Switzerland will hold a referendum on the purchase of US F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for $6.1 billion
In the summer of 2021, Switzerland agreed to buy 36 F-35 Lightning II fighters. But activists decided to organize a referendum in an attempt to prevent the purchase of American planes.
Here's What We Know
Switzerland became the 15th country to agree to buy Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation fighter jets. However, the key principle of Swiss policy is military neutrality, which is why the purchase of the planes has caused controversy.
The Social Democratic and Green Liberal Parties of Switzerland put forward the Stop F-35 initiative to stop the purchase of the fighters. As a result they managed to collect over 100,000 signatures and the decision to buy the planes will be made in a popular referendum. However, the deadline is tight, because the government must complete the contract with Lockheed Martin by March 2023.
In 2020, a referendum decided on the modernization of the Swiss Air Force. The choice of aircraft was left to the state Department of Defense, and it settled on the F-35 Lightning II. The contract was $6.1 billion. Other alternatives were Super Hornet, Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon from Boeing, Dassault Aviation and Airbus companies respectively.
Critics of the deal believe that the operating costs of the F-35 far exceed those of competing fighters. They believe the F-35 offers more capability than Switzerland requires. The Federal Council is hesitant to actively support the purchase of U.S. aircraft.
At the same time the Swiss broadcaster SRF received documents saying that France is trying to persuade Switzerland to refuse from F-35 in favor of Rafale. The French are offering the Switzerland many billions of dollars in tax rebates. It is difficult to say yet how the situation will be resolved. But as we wrote above, Switzerland has to resolve all issues until March 2023.
Source: FT
Image: Lockheed Martin, Popular Mechanics
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