Dassault makes new offer to Swiss

Dassault, the French aircraft maker, has made a new offer to Switzerland for its Rafale fighter jets after the government decided in November to buy Sweden’s Gripen planes instead. The Swiss parliament received a letter from Dassault which is offering 18 Rafale planes for 2.7 billion Swiss francs (2.24 billion euros, $2.96 billion), reported Le Matin Dimanche, which said it had seen the letter. Dassault lost out on a bid to replace Switzerland’s ageing F-5 fighter fleet when the Federal Council opted instead to buy 22 Saab Gripen fighter planes for an estimated 3.1 billion francs. But the Swiss parliament still has to approve the decision. Before making its decision in November, the government considered Rafales, Gripens and Eurofighters produced by the EADS consortium. In making its decision, the government said that Gripen jets met Air Force needs without compromising the budgets of other military branches.