TSAMTO, September 20. On September 19, Switzerland signed a contract for the purchase of 36 fifth-generation F-35A Lightning-2 multipurpose fighters.
According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports of Switzerland, the document was signed by the National Director of Armaments Martin Sonderegger and the head of the F-35A procurement program Darko Savic.
The US authorities signed the purchase agreement earlier.
The total cost of the order is 6.035 billion. Swiss francs is the maximum value approved by Swiss residents during the referendum. As planned, the delivery of fighters will be carried out in the period from 2027 to 2030. The new aircraft should replace the outdated F/A-18 Hornet and F-5 Tiger.
In addition to fighters, the purchase price includes special equipment, weapons and ammunition, a logistics package, operation planning systems, training systems and initial training of personnel. In addition, the costs of integrating fighters into the command and combat control system, related services, risks, inflation in the manufacturing country (USA), as well as VAT are included.
Switzerland buys aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS) from the US government, which itself will conclude contracts with the manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
In addition, Switzerland and the United States agreed on a specific item and signed a separate declaration stating that the purchase price is fixed.
The head of the Air2030 program, Peter Winter, and the head of the F-35 program, Darko Savich, also signed a compensation agreement with Lockheed Martin Corporation, which creates the basis for the American manufacturer to conclude offset agreements with Swiss industry enterprises. Thus, Swiss companies should receive orders worth about 2.9 billion. Swiss francs.
The Swiss government selected the F-35A in June 2021. The Swiss House of Representatives approved the purchase of 36 new F-35A Lightning-2 fighters on September 15, paving the way for signing a contract for the supply of combat aircraft. Swiss parliamentarians also decided that the F-5 Tiger fighters could not be decommissioned by the decision of the Swiss government. Until the F-35s begin their tasks, the 25 remaining Tiger aircraft will be part of the Air Force and used for training.
The Keystone-SDA news agency reported on September 15 that the Swiss Parliament decided by a majority vote that the contract should be signed before the expiration of the offer (March 30, 2023), despite the initiative to hold a referendum on the acquisition.
The F-35A program is included in the defense budget for 2022, which provides for the allocation of $9.552 billion for procurement. Swiss francs ($9.915 billion), two-thirds of which ($6.035 billion Swiss francs) is accounted for by aircraft.
Critics of the deal, a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, the Green Party and the Group for Switzerland without an Army (GSoA), claimed that the operating costs of the F-35 far exceed the costs of competing aircraft. They call the F-35 a "luxury aircraft" that exceeds the needs of the Swiss Air Force. Opponents of the purchase say that the House of Representatives should have waited for a popular vote on the initiative to "Stop the F-35". According to Member of Parliament Priska Seiler from the Social Democratic Party, the damage caused to democratic principles that allow Swiss voters to influence the governance of the country will negatively affect the further work of parliament.
As reported by TSAMTO, in June 2021, the Swiss Federal Council (government) announced that it intends to propose to the country's parliament to approve the purchase of 36 F-35A Lightning-2 fighters to replace the F/A-18C/D Hornet and F-5E/F Tiger-2. The decision was based on a comprehensive technical assessment of the proposals of four candidates, including Germany (Airbus Typhoon), France (Dassault Aviation's Rafale) and the USA (Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed-Martin's F-35A Lightning-2). At the time of submission of applications in February 2021, the purchase costs were estimated at 5.068 billion. Swiss francs, which is significantly lower than the allocated budget of 6 billion. Swiss francs.
