Switzerland makes CHF500m advance payment for US F‑35 jets

Switzerland has made an advance payment of 500 million for the F-35s Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has paid an advance of CHF500 million ($617 million) to the United States for the purchase of F‑35A fighter jets, said Urs Loher, director of national armaments at the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse).

He added that all payments scheduled for 2026 have already been completed.

The payments are intended to make sure the joint US funding account for Swiss defence procurement remains sufficiently funded, Loher said in an interview published on Sunday in NZZ am Sonntag.

The fund is used to finance all Swiss procurement projects in the US, including the purchase of 30 F‑35A aircraft, Patriot air defence systems and spare parts for the F/A‑18, the director said. He added that suspending payments could have led to a halt in spare parts deliveries for the Swiss Army’s existing F/A‑18 jets or put the F‑35 programme at risk. “The risk was too great for us.”

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Assembly of the first F‑35A stealth jet for Switzerland began in May 2026. Deliveries are due to take place between 2027 and 2030.

Switzerland pays CHF700m for Patriot batteries

Switzerland has already paid nearly CHF700 million for the five Patriot batteries ordered in 2022. Delivery was due to begin this year, but has been delayed by several years.

Loher said the contract allows the US to reset its priorities in exceptional circumstances, but added he expects Washington to honour its commitments.

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The head of armasuisse said some components of the air defence system, including the launchers, radars and command unit, could be brought into service in Switzerland sooner than planned for training purposes.

Loher added that the Patriot batteries the US had been due to deliver to Germany in 2027 or 2028 – but which were originally intended for Switzerland – do not match the German army’s required configuration. This could allow some components to be diverted to Switzerland. “We’ll take whatever we can get.”

Translated from French, sub-edited by sp