Evaluation for Swiss Fighter and Air Defence Programmes

The Swiss procurement authority Armasuisse has received a second set of bids from the candidates for the Air2030 project, respectively for a New Combat Aircraft (NKF) and a Ground-Based Air Defence System with Extended Range (BodLUV GR).

This follows extensive testing and hardware demonstrations following the first bid. The candidates had to perform tasks that the Swiss Armed Forces have to carry out with the equipment. Questions of training and the necessary infrastructure were also discussed.

For the NKF, the government departments of the four candidate manufacturers submitted the second offer: Germany (Airbus EUROFIGHTER), France (Dassault RAFALE) and the USA (Boeing F/A-18 SUPER HORNET and Lockheed-Martin F-35A).

The bids include the following elements:

• Price for 36 and 40 aircraft including defined logistics and armament as a binding starting point for the detailed negotiations with the selected candidate after the type decision.
• offers for cooperation between the armed forces and procurement authorities of Switzerland and those of the supplier country.
• intended or already initiated offset projects.

Swiss Air Defence Missiles

The second bid for BodLUV GR has been submitted by French (Eurosam SAMP/T) and US (Raytheon Patriot) government agencies on behalf of the manufacturers.

The contents include:

• the price for the BodLUV GR systems, to cover at least 15,000 km² including defined logistics and armament as a binding starting point for the detailed negotiations with the selected candidate after the type decision.
• offers for cooperation between the armed forces and procurement authorities of Switzerland and those of the supplier country.
• intended or already initiated offset projects.

In both projects, bi-national cooperation and economic compensation through offset projects are important parts of the offer.

With the available information, Armasuisse determines the overall benefit for each system and conducts comprehensive risk analyses. In the evaluation reports, the Benefits, the procurement costs and the operating costs are compared for 30 years. The evaluation reports are to be completed in the first quarter of 2021 and are the basis for the type decision with the determination which combat aircraft or air defence system is to be procured. The type decision by the Federal Council for both programmes is scheduled for the second quarter of 2021.

Gerhard Heiming