PARIS \u2014 The Swiss government is seeking parliamentary approval to allocate an additional 970 million Swiss francs (US$1.2 billion) for air defense under the 2026 budget, citing a heightened threat situation and long delivery times for defense equipment.<\/p>\n
The requested appropriation funds include 250 million francs earmarked for down payments on short-range ground-based air defense systems and 650 million francs for medium-range systems, as well as 60 million francs for a medium-range radar and 10 million for drone-counter systems, the Swiss federal council said in a statement on Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n The advance payments are intended to ensure deliveries take place on time and allow training of operational procedures to begin, the government said. Switzerland plans to spend 1 billion francs on Diehl\u2019s IRIS-T SLM for medium-range air defense as well as 800 million francs to buy the Oerlikon Skynex short-range system from Rheinmetall, according to the 2026 defense-equipment program<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHybrid operations and attacks from a distance pose the most likely threats to Switzerland,\u201d the federal council said. \u201cAt the same time, the armed forces lack the necessary resources to adequately protect Switzerland from aerial threats.\u201d<\/p>\n The tight international arms markets with \u201csharply\u201d higher demand means production capacities are fully booked for years to come, with delivery times lengthening, according to the government. Arms makers also increasingly demand \u201csubstantial\u201d down payments, and failure to meet those demands could delay urgent procurements by several years, the government said.<\/p>\n Switzerland said in March the country was considering buying a second long-range air-defense system<\/a>, as delivery of previously ordered Patriot systems from the United States looked to be delayed by four to five years. The country said in June it would start negotiations with French, Israeli and South Korean manufacturers.<\/p>\n