Look for the F-35 Over the Swiss Alps: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II could be soon seen flying over the Swiss Alps, as the government in Bern signed a deal to procure three dozen F-35A fighter jets. The $6.25 billion deal was formally signed on Monday as part of a planned refurbishment of Switzerland’s air force. The aircraft will be delivered between 2027 and 2030.
The United States has also signed off on the deal, which will include mission-specific equipment, weapons, and ammunition, as well as logistics, mission planning and training support.
However, it was not without much controversy in the historically neutral Central European country. A group of activist protestors had campaigned since spring to stop the purchase of the 36 Lockheed Martin aircraft, arguing that the Swiss government had signed a $5.5 billion procurement deal without waiting for a referendum. Bern chose the F-35 last year, which angered some in the government who labeled it an unnecessary “Ferrari” option, and sought to introduce a referendum to overturn the purchase.
The F-35A aircraft will replace the Alpine nation’s fleet of F/A-18 Hornets and F-5 Tigers.
Last week, the Swiss Parliament approved the deal, and the contract was subsequently signed on Monday – even as opponents had continued to gather the necessary signatures for a referendum under the Swiss system of direct democracy, Reuters reported.
While the activists have since withdrawn their campaign to stop the acquisition of the fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighters, they’ve continued to voice their opposition.
“The Alliance against the F-35 will not lend a hand for a pseudo-referendum in which the electorate cannot decide on the actual purchase decision,” the group said on Tuesday.
“A vote after the contract has been signed is nothing but a democratic farce,” they added. “For this reason, the Alliance against the F-35 will withdraw its popular initiative, but remains convinced that the F-35 is a bad purchase and a billion-dollar risk for Switzerland.”
In addition to the cost, the opponents say the F-35 could tie Swiss security too closely with that of the United States. They further have argued that the Swiss constitution holds that the country maintains a stance of neutrality in foreign conflicts and that the aircraft are thus actually ill-suited for the needs of the Swiss Air Force, which primarily uses its aircraft for air patrols in its European skies and not in conflicts aboard
Defense officials have noted, however, that the deal will form “the basis for the U.S. manufacturer to conduct offset businesses with the Swiss industry.” Swiss companies could, in the future, receive contracts with a volume of about 2.9 billion Swiss Francs ($3 billion USD).
F-35. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The first eight F-35As will reportedly be manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, and those aircraft will also be used to provide initial training for the Swiss pilots. The 24 subsequent aircraft could likely be manufactured and assembled by Leonardo at the Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, northern Italy. Yet, officials are still examining whether at least four of those aircraft could be assembled in Switzerland, at Ruag’s facilities, a Swiss government spokesperson told Defense News on Monday. If that is not possible, those four will also be manufactured in Cameri.
Regardless of where those aircraft are produced, they could be patrolling the skies over the Alps in just a few years.
Expert Biography: A Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,000 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
