ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland is seeking talks with the United States, the government said on Wednesday, after Washington tried to raise the price for new fighter jets the neutral country is buying to upgrade its air defences.
Bern chose Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter plane in 2021, with a fixed price of around 6 billion Swiss francs ($7.44 billion) for 36 jets, a decision that attracted controversy in Switzerland.
But the U.S. Joint Program Office overseeing the project said last year that the price could be higher, while the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency told Switzerland in February that the fixed price was a misunderstanding.
Switzerland was informed that the price for the 36 F-35s would be dearer because of higher raw materials and energy costs, as well as higher inflation in the United States, the Swiss government said.
It gave no concrete figures for the increased price now being sought, although Swiss broadcaster SRF said the United States could now charge up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs more, citing government sources.
The Swiss government said the fixed price remained valid.
As the agreement prevents a legal settlement of the dispute, “a diplomatic solution must be sought,” it added.
The decision to buy the F-35A was contested in Switzerland, with opponents arguing against replacing the country’s aging F/A 18 jets with an unnecessary “Ferrari” option.
Opponents said Switzerland did not need cutting-edge warplanes to defend its Alpine territory, which a supersonic jet can cross in 10 minutes.
The F-35A beat bids from Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Rafale produced by France’s Dassault and the four-nation Eurofighter built by Italy’s Leonardo, Britain’s BAE Systems and Airbus representing Germany and Spain.
Still, Switzerland said it remained committed to buying the F-35A, and that cancelling the contract would have “considerable consequences.”
“For example, Switzerland would no longer be able to guarantee the safety of its airspace and population from 2032, as the current F/A-18 fighter aircraft would reach the end of their service life,” the government said.
($1 = 0.8067 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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