From the Mirage affair to the purchase of the F-35, history repeats itself. This time, however, parliament was informed and could have taken action to question a problematic choice in view of its additional costs, possible delays and Switzerland’s strategic needs in terms of its neutrality.
Who will be held accountable? The Federal Council, the military administration, parliament? Because the affair looks very much like a ‘fiasco’, as the SVP has denounced. At the end of June, the Federal Council explained that the purchase of 36 F-35As would cost up to an additional 1.35 billion Swiss francs, even though no aircraft had yet been delivered. The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) reported a ‘misunderstanding’ with Washington over a 6 billion Swiss franc contract “understood” as a ‘fixed price’, which was immediately questioned by the Swiss Federal Audit Office. As for the date of the first deliveries, confirmed for 2027, this actually refers to the provision of eight aircraft at a military base in the United States. These will not be transferred to Switzerland until 2029.
Other additional costs, which have so far been minimised by Bern, could be added. According to the Canadian authorities, the upgrade of the F-35A (Block 4) that Switzerland will also have to carry out would cost between 20 and 30 million dollars extra per aircraft, or 720 million to 1.08 billion dollars in total. While Bern has earmarked CHF 120 million to bring its three military airports up to US standards, the experience of other countries is that this costs between USD 500 million and USD 600 million per airport. Bern has announced a new budget of CHF 60 million, no more.
The National Council’s Control Committee, a parliamentary body, may provide some initial answers. At the end of June, following the announcement of the ‘misunderstanding’, the committee decided to investigate ‘the authorities’ handling of the issue of the fixed price of the F-35A’. The nine members of this group will meet ‘after the summer holidays’. The names of those interviewed will then be known, according to its chairman, Lucerne socialist David Roth. Their list is likely to include the main players in the case, starting with former Defence Minister Viola Amherd, who brought the matter before the Federal Council. Logically, the list should also include Toni Eder, former Secretary General of the DDPS, Martin Sonderegger, former Chief of Armament, Darko Savic, former project manager for the acquisition of the F-35, Peter Merz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and finally Army Chief Thomas Süssli. All these men have one thing in common: they have resigned, most of them this year, or are about to leave their posts. Is this a mere coincidence? Many observers are questioning this coincidence.
Just to be clear, the decision by the security chambers followed after they received a signed document from the US authorities and the VBS for review.
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**(DeepL translation of the full article)**
#A state scandal called F-35
From the Mirage affair to the purchase of the F-35, history repeats itself. This time, however, parliament was informed and could have taken action to question a problematic choice in view of its additional costs, possible delays and Switzerland’s strategic needs in terms of its neutrality.
Who will be held accountable? The Federal Council, the military administration, parliament? Because the affair looks very much like a ‘fiasco’, as the SVP has denounced. At the end of June, the Federal Council explained that the purchase of 36 F-35As would cost up to an additional 1.35 billion Swiss francs, even though no aircraft had yet been delivered. The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) reported a ‘misunderstanding’ with Washington over a 6 billion Swiss franc contract “understood” as a ‘fixed price’, which was immediately questioned by the Swiss Federal Audit Office. As for the date of the first deliveries, confirmed for 2027, this actually refers to the provision of eight aircraft at a military base in the United States. These will not be transferred to Switzerland until 2029.
Other additional costs, which have so far been minimised by Bern, could be added. According to the Canadian authorities, the upgrade of the F-35A (Block 4) that Switzerland will also have to carry out would cost between 20 and 30 million dollars extra per aircraft, or 720 million to 1.08 billion dollars in total. While Bern has earmarked CHF 120 million to bring its three military airports up to US standards, the experience of other countries is that this costs between USD 500 million and USD 600 million per airport. Bern has announced a new budget of CHF 60 million, no more.
The National Council’s Control Committee, a parliamentary body, may provide some initial answers. At the end of June, following the announcement of the ‘misunderstanding’, the committee decided to investigate ‘the authorities’ handling of the issue of the fixed price of the F-35A’. The nine members of this group will meet ‘after the summer holidays’. The names of those interviewed will then be known, according to its chairman, Lucerne socialist David Roth. Their list is likely to include the main players in the case, starting with former Defence Minister Viola Amherd, who brought the matter before the Federal Council. Logically, the list should also include Toni Eder, former Secretary General of the DDPS, Martin Sonderegger, former Chief of Armament, Darko Savic, former project manager for the acquisition of the F-35, Peter Merz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and finally Army Chief Thomas Süssli. All these men have one thing in common: they have resigned, most of them this year, or are about to leave their posts. Is this a mere coincidence? Many observers are questioning this coincidence.
Just to be clear, the decision by the security chambers followed after they received a signed document from the US authorities and the VBS for review.
https://cdn.repub.ch/s3/republik-assets/repos/republik/article-das-milliardenteure-missverstaendnis/files/fdc9ec25-d273-4033-958c-1a9025a21a4b/2022-08-29-brief-des-gs-vbs-an-den-praesidenten-der-sik-n.pdf
Die durch die wirtschaftlich destruktiven Tarife der T*ump-Regierung verursachten Mehrkosten werden uns wohl ebenfalls aufgebrummt.
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