Defense F-35 fighter jet offset costs of up to 800 million US dollars
The offset costs for the 36 F-35 fighter jets are estimated by Armasuisse at up to 800 million US dollars. This means that almost one seventh of the originally agreed purchase price of six billion consists of offset costs.
27.06.2025, 14:14
SDA
"We do not know the exact costs, but they can be estimated from the information available to us. They are likely to be in the region of 700 to 800 million US dollars," said Kaj-Gunnar Sievert, Head of Communications at the Swiss Federal Office of Armaments Armasuisse, to Radio SRF on Friday. In the case of the F-35, the manufacturer Lockheed Martin adds its price for the countertrade to the purchase price.
Based on a study by the University of St. Gallen, Armasuisse puts the usual proportion of offset transactions at one twentieth of the purchase price, according to the radio report. The offset transaction for the F-35 is therefore comparatively expensive.
It is being examined whether and to what extent funds earmarked for offsets could contribute to covering these additional costs for the F-35, Radio SRF further reported. For example, by adjusting the offset agreement. If Switzerland were to forego offset business for the F-35, more than half of the additional money demanded from Washington would be covered.
The Rigi offset project of the armaments company Ruag is under great pressure. According to the article, Ruag wants to assemble four of the 36 F-35s ordered in Switzerland in order to gather know-how for subsequent maintenance orders. According to two sources, this alone would contribute 200 million to the purchase price of the fighter jet.
Ruag told SRF that it was convinced that the necessary investments would enable the project to run successfully. There is a daily exchange with the manufacturer.
Switzerland and the USA do not agree on the purchase price of six billion Swiss francs for the 36 F-35 fighter jets. The USA is claiming a misunderstanding and is demanding an additional 650 million to 1.3 billion dollars, while Switzerland is assuming that a fixed price has already been negotiated, as the Federal Council announced on Wednesday.
