The Swiss government said on Wednesday that it did not have time to organize a popular vote on the purchase of the US F-35 fighter jets before the signing of the procurement contracts, for which the US offer expires in March.
Last week, the left-wing alliance Stop-F35 deposited the necessary 100,000 signatures at the Federal Chancellery in Bern to organize a popular vote, called a popular initiative, as permitted by Swiss law. However, it is up to the Federal Council (government) to set the date of the vote. And he indicated this Wednesday that “the calendar requested by the initiators is not feasible, namely, the organization of a popular vote before the validity of the offers expires in March 2023.”
And it points out that if the acquisition contracts are not signed before the end of March 2023, “additional negotiations will be necessary to extend the validity of the offer” and a delay in the acquisition of the aircraft “would have serious consequences”. for the security of Switzerland.” This announcement angered those who opposed the purchase of the F-35s.
Technical difficulties and budget overruns
The government decided at the end of June 2021 to acquire 36 F-35 (type A), from the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin. In September 2020, Switzerland narrowly approved, in a popular vote, an endowment of 6 billion francs (5.6 billion euros) to allow the air forces to acquire a new fleet.
While the Swiss government claims that the aircraft was by far the best, lowest priced of all the aircraft competing for the contract (Rafale, F/A-18 and Eurofighter), the myriad technical difficulties and budget overruns of the F-35 program in the United States prompted two parliamentary committees to launch an investigation into the choice of aircraft.
Récemment, la Grèce et l’Allemagne ont rejoint the list of countries that veulent be equipped with the F35, let it be checked by the Royaume-Uni, the Belgique, the Danemark, the Italy, the Finland, the Norvège, the Pays-Bas et Poland.
Source: BFM TV
