- Delivery delays push Switzerland to review Patriot purchase.
- Switzerland suspends payments to US Patriot system due to delays.
- US delays delivery of Patriot to Switzerland due to Ukraine’s aid.
The Swiss government is considering dropping the agreed purchase of the Patriot air defense system from the United States due to serious delivery delays, Defense Minister Martin Pfister said Wednesday.
“Cancellation is always an option in case of a delay,” he told the ATS-Keystone news agency.
Earlier Wednesday, the Defense Department announced it would continue to suspend payments for the system “until the United States has definitively announced new delivery dates and payment deadlines.”
Switzerland, which is not part of Nato, had ordered five Patriot systems in 2022, with deliveries scheduled to begin this year and be completed in 2028.
But last July the government said it had been informed by the US Defense Department that supplies to Switzerland would be delayed as Washington strove to provide more aid to Ukraine.
Switzerland first suspended its payments for the system last fall.
“We’re still working on the assumption that we will receive the delivery, but we don’t know when,” Pfister said, adding that the government was considering various options.
“A possible cancellation is one of them, but we don’t know the conditions,” he said.
Unauthorized payment
Last week, the Swiss government said the US had circumvented the freeze on its payments for the Patriot system by dipping into Swiss payments in the same fund, but intended to buy a fleet of F-35A fighter jets.
This maneuver was authorized, head of the Swiss arms department, Urs Loher, told Swiss media.
But “if the fund’s liquidity falls below a critical threshold, projects may be suspended or even abandoned in the event of a further decline,” the Swiss defense ministry said in Wednesday’s statement.
“This could affect not only the acquisition of the Patriot system, but also the entire Swiss portfolio under the (Foreign Military Sales) program with the United States,” it warned.
The ministry noted that Washington had said it would inform Switzerland in the coming weeks about the next steps in the operation, delivery plans and the costs and consequences of a potential disruption.
According to its statement, a recommendation on this matter will be submitted to the government “before the end of June 2026”.
In early March, Bern announced its intention to explore the acquisition of an additional long-range surface-to-air missile system, preferably manufactured in Europe, to complement the Patriot system.
Last month, the government also said it now wanted to buy only 30 F-35A fighter jets instead of the 36 ordered, after Washington raised the price tag last year, citing high inflation and rising commodity and energy prices.
