Renewed controversy in Switzerland over US fighter jets – explained

US President Donald Trump with the head of Lockheed Martin and the F-35 chief test pilot in Washington in 2018. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

The Swiss defence ministry has repeatedly assured the public that 36 American-made F-35A fighter jets would be delivered at a fixed price of CHF6 billion ($7.5 billion). Now the United States is demanding hundreds of millions more, sparking consternation and debate in the Alpine nation.

Why is the F-35A costing Switzerland more than promised?

The United States government is demanding more money for jets, citing higher material costs and inflation. This contrasts sharply with years of assurances by then-defence minister Viola Amherd that Switzerland would receive the aircraft from the US at a fixed price. Amherd stepped down in March 2025.

The Swiss government maintains that a fixed price was agreed upon. In a letter, the US described this as a “misunderstanding”. As a legal recourse is excluded under the terms of the contract, Switzerland is now seeking a diplomatic solution.

According to the US Department of Defense, the order with manufacturer Lockheed Martin is only finalised when the aircraft go into production – at a price that is not set until that time. The fixed price mentioned in the contracts applies to this stage of the process, and not to the overall procurement, according to the US perspective.

Switzerland estimates the additional costs to the original price tag will range between CHF650 million and CHF1.3 billion.

Even back in May 2022, the Swiss Federal Audit Office found that there was “legal uncertainty on the meaning of a fixed price for procurement”. The defence ministry vehemently dismissed this warning, pointing to legal assessments it had made.

How did Switzerland end up choosing the F-35A?

In 2014, Swiss voters rejected a proposed purchase of new fighter jets. At the time, debate over the specific model being proposed, the Swedish Gripen, played a key role in the vote outcome. To avoid a repeat of the result, the government chose to pose a more basic question in the 2020 referendum: whether Switzerland should acquire new fighter jets. The proposal was accepted by an extremely narrow margin of 50.1%. It passed by only 8,670 votes.

Among the Swiss Abroad, the proposal was rejected by more than 56%. Some have speculated that had the postal ballots been delivered to the Swiss Abroad earlier, it could have changed the result, although this cannot be reliably calculated.

An F-35 performs a demonstration flight at the International Paris Air Show, on June 19, 2023 at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Following the narrow approval, the defence ministry launched an evaluation of four potential aircraft types, including the French Rafale and the US F-35A. In June 2021, Amherd said that “in terms of cost, the F-35A emerged as the clear winner with the lowest procurement and operating expenses”. The key factor under Swiss procurement law is the cost-benefit ratio, and this was what ultimately tipped the scale in favour of the American jet.

In 2014, Swiss voters rejected a proposed purchase of new fighter jets. Read our article on the vote:

Were voters misled about the cost?

If there was any deception, it was at least not intentional. Swiss voters approved an overall budget for a procurement programme that did not specify the number or type of aircraft. If the 36 aircraft now become more expensive, Switzerland could theoretically buy fewer, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister told the press. But it is still unclear whether the contracts would allow for such a change – or at what price.

The CHF6 billion approved by voters in the 2020 referendum was based on the 2018 national consumer price index, meaning the amount would be adjusted for Swiss inflation at the time of payment. At present, this corresponds to just under CHF6.4 billion.

Former Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd on her way to a press conference in Bern about F-35 jets in June 2021. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Confusion arose again, fuelled by repeated assurances that Switzerland would be buying the jets at a fixed price. When the US embassy in Bern confirmed this, even those responsible for the procurement believed it.

Could there be another referendum?

A repeat of the original referendum is not on the table, but another vote on the issue may take place. In late June, the left-wing Social Democratic Party submitted two identical motionsExternal link in the Senate and House of Representatives. Their goal is to ensure that if no fixed price was secured and additional costs arise, parliament – and ultimately the public – would have another opportunity to decide on the matter. For now, the Social Democrats have left open what form such a decision would take and are not demanding “any re-evaluation of the procurement itself”.

Representatives of the Social Democrats and the left-wing Green Party also said they are considering filing a formal complaint over the original vote. Both parties want to ensure that any supplementary credit would be subject to public approval.

The defence ministry, meanwhile, is pursuing a different strategy. It aims to absorb the additional costs via already approved budgets. This would circumvent the need for parliamentary approval of supplementary credit and avoid turning the procurement into a political football.

Could rival bidders challenge the deal?

Legal action by unsuccessful bidders could be possible. France was already upset when the US aircraft won the contract over the French Rafale jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation. Tensions escalated when it emerged that France was still negotiating the price and general terms with members of the Swiss government – even after Amherd had already chosen the American jet.

What matters most under Swiss procurement law is the total cost assessed over the jet’s lifetime. Switzerland calculated the 30-year cost of buying and operating the F-35A at CHF15.5 billion. “The next most competitive bid was about two billion francs higher,” Amherd said in 2021.

However, with today’s higher procurement costs, the F-35A would likely not have scored as favourably on this decisive criterion.

What makes the F-35A so controversial?

Buying and maintaining the F-35A has turned into a costly affair for many of its international buyers. Several countries that have purchased the US jet have ended up with painful cost overruns. In Canada, for example, the price rose from $19 billion to $27.7 billion during the procurement process. Norway anticipates operating costs over a period of 30 years to exceed the amount calculated at purchase by a factor of 2.5. Switzerland, meanwhile, has anticipated only a factor of 2. For Denmark, operating costs are 50% higher than expected.

The jet has also drawn controversy due to the speculation about a so-called “kill switch” – a technology that allegedly gives the US ultimate control over the weapons system. “If the US were to attack Greenland, no European country would be able to launch its F-35s in its defence,” the former head of French military intelligence recently said. Opponents are also concerned because the US retains control of the technology required for the jet’s operation, which may give it a strategic advantage.

Others question whether fighter jets like the F-35 still make sense in an era increasingly dominated by drones. One of the loudest critics is US tech mogul Elon Musk, who posted on XExternal link, “[…] please, in the name of all that is holy, let us stop the worst military value for money in history that is the F-35 program!”.

What options does Switzerland still have?

If the federal government has to finance the additional costs via a supplementary credit, fierce political debate and delays are to be expected. The defence ministry is trying to avoid this scenario. Whether the extra costs can be absorbed through “optimisations within the contract” or by reallocating funds from other defence projects remains questionable.

As a last resort – at least as a negotiation tactic – Switzerland is considering withdrawing from the F-35A deal. But cancelling the order would come with serious financial risks. Switzerland has already transferred around CHF700 million to the US under the credit agreement and has scheduled another payment of CHF300 million for this year. At the same time, Switzerland is engaged in ongoing tariff negotiations with the US government and is reluctant to strain bilateral relations.

Still, security policy officials from the Social Democrats and the Greens are urging the government to seriously consider cancelling the deal. “If getting out is cheaper than staying in the contract, it’s high time to cut the cord,” says Green Party parliamentarian Balthasar Glättli.

Has this happened before?

Yes. In recent decades, Switzerland has faced repeated cost overruns in its air force procurements – mainly due to expensive customisations for specific Swiss requirements.

An iconic example of this was the procurement of the Mirage III in 1964. To accommodate the aircraft in underground mountain caves – a feature of Switzerland’s defence infrastructure – the jets had to be extensively modified. Immense cost overruns resulted, which ran the price two-thirds higher than the original budget. Switzerland reduced the order from 100 to 57 planes and in the wake of the affair, several officials resigned.

Most recently, the procurement of reconnaissance drones has also led to problems. The cost of six Hermes 900 HFE drones increased from CHF250 million to CHF300 million. Switzerland now plans to install diesel engines to enable them to cross the Alps.

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Edited by Samuel Jaberg, Adapted from German by David Kelso Kaufher/gw