MBDA, Kongsberg Withdraw from Swiss Air-Defense Tender, Leaving Diehl Defence as Sole Bidder

The companies have informed Swiss defense-procurement agency that they will not submit offers due to time constraints.
  • Defensemirror.com bureau
  • 06:28 AM, July 6, 2024
  • 2170
MBDA, Kongsberg Withdraw from Swiss Air-Defense Tender, Leaving Diehl Defence as Sole Bidder

MBDA and Norway’s Kongsberg have opted out of a Swiss tender for a new medium-range air-defense system, leaving Germany’s Diehl Defence as the only remaining potential bidder.

The evaluation process will continue as planned with Diehl as the sole potential manufacturer, the government office stated on Friday.

Kongsberg and MBDA have reportedly informed Swiss defense-procurement agency armasuisse of their decision not to submit offers due to time constraints.

In April, Switzerland decided to join the Germany-led European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), where Diehl is a partner for the medium-range component with the Iris-T SLM system. Despite this, armasuisse clarified that participation in ESSI does not preempt the decision on which air defense system Switzerland will purchase, even though other ESSI partners have chosen Diehl's system.

"Armasuisse is awaiting the receipt of the offer from the remaining manufacturing company by mid-July," the office said. "Apart from the costs, a decision in favor of the remaining candidate in the third quarter of 2024 is dependent on this candidate submitting an offer which meets the requirements of armasuisse."

Armasuisse has not revealed details regarding the budget, the number of systems Switzerland is seeking, or the delivery timeline. The Swiss parliament is currently discussing the purchase within the 2024 defense plan, as opposed to the previously envisioned 2025 timeline.

Switzerland had suspended a previous project to modernize its air-defense system in 2016, terminating a contract with Thales. In 2022, Switzerland agreed to buy the Patriot system for longer-range, ground-based air defense.

In January, Slovenia agreed to buy one Iris-T SLM fire unit, which includes a radar component, a tactical operations center, and four missile launchers, through the German federal office for defense procurement. Estonia and Latvia signed framework agreements with Diehl in September to purchase the system within the framework of ESSI.

One of Switzerland’s criteria for the air-defense system is that it must already be successfully in use. Additionally, Swiss industry inclusion in the contract is crucial, with the entire purchase price needing to be compensated with offsetting transactions in Switzerland.

The Iris-T SLM is designed to defend against aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones up to a range of 40 kilometers. Diehl claims the system’s performance in Ukraine has been “excellent,” achieving a “close to 100% hit rate” even during attack waves with more than 12 targets.

Separately, Kongsberg announced a contract with the Norwegian Defence Material Agency for the initial development phase of the German-Norwegian supersonic strike missile (3SM), to be deployed on naval vessels from 2035. The contract value for this phase is up to 1.5 billion kroner ($131 million), the company stated on Friday. In May, Kongsberg, Diehl Defence, and MBDA Deutschland agreed to jointly develop the new missile.

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