• Home
  • City
    • ALBANIA
    • AMSTERDAM
    • ANDORRA
    • ANNECY
    • ANTWERP
    • ATHENS
    • AUSTRIA
    • AVIGNON
    • BARCELONA
    • BELARUS
    • BELGIUM
    • BERLIN
    • BILBAO
    • BORDEAUX
    • BRNO
    • BRUSSELS
    • BUDAPEST
    • BULGARIA
    • CAEN
    • CALAIS
    • CROATIA
    • CZECH_REPUBLIC
    • DEBRECEN
    • DENMARK
    • DIJON
    • DUBLIN
    • ESTONIA
    • FINLAND
    • FLORENCE
    • FRANKFURT
    • GENEVA
    • GENOA
    • GERMANY
    • GLASGOW
    • GREECE
    • HANNOVER
    • HELSINKI
    • HUNGARY
    • ICELAND
    • INNSBRUCK
    • IRELAND
    • ISTANBUL
    • KRAKOW
    • LIECHTENSTEIN
    • LILLE
    • LIMERICK
    • LISBOA
    • LITHUANIA
    • LONDON
    • LUXEMBOURG
    • LYON
europe-cities.com
  • Home
  • City
    • ALBANIA
    • AMSTERDAM
    • ANDORRA
    • ANNECY
    • ANTWERP
    • ATHENS
    • AUSTRIA
    • AVIGNON
    • BARCELONA
    • BELARUS
    • BELGIUM
    • BERLIN
    • BILBAO
    • BORDEAUX
    • BRNO
    • BRUSSELS
    • BUDAPEST
    • BULGARIA
    • CAEN
    • CALAIS
    • CROATIA
    • CZECH_REPUBLIC
    • DEBRECEN
    • DENMARK
    • DIJON
    • DUBLIN
    • ESTONIA
    • FINLAND
    • FLORENCE
    • FRANKFURT
    • GENEVA
    • GENOA
    • GERMANY
    • GLASGOW
    • GREECE
    • HANNOVER
    • HELSINKI
    • HUNGARY
    • ICELAND
    • INNSBRUCK
    • IRELAND
    • ISTANBUL
    • KRAKOW
    • LIECHTENSTEIN
    • LILLE
    • LIMERICK
    • LISBOA
    • LITHUANIA
    • LONDON
    • LUXEMBOURG
    • LYON

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland wants to complete the F-35 fighter deal

Sugar Mizzy May 19, 2022

Neutral Switzerland has not fought in a foreign conflict since the Seventh Coalition War in 1815, most recently in open warfare during the Short Sonderbund war, an internal conflict in November 1847. However, to maintain its neutrality, Switzerland operates a modern military force. Although it has not engaged in any conflicts with other countries for two centuries, it participates in international peacekeeping missions and is also part of NATO Partnership for Peace (PFP) program..

It’s unlikely that Switzerland will ever follow Europe’s other historically neutral nation – Sweden – and seek NATO membership, but the Swiss military will soon be operating aircraft used by several NATO members: the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II

Bern is expected to sign a contract by the end of the month to buy 36 F-35A fighter jets and will likely go ahead without waiting for a referendum on the $5.5 billion deal. Switzerland last year opted for the F-35 as its next-generation fighter jet, angering opponents who said they would make sure a referendum was held over what they called an unnecessary “Ferrari” option to tip.

September 2020, The Swiss electorate had agreed to 6 billion Swiss francs ($6.4 billion) to be spent to replace the Swiss Air Force’s aging fleet of F-5 Tigers and F/A-18 Hornets by 2030. Last June, lawmakers in Bern appeared to have struck a bargain deal with Lockheed Martin to provide 36 F-35A aircraft for just over CHF5 billion, and warned this month it was unclear whether the purchase could be made on the same terms if the deal would have to be renegotiated after the offer expired next year.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine and other European countries’ rearmament efforts have prompted the Swiss government to move faster than some in the historically neutral country would have liked – and various left-wing groups have rallied signatures to force another vote.

Opponents of the F-35 purchase decision have claimed the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet is unsafe and unsuitable for Switzerland’s military needs, and also suggested that the government underestimated the cost of maintaining and operating the Lightning II . However, supporters have highlighted the F-35’s capabilities and the fact that it will offer greater interoperability with many other nations that have or will adopt the aircraft from Lockheed Martin.

Swiss Defense Minister Viola Amherd stood by the government’s decision to purchase the F-35A and referred to other European countries that have also purchased the Lightning II, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

“They all did their own evaluation processes and also came to the conclusion that this is the best aircraft,” Amherd told reporters last year. “I don’t think all of these assessments have come to the wrong conclusions.”

So far, the F-35 has been chosen by more than a dozen nations and the fifth-generation stealth aircraft will be operated from 26 bases worldwide, with nine nations operating F-35s on their home soil. Today, more than 700 F-35s are in service, with more than 1,190 pilots and 9,750 maintenance personnel trained on the aircraft.

Peter Suciu, who has been Senior Editor since 1945, is a Michigan-based author who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites. He writes regularly on military hardware and is the author of several books on military headgear, including A gallery of military headgear, which is available on Amazon.com. Peter is one too Contributing Author for Forbes.

Related Posts

SWITZERLAND /

Switzerland submits A Piece Of Sky for the best international film – closing date

SWITZERLAND /

With Aviationfly, the largest flight school in Switzerland is expanding the reach of international prospective pilots

SWITZERLAND /

No recession in Switzerland this year: chief economist

‹ Russia will not export food to its own detriment – Medvedev › Perugia, Lisi: “Defeat against Brescia burns. I support Pisa, but I see Benevento-Monza in the final”

Recent Posts

  • I can’t turn off the heater, maybe the entrance door, to the editor of the Prague Zoo
  • Philippe Clément, before PSV-Monaco: “Mentally, we are the favorites”
  • IAEA to Zaporozhye NPP – Russian Foreign Ministry – Russia |
  • Fires in Rome today Monday 8 August 2022
  • Toulouse: this leisure center offers a free film session on the water in a sublime setting

Categories

  • ALBANIA
  • AMSTERDAM
  • ANDORRA
  • ANNECY
  • ANTWERP
  • ATHENS
  • AUSTRIA
  • AVIGNON
  • BARCELONA
  • BELARUS
  • BELGIUM
  • BILBAO
  • BORDEAUX
  • BRNO
  • BRUSSELS
  • BUDAPEST
  • BULGARIA
  • CAEN
  • CALAIS
  • City
  • COLOGNE
  • COPENHAGEN
  • CORK
  • CROATIA
  • CZECH_REPUBLIC
  • DEBRECEN
  • DENMARK
  • DIJON
  • ESTONIA
  • FINLAND
  • FLORENCE
  • FRANKFURT
  • GENEVA
  • GENOA
  • GREECE
  • HELSINKI
  • HUNGARY
  • ICELAND
  • INNSBRUCK
  • ISTANBUL
  • KRAKOW
  • LIECHTENSTEIN
  • LISBOA
  • LITHUANIA
  • LUXEMBOURG
  • LYON
  • MALTA
  • MARSEILLE
  • MILAN
  • MOLDOVA
  • MONACO
  • MUNICH
  • NAPLES
  • NETHERLANDS
  • NICE
  • NORWAY
  • PARIS
  • PISA
  • POLAND
  • PORTUGAL
  • PRAGUE
  • ROME
  • ROUEN
  • RUSSIA
  • SALZBURG
  • SAN_MARINO
  • SIENA
  • SLOVAKIA
  • SLOVENIA
  • STRASBOURG
  • SWEDEN
  • SWITZERLAND
  • THESSALONIKI
  • TOULOUSE
  • TURKEY
  • UK_ENGLAND
  • UKRAINE
  • VENICE
  • VERONA
  • VIENNA
  • WARSAW
  • ZURICH

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • November 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • September 2008
  • June 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2007
  • January 2002
  • January 1970

↑