That's pretty standard. Switzerland doesn't buy anything they can't take apart conmpletely and put back together again, quite often with some improvements. Though sometimes they're not exactly improvements... There was that very swiss episode where they re-engineered a mirage engine literally from scratch because they felt some parts just didn't fit together with satisfactory precision, and experienced a significant power drop-off compared to the french built. When they couldn't figure out why, they called in a french expert, and his verdict was "It's much too precise! those parts need more clearance!" ?EDIT 2: it's also my understanding that part of the F-35 offer comprises the final assembly of four examples at RUAG facilities, specifically due to requirements linked to the ability to perform maintenance internally, which makes sense
That's pretty much what we expect our government to do, actually. It's their job to view things in a wider context and exploit related opportunities. It's one of the reasons why we're still as high up in the game as we are...Further investigations by this newspaper have revealed that there has been a lively exchange at ministerial level between Switzerland and France in recent days and weeks. The results of the talks between the finance, economics and foreign ministries of the two countries are not publicly known. According to reports, France is trying to win the bid from Switzerland also through political countertrade. Among other things, there is talk of political support in relations with the EU.