Switzerland seeks additional $1.2 billion for air defense in 2026 budget

PARIS — The Swiss government is seeking parliamentary approval to allocate an additional 970 million Swiss francs (US$1.2 billion) for air defense under the 2026 budget, citing a heightened threat situation and long delivery times for defense equipment.

The requested appropriation funds include 250 million francs earmarked for down payments on short-range ground-based air defense systems and 650 million francs for medium-range systems, as well as 60 million francs for a medium-range radar and 10 million for drone-counter systems, the Swiss federal council said in a statement on Wednesday .

The advance payments are intended to ensure deliveries take place on time and allow training of operational procedures to begin, the government said. Switzerland plans to spend 1 billion francs on Diehl’s IRIS-T SLM for medium-range air defense as well as 800 million francs to buy the Oerlikon Skynex short-range system from Rheinmetall, according to the 2026 defense-equipment program .

“Hybrid operations and attacks from a distance pose the most likely threats to Switzerland,” the federal council said. “At the same time, the armed forces lack the necessary resources to adequately protect Switzerland from aerial threats.”

The tight international arms markets with “sharply” higher demand means production capacities are fully booked for years to come, with delivery times lengthening, according to the government. Arms makers also increasingly demand “substantial” down payments, and failure to meet those demands could delay urgent procurements by several years, the government said.

Switzerland said in March the country was considering buying a second long-range air-defense system , as delivery of previously ordered Patriot systems from the United States looked to be delayed by four to five years. The country said in June it would start negotiations with French, Israeli and South Korean manufacturers.

The French-Italian SAMP/T NG system produced by Eurosam and armed with MBDA’s Aster air-defense interceptor is considered the favorite for the second long-range system, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen reported in June .

With the supplementary appropriation, the council “aims to secure production capacity and delivery dates at an early stage for the procurements approved” in the 2026 armed forces budget. The council said the financing is possible thanks to an improved fiscal outlook resulting from higher income tax revenues.

The council said it will be able to proceed with the advance payments as soon as parliament has made its decision, probably during the upcoming fall session.

The government additionally plans to invest 100 million francs in coming years to strengthen security at more than 60 military sites, including improved fencing, video surveillance, electronic access controls, and secure rooms.

The evolving security situation means “it is urgent to implement these measures quickly,” by early 2029 at the latest, and a decision next year would be too late to achieve that goal, the council said.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——瑞士政府正在寻求议会批准，在 2026 年预算中额外拨款 9.7 亿瑞士法郎（12 亿美元）用于防空，理由是威胁形势加剧以及国防装备交付时间过长。

瑞士联邦委员会周三在一份声明中表示，申请的拨款资金包括 2.5 亿瑞士法郎，用于支付短程地面防空系统的首付款；6.5 亿瑞士法郎，用于支付中程防空系统的首付款；以及 6000 万瑞士法郎，用于支付中程雷达的费用；还有 1000 万瑞士法郎，用于支付无人机反制系统的费用。

政府表示，预付款旨在确保按时交付，并允许开始操作程序培训。根据2026年国防装备计划，瑞士计划斥资10亿瑞士法郎从迪尔公司购买用于中程防空的IRIS-T SLM系统，并斥资8亿瑞士法郎从莱茵金属公司购买厄利孔公司的Skynex短程防空系统。

联邦委员会表示：“混合作战和远程攻击对瑞士构成最可能的威胁。与此同时，瑞士武装部队缺乏足够的资源来充分保护瑞士免受空中威胁。”

政府表示，国际军火市场供求紧张，需求“急剧”增长，导致未来几年产能已被预订一空，交货时间也将延长。政府还指出，军火制造商也越来越倾向于要求“大额”预付款，如果无法满足这些要求，紧急采购可能会被延误数年。

瑞士在3月份表示，由于此前从美国订购的“爱国者”防空系统交付预计将延迟四到五年，该国正在考虑购买第二套远程防空系统。瑞士在6月份表示，将与法国、以色列和韩国的制造商展开谈判。

据瑞士广播电视台 (SRF) 6 月份报道，由 Eurosam 公司生产的法意合资 SAMP/T NG 系统，配备 MBDA 公司的 Aster 防空拦截器，被认为是第二款远程系统的首选。

通过追加拨款，委员会“旨在尽早确保2026年武装部队预算中已批准采购项目的生产能力和交付日期”。委员会表示，由于所得税收入增加，财政前景改善，因此这笔资金得以实现。

委员会表示，一旦议会做出决定，很可能在即将到来的秋季会议期间，委员会就能开始支付预付款。

政府还计划在未来几年投资 1 亿瑞士法郎，以加强 60 多个军事场所的安全，包括改进围栏、视频监控、电子门禁系统和安全房间。

安理会表示，不断变化的安全形势意味着“必须尽快实施这些措施”，最迟应在 2029 年初完成，明年再做决定就太晚了，无法实现这一目标。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。