Boeing produced F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet (Wikipedia)

By  Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Switzerland has been cleared by the U.S. Department of State to potentially purchase the F-35A joint strike and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets.  The two packages were posted on the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s website Wednesday, Defense News reported.  The F-35 package comes is worth an estimated price tag of $6.58 billion.    The  F/A-18 package with a price tag of $7.452 billion.   Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman   and General Electric  will act as principal contractors in the deal, which requires the deployment of six contractor representatives to the European country on an intermittent basis.  In addition, the U.S. pre-cleared Switzerland to purchase the Patriot air defense system, a contender for a complimentary ground-based capability. The five Patriot batteries come with an estimated $2.2 billion price tag.  Switzerland is reportedly seeking to modernize its military with the addition of about 35 new jets.   Swiss voters approved a government plan to spend $6.5 billion on new fighter aircraft by a 50.2 percent majority margin of 8,670 votes cast on Sunday.  The referendum called Swiss citizens to say yes or no to a government-backed 6.49B USD funding packet to find a replacement for the F-5 Tiger and F/A-18C/D Hornet jets currently in service with the Swiss Air Force.

Switzerland To Modernize its Military With Addition of about 35  New Fighter Jets 

A Swiss Boeing F/A-18C Hornet interceptor  © Swiss Department of Defence     (swissarmedforces)                      

A Swiss Boeing F/A-18C Hornet interceptor (swissarmedforces)     © Swiss Department of Defence

Delivery of the first new combat aircraft is scheduled for 2025, with the procurement of 30–40 aircraft, depending on the type, to be completed by 2030.  The backbone of the Swiss military aviation is F/A-18 Hornet, twin-engine supersonic fighter jet, delivered between 1996 and 1999. Currently there are thirty Hornets in service (25 of C, single-seat variant and 5 two-seaters in D, combat-training version) as four aircraft were lost in accidents. Despite several modifications and upgrades, the time of their withdrawal is coming quickly, according to Afterburner.com. ssss