By Marleen Kaesebier
March 20 (Reuters) - The Swiss government asked parliament on Friday to approve 3.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.32 billion) in defence spending focused on expanding ground-based aerial defence, protection against drones and additional cyberspace capabilities.
This would strengthen the neutral country's defences against what it sees as its most likely threats following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government said in a statement.
"In light of the heightened security situation, the military must once again be more strongly oriented toward defence, and countering the most likely threats - long-range attacks and hybrid conflicts - must be strengthened," the statement said.
Measures would include the procurement of German-made IRIS-T SLM missile systems for 1 billion Swiss francs and increasing protection against mini-drones for around 70 million francs.
"Switzerland is currently not sufficiently protected against the most likely forms of threat," Defence Minister Martin Pfister told a news conference, adding that renewals of vehicle fleets, for example, were now less of a priority at least for the next three years than the newly defined more prominent threats.
Though the conflict in the Middle East had not yet been taken into account, Switzerland had earlier on Friday said it halted weapons exports to the United States due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, citing Switzerland's neutrality.
The federal council requested an additional 394 million francs for the purchase of around 30 new F-35A fighter jets whose cost exceeded expectations due to price increases.
($1 = 0.7865 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier; editing by Dave Graham and Miranda Murray and Andrei Khalip)
