FDP foreign affairs politician Portmann wants review of F-35 procurement

Portmann confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency a corresponding report on Blick Online on Saturday. According to Portmann, the F-35 fighter jets have now become a political issue again. In the current situation, it is not possible to simply carry on as if nothing had happened. A day earlier, the US tariff decision of 39 percent on imports from Switzerland had become known.

"Either we accept a loss and break off the contract - or we only purchase what we have already paid for, stop the next delivery tranches from the USA and fill our defense gaps with procurements from Europe," Portmann is quoted as saying by Blick Online.

He has instructed the Federal Council to submit a topic proposal to the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council regarding the open arms deals with the USA, Portmann wrote to Keystone-SDA on request. The aim is to explain whether the defense gaps can be closed promptly by procuring European systems if the orders are partially or fully suspended.

In June, it became known that the USA and Switzerland have a different understanding of the fixed price for the 36 fighter aircraft to be procured. Because the USA is talking about a "misunderstanding", the purchase price alone could result in additional costs of 650 million to 1.3 billion dollars. The popular vote in favor of new fighter jets was extremely close in September 2020 with 50.1 percent.