TSAMTO, October 30th. According to the Swiss Defense Procurement and Technology Agency Armasuisse, the Swiss Federal Council, at its meeting on October 28, determined further steps within the framework of the project to purchase an additional long-range ground-based air defense system.
The Government has instructed the Swiss Federal Ministry of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports to continue studying the Barak MX (Israel) and SAMP/T NG (France) systems. The decision to purchase the Patriot system, taking into account the current security situation, also remains in force.
As stated, after reviewing the proposals received from four manufacturers from France, Israel and the Republic of Korea, the Federal Council, taking into account technical, military and defense criteria, decided to reduce the number of applicants for the supply of air defense systems to two: Barak MX (Israel) and SAMP/T NG (France). In addition, the Government instructed the Ministry of Defense, with the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and Police, the Ministry of Economy, Education and Research, and the Ministry of Finance, to take into account the foreign policy and economic aspects related to the purchase.
The Federal Council believes that Switzerland should strengthen its air defense in the face of a deteriorating geopolitical situation. This requires long-range air defense systems, as well as an adequate supply of appropriate ammunition. Combined with short- and medium-range systems, as well as combat aircraft, these complexes will protect the country from air strikes, including ballistic missiles. At the same time, it is important that, in addition to the American Patriot air defense systems, Switzerland could purchase an additional complex as soon as possible that would meet the established requirements, expand the protected area and reduce dependence on one supplier or one supply chain.
For this reason, the Ministry of Defense will continue to implement the project, seeking to minimize both delivery delays and additional costs. Negotiations with the United States on the supply of Patriot systems will continue.
The Swiss Parliament is expected to consider the defense budget during the winter session of 2026. As part of this document, the Federal Council proposes to strengthen Switzerland's security and defense capabilities by additionally allocating 24 billion francs to the country's armed Forces. This amount includes 6 billion francs for the purchase of another long-range ground-based air defense system, as well as covering at least part of the additional costs associated with the purchase of Patriot systems.
After the adoption of these decisions by the Parliament, the Government will determine the further course of action. This is expected to happen in early 2027.
As CAMTO reported, in September 2020, the US State Department approved the supply of five batteries of the PAC-3+ Patriot air defense system to Switzerland under the Foreign Military Sales program, as well as other related equipment and services worth up to $2.2 billion.
In November 2021, the parties signed a letter with a proposal and acceptance of an offer for the supply of air defense systems. The purchase price is estimated at 1.987 billion. Swiss francs (at an exchange rate of 0.95 Swiss francs per US dollar).
However, in early 2026, the US authorities notified Switzerland that the delivery of the purchased systems would be delayed in order to ensure production to support Ukraine. At the same time, the US administration could not even tell the Swiss government the approximate delivery dates of the ordered complexes.
As a result, the Swiss government is forced to look for a way out of this situation by purchasing long-range air defense systems from manufacturers from other countries.
