The Swiss Federal Council announced on Wednesday that it has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to replace its aging F-5 Tiger and F/A-18 Hornet fleets. Other aircraft models considered for the role were the Airbus Eurofighter, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Dassault Rafale. According to the Council, the F-35 was the least expensive option as well as scoring the highest overall in its evaluation.
Canada has a competition on, candidates include F-35, Super Hornet, and Gripen. Canada had been keen on the F-35 for datalink with F-22s, so each of US and Canada near AK-YT border need only launch one fighter each because with ability to datalink maps each could back the other up. Canada already has the original F-18 in service, is now refurbishing some used ones from Australia to keep the fleet going until the new choice is in service.
Odd that the F-35 was least expensive option - has Switzerland already put money into the F-35 program? I recall Canada did.