Switzerland has
decided against buying the Dassault Rafale or Eurofighter. While the
Rafale is the only aircraft that has exceeded the Swiss Air Force minimum
requirements, the Gripen
was the cheapest offer and therefore was selected by the Federal Council.
Neutral Switzerland
has wrangled for the past three years over whether to replace its ageing
Northrop F-5E/F Tiger fighters, purchased in 1976 and 1981, with up
to 33 new aircraft.
The newspaper said
the cost of purchasing 22 jets would be about 3 billion Swiss francs
($3.3 billion), 1 billion less than the same number of rival models
would cost.
Saab is competing against Boeing Co.s F/A-18 Super
Hornet and the Rafale jet for orders in Brazil, and the company is also
pursuing order from Croatia and Bulgaria. The Gripen was eliminated
in April from the six-way contest to replace Indias aging fleet of
MiG-21s, along with the F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin Corp.s
F-16.
The Gripen has struggled
to win export business in recent years. Norway dealt Saab a blow in
2008 with a contract for 48 Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighters after
analysts predicted the Gripen would win. Work on Gripens for South Africa
and Thailand runs out in 2012.
For Dassault, losing
out in Switzerland further dims the export prospects for its Rafale
combat jet, which so far has failed to win a single buyer beyond the
French government. Eurofighter has also scaled back output of its aircraft
as demand drops.
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