Wed, Jan 31st 2024
Swiss Armed Forces Face Billion Franc Shortfall in Armament Funds
According to a media report, the Swiss Armed Forces will lack one billion Swiss francs by the end of 2025 to pay for armaments purchases already made. According to an internal document, the army has deviated from its own financial planning, reported Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) on Wednesday.
The Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) did not initially comment on the report when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency this evening.
According to the media report, the army already planned in detail eight years ago how it wanted to finance the purchase of a new fighter jet and the reinforcement of its air defense. For several years, the army would either order no armaments at all or only a few in order to free up funds. However, the army has deviated from this, the report continued. From 2020 onwards, it has had the Federal Council and Parliament approve significantly more extensive armaments purchases than planned in 2018.
Higher operating costs for the army and inflation are also considered to be among the causes of the presumed billion-euro shortfall, as SRF reported, citing the internal document.
Major events canceled for financial reasons
The army recently announced that it was canceling two planned major events due to the tight financial situation. At the end of August, the air force had planned to hold the Air Spirit 24 air show at the Emmen military airfield, while Defense 25, a major event for the ground forces, was scheduled for 2025 in Bière VD.
Army chief Thomas Süssli said on the SRF “Tagesschau” program on Saturday that it was not foreseeable that the army’s financial situation would worsen to such an extent. The operating costs for various systems, starting with the aircraft but also the ground forces, had risen massively.
The army leadership had therefore decided a few days earlier to cancel the two events. Although parliament had held out the prospect of an increase in the army budget, the budget would only increase from 2028, said Süssli.
At the time, an army spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency that it was not possible to quantify how much would be saved by doing without. This would not solve the army’s financial problems, but it would be a visible step.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic