Utopia Talk / Politics / USA is nothing but a thief

EuropeanPussy rank	Sat Mar 28 11:14:14 https://ww...ot-air-defence-system/91163617 US circumvents Swiss payment freeze for Patriot air-defence system Switzerland halted payments for US Patriot surface-to-air defence systems last autumn after learning deliveries would be delayed by several years. But the Swiss public broadcaster SRF reveals that the freeze is having little effect: the US has been redirecting Swiss payments intended for the F‑35 fighter jet to cover Patriot costs. March 26, 2026 Urs Loher, director of national armaments at the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse), confirmed the US move and told SRF how much money has already been shifted. But under pressure from US authorities, he can no longer disclose the exact figure. He describes it only as “a low three-digit million amount” – meaning well over CHF100 million ($126 million). The US is thus circumventing the payment freeze by redirecting Swiss F‑35 fighter jet funds to the Patriot system. How is this possible? In the US, arms deals with foreign countries always go through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS). Within this programme, the US maintains a fund for all Swiss arms purchases. Whether it is for the F-35 or for the Patriot, all Swiss payments end up in this fund. If one project lacks money, the US is allowed to access funds for other projects. This is exactly what the American authorities are now doing: money intended for the F‑35 programme is being used to finance the Patriot system. “This is very unsatisfactory,” Loher says. The redirection of funds puts the Swiss defence ministry under pressure and leaves shortfalls in the budget for the F-35 jets. At the end of 2025, the ministry had to transfer several tens of millions of francs ahead of schedule to the US to plug the gap. These early payments intensify the ministry’s existing financial problems: it is already struggling to fund approved arms procurements. Despite the payment freeze, the US is expected to continue redirecting F‑35 funds to the Patriot this year. Loher nevertheless defends the freeze as a political signal that helped prompt more transparency from the US about the lengthy delays. Swiss parliamentarians have reacted critically to the news. “It’s frustrating when we impose a payment freeze and the money is simply redirected,” says Werner Salzmann, a senator and security expert from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party. Senator Josef Dittli of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party adds that the Swiss defence ministry apparently did not realise such a by-pass was possible. Priska Seiler Graf, a Social Democrat lawmaker, feels vindicated in her earlier call to cancel the Patriot purchase. Her party generally opposes major US arms acquisitions. Salzmann, too, says his trust in Washington has suffered: “The FMS contracts are producing more and more interpretation problems. We need to think carefully about whether we want to keep signing such agreements.” Meanwhile, talks between the Swiss defence ministry and the US continue. Loher hopes to secure a postponement of Patriot payments, since the deliveries are being delayed. The outcome is uncertain but he acknowledges that “the power relations are quite clear”. Patriot delays and soaring costs The Swiss defence ministry signed the Patriot contracts with the US four years ago for five Patriot air-defence batteries, with deliveries due to begin this year. In 2025, however, Washington informed Bern it would prioritise deliveries to Ukraine. In February, Switzerland learned the delay would be four to five years. Since then, the outbreak of war in Iran has massively increased global demand for Patriot systems. According to SRF, this is leading to further delays, putting Switzerland at a further disadvantage. A delay of at least five years can now be expected. Reliable new estimates from the US are not available. In February 2025, the US also told the Swiss defence ministry the system would cost significantly more. Loher estimates the price increase at up to 50%, pushing the total purchase price up by CHF1 billion to CHF3 billion.
TheChildren rank	Sat Mar 28 11:27:48 shuld have diversiefied ur energiez, securities and payments and shit 2 brics dis is wut u knew they wuld do but always blindly pretended they wuld neva do it 2 u it isnt even theorectal anymo rofl. they r doing it 2 u. da question is, wut u gonna do bout it in da future
TheChildren rank	Sat Mar 28 11:37:25 oh and da patriots r clearly workin wonders in da middle east right now rofl rofl dis whole shit is 1 big circus joke
Paramount rank	Sat Mar 28 15:05:55 This is what happens when you align yourself with and do business with a country that is run by a pedo mafia.
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