Switzerland, a decision before 2012

©Thierry Gay

The Switzerland Federal council should decide which aircraft to buy (Rafale, Eurofighter or Gripen) before the end of the year on the basis of a proposition submited by the Federal Defense Department (DDPS).

Meanwhile, the 3 contenders (Dassault, EADS and Saab) have been asked to update their proposal, made in 2009 before the end of October.
Since 2009, the exchange rate of the euro vis a vis the Swiss Franc and the Swedish Krona has droped by  more than 17 %. The mechanical result is that the Rafale and the Eurofighter are now 17% cheaper than in 2009 whereas the Gripen price has remained more or less the same.

Therefore the principal advantage of the Gripen compare to the Rafale (the price gap) will probably suffer in the new quotations. One could also argue that if the selection process has been accelerated to take advantage of the favourable CHF/Euro exchange rate, the Gripen has already lost.
Furthermore, if the rumors about the Eurofighter being too expensive to match the Swiss budget despite the weak Euro prove to be true, this could mean that the Rafale will be in a very good position when the bids will be assessed.

Switzerland is expected to buy 22 new fighters in 2012 to replace her F-5 Tiger II