Swiss National Council approves 3.4 billion francs for army
Tuesday 15th September 2026 on 13:45 in
Switzerland
The Swiss National Council has approved around 3.4 billion Swiss francs in military funding despite a parliamentary report accusing the Defence Department of providing misleading information about the purchase of F-35 fighter jets, SRF reported.
The package includes around 2.4 billion francs for arms procurement, 562 million francs for property projects and an additional 394 million francs for the F-35 purchase.
The National Council rejected a proposal to add 500 million francs for air-defence ammunition. The money would have funded ammunition for ground-based air-defence systems of medium and longer range, as well as systems for indirect fire support at medium distances. Supporters said the measure was needed to replenish ammunition reserves quickly, while the centre-left questioned how the additional funding would be financed.
The F-35 supplementary credit drew particular attention after the parliamentary Control Committee concluded last week that the repeatedly cited fixed price for the fighter-jet purchase had never existed.
Representatives of the centre-right parties said the F-35 procurement had no alternative. The left argued that the committee’s report had undermined confidence in the purchase. The debate repeatedly referred to the affair as a fixed-price fiasco.
Defence Minister Martin Pfister said the Federal Council would respond to the report “very quickly and not only in December”. He described it as differentiated, factual and useful, and said it provided a good basis for improving procedures in the Defence Department.
Pfister also said the criticism placed a heavy strain on efforts to build trust in the department and on its employees. He called for an objective debate, saying this was sometimes lacking. He argued that Switzerland’s security required the country to purchase the maximum possible number of new fighter jets.
The army can now proceed with its planned air-defence procurements. Further credits will be discussed during the winter session. The Federal Council is seeking around an additional 1 billion francs because the outlook for the federal budget has improved, allowing it to make down payments for the new procurements.