Air2030: Procurement contract signed for the F-35A

Bern, 19.09.2022 - National Armaments Director Martin Sonderegger and the Swiss F-35A Program Manager Darko Savic signed the procurement contract on 19 September 2022 at armasuisse in Bern. With this, the procurement of 36 F-35A is contractually agreed. The aircraft will be delivered between 2027 and 2030 and will replace the current fleet of F/A-18 Hornets and F-5 Tigers.

The procurement for the purchase of the 36 F-35A amounts to 6,035 billion Swiss Francs and thus lies within the limits of the maximum financial volume approved by the Swiss electorate. The National Armaments Director Martin Sonderegger and the Program Manager for the procurement of the new combat aircraft, Darko Savic, have signed the contract. For their part, the US authorities have already signed the procurement contract.

In addition to the aircraft, the procurement cost of the F-35A also cover mission specific equipment, weapons and ammunition, a logistics package, mission planning systems, training systems and initial training. Furthermore, the cost for the integration into the Swiss command and control system, for support services by industry, a risk amount, the inflation in the country of manufacturer, the USA, as well as the VAT on imports are also included.

The prices are binding

Switzerland is procuring the aircraft via “Foreign Military Sales” (FMS) from the US government and at the same conditions that it applies to itself. The US government in turn transacts the procurement through its own contract – visible for the DDPS – with the manufacturer company Lockheed Martin. The prices and contractual conditions are defined bindingly in this contract and are also enforced by means of strict supervision.

In addition, Switzerland and the USA have negotiated a specific clause and signed a separate declaration which establishes the fixed price nature of the agreement.

Offset agreement concluded in parallel to the procurement contract

The head of Program Air2030, Peter Winter, and the F-35 Program Manager, Darko Savic, also signed the offset agreement with Lockheed Martin. This forms the basis for the US manufacturer to conduct offset businesses with the Swiss industry. In this manner, Swiss companies receive contracts with a volume of around 2.9 billion Swiss Francs.

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Address for enquiries

Kaj-Gunnar Sievert
Head of Communications armasuisse
+41 58 464 62 47

Public day Emmen, Presentation of the Lockheed-Martin F-35A

F-35A, MM7363 / 32-06 of 13° Gruppo

Italy Air Force was present with two of those Stealth Fighters in Emmen. The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is also the new Fighter for Switzerland.

Update 24th of March, 2023:

Air2030: Swiss F-35A from Italian production

Bern, 24.03.2022 - Switzerland is having at least 24 of a total of 36 F-35A fighter aircraft manufactured in Cameri, Italy. For a further four aircraft, clarifications are underway as to whether their final assembly can take place in Switzerland instead as part of an offset project. The first eight aircraft will be manufactured in the USA because they will be used there on site for the initial training of the Swiss pilots. The agreed price and delivery schedule will remain unchanged and the aircraft will be delivered from 2027.

Over the past few weeks, armasuisse has clarified, together with the US government and the Italian armaments company Leonardo, the possibility of having the majority of the future F-35A fleet of the Swiss Air Force produced in Cameri, Italy (see press release of 15 February 2022). armasuisse has now come to an agreement with the US government and determined that up to 28 of the altogether 36 aircraft will be manufactured in Italy by the company Leonardo. This means that at least 24 aircraft will be manufactured in Italy. For a further four aircraft, Lockheed Martin is currently clarifying, as manufacturer of the F-35A, whether they can be finally assembled in Switzerland as part of an offset project at RUAG; if this is not possible, they will also be manufactured in Cameri. Lockheed Martin will manufacture the first eight aircraft in its production plant in Fort Worth, Texas (USA), so that they can be used subsequently for the initial training of the Swiss pilots in the USA. The contractual agreements with the US government and thus both the price and the delivery schedule will remain unchanged.

The F-35 production line in Cameri

In Cameri, Italy maintains one of two production lines of the F-35 outside of the USA and the only one in Europe. Italy participated in the F-35 programme from the beginning. The Italian Air Force and the Italian Navy operate F-35A and F-35B aircraft. In addition, Leonardo also manufactures F-35A for the Dutch Air Force in Cameri .

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Address for enquiries

Kaj-Gunnar Sievert
Head of Communications armasuisse
+41 58 464 62 47

Support needed - please help me win a price

unfortunally, this photo contest was cancelled without informations of the F35-Team

Well - this time I need your help .... to win a price I need as many likes as possible on one of my pictures. So, if you are a fb user and help me win, then please click on picture 17 of the actual photo contest in the F35 group:



My picture 👌