plans were laid to replace the Hunter in the air-to-air role with a more modern fighter aircraft, the Northrop F-5E Tiger II. In the 1990s, the discovery of wing cracking led to the quick retirement of all Hunter F.58As. The Hunter was completely withdrawn from Swiss service in 1994.

Cover photo credit : Joop De Groot