Swiss defense procurement "de-Americanization": F-35 order reduced due to price dispute

According to Golden Ten Data on March 6, the Swiss government announced on Friday that it plans to purchase only about 30 F-35 fighter jets from the US company Lockheed Martin, and is considering procuring a European-made air defense system to compensate for delays in the current procurement plan. This decision was made after a dispute with the US over aircraft pricing and the US decision to delay the delivery of the "Patriot" air defense system to Switzerland. There is disagreement between Switzerland and the US over whether a fixed price of 6 billion Swiss francs (approximately $7.7 billion) was set when the initial plan to purchase 36 fighter jets was made. In addition, the government plans to stick to ordering five sets of "Patriot" air defense systems, but is considering supplementing with an additional set. According to a statement, this is due to the US prioritizing deliveries to Ukraine, resulting in a 4 to 5-year delay for the "Patriot" orders.