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Publications in the US reveal details of the Swiss fighter jet acquisition previously kept under lock and key. The US State Department, which gave the green light to fighter jet manufacturers for a possible sale to Switzerland, released key data on offers for the F-35 and F / A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. .
US $ 6.58 billion or the equivalent of almost 6 billion Swiss francs. With this offer, the American company Lockheed Martin enters the Swiss combat aircraft race. The package offered by the Americans includes 40 stealth bombers. According to the US publication, the possible sale “of 40 F-35s and associated equipment has been approved for an estimated cost of $ 6.58 billion.”
The published file also shows that Switzerland had up to 46 Pratt & Withney F-135 engines on offer, meaning that it wants spare engines.
Super Hornet more expensive than the F-35
Competitor Boeing’s published package is more expensive. 40 Super Hornets, including equipment, generate an estimated cost of 7.452 million dollars, which corresponds to about 6.7 billion Swiss francs. The publication shows that Switzerland has up to 36 single-seaters and 4 two-seaters plus 16 reserve engines. Switzerland wants to spend a maximum of 6 billion on airplanes.
When asked, Kaj-Gunnar Sievert, a spokesman for Armasuisse, said that the notice from the US Congress, in which these details have now been published, “stipulates the maximum amount of defense equipment and the maximum amount of dollars that the United States can offer a partner. ” For Switzerland, this means that the contract value will be lower after the final negotiations than what was published in the US press release.
According to experts, the European competition of Rafale and Eurofighters will be pleased with the legally prescribed transparency in Europe for the sale of arms abroad, which does not exist in Europe. “They will read it very carefully,” says one observer, “now they have the opportunity to adjust their offers.” All four competitors Airbus, Dassault, Lockheed and Boeing must submit their bids for their fighter jets in Bern by November 19.
250 kilogram free fall bombs on the shopping list
US publications also reveal other details that have so far been kept secret in this country. This shows which guided missiles and bombs the Swiss Defense Department (DDPS) offered to the two American manufacturers in an emergency. And from the point of view of fighter jet critics, there is a nasty surprise. The device that manufacturers are supposed to offer includes 12 MK-82 type free-fall bombs. “These are free-falling iron bombs weighing around 250 kilograms with splinter and pressure effects,” says Peter Hug, a longtime SP military specialist. “The MK-82 has been around since the early 1950s, it was partly responsible for the immeasurable US war crimes in the Korean War, because targeted use only against combatants is technically nearly impossible according to the Geneva law “. Collateral damage would be consciously accepted in this “type of totalitarian war aimed at destroying enemies,” Hug says.
Apparently the VBS wants to use the MK-82 as a guided weapon. The corresponding conversion kit can also be found in the offer sheet. In addition, Switzerland also offers 12 GBU-53B Small Diameter Bomb II slider bombs and 40 AIM-9x Block II Sidewinder short-range guided missiles. The Air Force, which no longer has ground combat capability since the Hunter fighter-bombers were discontinued in 1994, currently has no more bombs. The reintroduction of the ground combat capability has yet to be politically decided.
During the weekend, the population was about to accept the loan of 6,000 million for new combat aircraft. Just days after the referendum, the US published details of Switzerland’s request for an offer, which was sent to manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Consequently, Switzerland offered not only fighter jets, but also controversial weapons for ground combat. These weapons include 12 guided slide bombs. Critics, however, are particularly surprised by the 12 MK-82 type free-fall bombs, which must also be offered by manufacturers. The MK-82 is an unguided “iron bomb” that weighs around 250 kilograms, but it can also be converted into a guided missile.
Conversion kit also in the wish list
The Department of Defense apparently wants to turn the bomb into a blimp weapon, but the shopping list also includes conversion kits. Armasuisse spokesperson Kaj-Gunnar Sievert says: “An MK-82 bomb, which is equipped with a guidance kit, is known as GBU-54.”
In any case, this would make the Swiss Air Force capable of combat operations again after almost three decades. “The GBU-54 and GBU-53 / B are new equipment because, since the Hunter was decommissioned in 1994, the Swiss Air Force, apart from the gun aboard the F / A-18, has no longer been able to directly supporting the ground forces with fire, “says the spokesman for the weapons procurement officer Armasuisse.
SP National Councilor Priska Seiler Graf (ZH) is “irritated” by the details of the request for offer published in the United States, which not even she, as a security policy, was previously aware of. The reintroduction of the ground combat capability is highly controversial and politically undecided. “I find it questionable that this is being considered and offered now,” says Seiler Graf. Critics are also upset that the planned acquisition of these types of bombs was kept undercover in the run-up to the fighter jet vote.
