GENEVA - The Swiss government said Oct. 22 that it was standing by plans for a multi-billion dollar contract to replace army fighter jets despite reports that the defense minister was thinking of scrapping it.
Europe's EADS, French firm Dassault and Sweden's Saab are vying for the contract to replace part of the Swiss army's aging fleet of U.S.-made F-5 "Tiger" fighters in 2011.
"The Federal Council (government) has decided to stick to the timetable fixed in March for the partial replacement of the Tiger fleet," the government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting.
However, it also acknowledged the "critical financial situation" of the army and asked the defense ministry to draw up an evaluation of its finances.
The Swiss army has been carrying out test flights in recent months with the EADS Eurofighter, Dassault's Rafale and Saab's Gripen, ahead of the scheduled choice in Spring 2010.
But recent Swiss media reports have indicated that the 2.2 billion Swiss franc ($2.2 billion, 1.5 billion euro) budget set aside for the new aircraft may not be enough, and that the required fleet of about 20 would cost 7.0 billion francs.
The daily Tages-Anzeiger had quoted unnamed sources as saying that Defense Minister Ueli Maurer, who only took office this year, was asking the government to scrap the acquisition.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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