By Marleen Kaesebier
ZURICH, June 24 (Reuters) - Switzerland has started contract negotiations with manufacturers from France, Israel and South Korea for a second air defence system following delays to its order of U.S. Patriot missile systems, the government said on Wednesday.
Switzerland in 2022 ordered Patriot missile defence systems made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin for expected delivery by 2026-2028, but the timeline had been pushed back four to five years due to the war in Ukraine.
The Swiss defence ministry said it had now restarted previously paused payments to the U.S. over the Patriot system, and that delivery could be possible from 2027.
The ministry said it had begun talks with manufacturers from France, Israel, and South Korea for a second system, without saying which. National armaments director Urs Loher told a press conference that it would not be Israel's Arrow defence system.
Swiss defence minister Martin Pfister said the second order would likely be significantly more expensive than the initial Patriots price tag of around 2 billion francs ($2.5 billion).
Pfister said the objective was to obtain a system for Switzerland and that if the Patriot order did not materialise, then the second system should be in place as soon as possible.
Switzerland had made the decision due to the "deteriorating security situation" which meant the neutral country needed to be able to defend itself against attack as quickly as possible and to have additional capacity aside from the Patriot system.
"In addition, a second system reduces dependence on a single provider and a single supply chain, thereby strengthening security of supply," the ministry said in a statement.
When Switzerland said last month that it was considering missile defence acquisitions beyond the Patriot system, Germany had also been named as a potential supplier.
($1 = 0.8130 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Marleen KaesebierEditing by Dave Graham)
