Parliament has approved a supplementary credit of CHF394 million. The Federal Council’s latest response does not settle the final number of aircraft Switzerland will acquire.
The government accepted six parliamentary oversight recommendations in full and one in part. Its response was adopted on October 21 and published on October 23, following the oversight committee’s September 8 report on F-35A pricing.
The Federal Council acknowledged that Armasuisse’s legal department had played too limited a role in the fighter purchase. It said the team lacked the resources and specialized expertise required for a procurement project of that scale and complexity.
The legal department has since been expanded and now acts as a center of expertise for procurement projects. The government considers that recommendation largely implemented.
But the council rejected the impression that only the former project manager had read the contracts in full. It said the former head of armaments and other Armasuisse employees had examined the complete documents.
Former Defence Minister Viola Amherd and officials in the ministry’s general secretariat also reviewed the clauses relevant to fixed pricing in depth. The government said some employees who had read the contracts were not interviewed by the oversight committee.
The defense ministry will examine whether negotiating mandates for major, complex purchases should require approval from departmental leadership or the Federal Council. The government also wants parliament more closely involved and is considering internal peer reviews for particularly risky acquisitions.
Risk management must use project-specific, quantitative assessments to make contingency calculations more transparent. The accepted recommendations include closer attention to inflation and the calculation of risk allowances.
The ministry disclosed the fighter evaluation criteria to parliament’s security policy committees on October 1. Those committees had already received access to the Letters of Offer and Acceptance covering the purchase.
Source: swissinfo.ch.
