Geneva (AFP) – The Swiss government is considering dropping the agreed purchase of the Patriot air-defence system from the United States amid severe delivery delays, Defence Minister Martin Pfister said Wednesday. “Cancellation is always an option in the event of a delay,” he told the ATS-Keystone news agency.
Earlier Wednesday, the defence ministry announced it would continue suspending payments for the system “until the United States has firmly announced new delivery dates and payment deadlines.” Switzerland, which is not in NATO, had ordered five Patriot systems in 2022, with delivery scheduled to begin this year and to be completed in 2028. But last July, the government said it had been informed by the US defense department that the deliveries to Switzerland would be delayed as Washington strived to provide more support for Ukraine. Switzerland first suspended its payments for the system last autumn.
“We are still operating on the assumption that we will receive the delivery, but we don’t know when,” Pfister said, adding that the government was mulling various options. “A possible cancellation is one of them, but we don’t know the conditions,” he said.
– Unauthorised payment –
Last week, the Swiss government said the United States had circumvented the freeze on its payments for the Patriot system by dipping into Swiss payments into the same fund but intended for its purchase of a fleet of F-35A fighter jets. This manoeuvre was authorised, head of the Swiss armaments department, Urs Loher, told Swiss media. However, “if the fund’s liquidity falls below a critical threshold, projects may be suspended or even abandoned in the event of a further decline,” the Swiss defence ministry said in Wednesday’s statement.
“This could affect not only the acquisition of the Patriot system but also the entire Swiss portfolio within the framework of the (Foreign Military Sales) programme with the United States,” it warned. The ministry noted that Washington had said it would inform Switzerland in the coming weeks about the next steps in the operation, delivery schedules, and the costs and consequences of a potential interruption.
According to its statement, a recommendation on this matter will be submitted to the government “by the end of June, 2026.”
In early March, Bern announced its intention to examine the acquisition of an additional long-range surface-to-air missile system, preferably manufactured in Europe, to complement the Patriot system. Last month, the government also said that it now wanted to buy only 30 F-35A fighter jets, instead of the 36 ordered, after Washington last year hiked the price tag, citing high inflation and surging raw material and energy prices.
© 2024 AFP
