The Swiss government is seeking parliamentary approval to allocate an additional 970 million Swiss francs (CA$1.6 billion) for air defence under the 2026 budget, citing a heightened threat situation and long delivery times for defence equipment, reports Defensenews.com.

The tight international arms markets with “sharply” higher demand means production capacities are fully booked for years to come, with delivery times lengthening, according to the government. Arms makers also increasingly demand “substantial” down payments, and failure to meet those demands could delay urgent procurements by several years, the government said.

*1.00 CHF = 1.726 CAD