Moscow urges nuclear watchdog to speak more clearly on risks after attacks – Anadolu Ajansı
Day: March 28, 2026
Yesterday, the Swiss public broadcaster SRF revealed that the US has circumvented the Swiss freeze on payments for delayed Patriot air defense systems by reallocating money Switzerland has paid for its ordered F-35 jets.
Switzerland ordered both Patriot air-defense systems and F-35 fighter jets from the US via the Foreign Military Sales program but major delays and cost overruns on the Patriots led to a Swiss payment freeze last year.
The US has now largely bypassed that freeze by redirecting Swiss F-35 funds.
Switzerland signed contracts for 5 Patriot batteries and up 36 F-35A jets in 2022-2023.
The Patriots were slated for delivery this year. The F-35 program had a voter-approved budget cap of CHF 6 billion.
Last year, the US notified Switzerland of major delays because Patriots were being prioritized for Ukraine and for US stock replenishment after use against Iranian ballistic missiles in the Middle East in 2024 and 2025.
By February 2026, the Swiss had been informed that the delay had stretched to 4–5 years, with costs rising up to 50% as the total program costs jumped from CHF 2 billion to CHF 3 billion.
Switzerland responded by to initial reports about delays by halting payments for the Patriots last summer with the goal to apply political pressure and demand more transparency on timelines.
All Swiss US arms purchases flow into a single pooled FMS trust fund managed by the US.
The contract language explicitly allows the US to reallocate money between Swiss programs if one runs short. No Swiss approval is needed.
The US has decided to do so by redirecting Swiss payments intended for the F-35s to cover Patriot shortfalls.
The diverted amount stands at around $126 million according to Swiss armaments chief Urs Loher, who told the Swiss public broadcaster that the development is “very unsatisfactory.”
He stated that Switzerland had to advance extra tens of millions early for the F-35 program to plug the resulting gaps.
The F-35 order was cut from 36 to around 30 jets earlier this month purely due to rising unit costs as Switzerland was forced to remain within the original CHF 6 billion spending cap for the program.
The fund diversion now adds extra budget pressure.
The news have resulted in cross-party frustration in parliament, with some politicians calling for rethinking future FMS deals and possibly cancel the Patriots order to instead explore the European alternative offered by the French-Italian SAMP/T air defense system.
Other politicians warn that it would be risky, as it could jeopardize F-35 deliveries or result in lost deposits.
Talks with the US continue, with Switzerland pushing for payment postponements tied to the delays, but “the power relations are quite clear,” according to Swiss armaments chief Urs Loher.
The decision by the U.S. not to radically increase the orders and production of Patriot batteries and missiles immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 has turned out to be costly and could result in the Patriot air defense system losing shares of the global market for air defense systems long-term due to problems with delivery delays and general uncertainty.
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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) Mar 28, 2026
‘The Yemeni Armed Forces, with God’s help and reliance upon Him, have carried out their first military operation,’ Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi military spokesman said, confirming that they launched missiles at Israel reut.rs/47wRX6y
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— Reuters (@Reuters) Mar 28, 2026
The post ‘The Yemeni Armed Forces, with God’s help and reliance upon Him, have carried out their first military operation,’ Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi military spokesman said, confirming that they launched missiles at Israel https://reut.rs/47wRX6y first appeared on October Surprise 2016 – octobersurprise2016.org.
‘The Yemeni Armed Forces, with God’s help and reliance upon Him, have carried out their first military operation,’ Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi military spokesman said, confirming that they launched missiles at Israel reut.rs/47wRX6y
Video
— Reuters (@Reuters) Mar 28, 2026
Turkish Intelligence (MIT) Director İbrahim Kalın:
With this major war, a great fire of discord is being ignited in our region.
One of the intended outcomes of this war is not only the elimination of Iran’s nuclear capacity, but—more dangerously—the laying of the groundwork… pic.twitter.com/gtebP3X3jv
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 28, 2026
Poland extends checks on borders with Germany, Lithuania reut.rs/41vKsZZ reut.rs/41vKsZZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) Mar 28, 2026
Washington wants a vote – Kyiv says not yet: Ukraine resists election pressure
The post Ballots or battlefront? Ukraine confronts limits of democracy under martial law first appeared on The South Caucasus News – SouthCaucasusNews.com.