Switzerland opted in 2021 for the F-35s over France’s Dassault Rafale, reportedly upsetting French President Emmanuel Macron. Domestically, the 6 billion franc project only squeaked through in a referendum with 50.1 percent support, a razor-thin margin for a major military procurement.
Then came the bad news. Last month, Washington informed Bern that the aircraft could end up costing more than 1 billion francs more than expected. And unlike other fixed-price European deals, the U.S. Foreign Military Sales framework offers no price guarantees.
“The U.S. only guarantees that buyers like Switzerland pay the same conditions as the U.S. military,” Balthasar Glättli, a lawmaker for the Swiss Greens, said in an email to POLITICO. “But those prices can still rise — especially now that imported components into the U.S. are being hit with tariffs.”
Switzerland’s Greens party filed a formal motion in parliament earlier this year to cancel the F-35 order. The motion, submitted by Glättli in March, argues that the United States has become an unreliable security partner and that Switzerland should instead consider a “sovereign alternative” aligned with European partners.
The tariff decision is adding to skepticism about the American fighters.
“The F-35 fighter jets have now become a political issue again,” Hans-Peter Portmann, a liberal lawmaker from the same party as President Karin Keller-Sutter, told Swiss media.