Switzerland wants more F-35s in two stages: media report

Costs are rising for F-35 fighter jet purchase Keystone

Swiss Defense Minister Martin Pfister is reportedly proposing a two-stage strategy for purchasing F-35 fighter jets in batches to stay within the promised budget.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

According to the SonntagsBlick, Pfister suggests initially buying 30 instead of 36 aircraft from the United States, before adding 10 more. This option remains provisional, according to several federal sources.

Pfister was forced to consider new options after Washington announced cost overruns ranging from CHF750 million to CHF1.3 billion for the 36 aircraft, according to the newspaper. His predecessor in the defence ministry, Viola Amherd, had originally said the 36 F-35s would cost CHF6 billion – which has ultimately proved far more uncertain.

Five years ago, Swiss voters narrowly approved the CHF6 billion budget for a fleet of 36 aircraft. According to the Sunday newspaper, limiting the initial purchase to only 30 aircraft is designed to remain within budget.

For a later phase, the Pfister wants the option of purchasing not six, but ten additional F-35s. The government will soon decide how the fighter-bomber acquisition process will proceed.

This plan could allow Pfister to avoid facing predictable opposition from the left should the budget ceiling be exceeded and additional funding requested.

On the other hand, by leaving the door open to an additional order, he appeases military experts who are demanding a substantial strengthening of the air force.

Adapted from French by DeepL/mga

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail]