Calls mount in Switzerland for review of F-35 jet purchase

FDP foreign affairs politician Portmann wants review of F-35 procurement Keystone-SDA

Swiss politician Hans-Peter Portmann has called for a review of the procurement of F-35 fighter jets from the US. To this end, he has submitted a motion to the Swiss House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

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Portmann confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency a corresponding report from Saturday on the Blick online newspaper. According to Portmann, the F-35 fighter jets have now become a political business again. In the current situation, it is not possible to simply carry on as if nothing had happened. A day earlier, the US decision to impose a 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland had become known.

“Either we accept a loss and break off the contract – or we only purchase what we have already paid for, stop the next delivery instalments from the US and fill our defence gaps with procurements from Europe,” Portmann is quoted as saying by Blick online.

He has instructed the federal government to submit a topic proposal to the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House regarding the open arms deals with the US, Portmann wrote to Keystone-SDA on request. The aim is to explain whether the defence gaps can be closed in a timely manner by procuring European systems if the orders are partially or fully suspended.

In June, it became known that the US and Switzerland had a different understanding of the fixed price for the 36 fighter aircraft to be procured. Because the US is talking about a “misunderstanding”, the purchase price alone could result in additional costs of $650 million to $1.3 billion (CHF607 million to CHF1 billion). The popular vote in favour of new fighter jets was extremely close in September 2020 with 50.1%.

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Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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