ST. LOUIS -- A cabinet-level Swiss agency Wednesday announced it has selected the F/A-18 Hornet built by McDonnell Douglas Corp. for Switzerland's new fighter aircraft program.
The proposed contract to buy and build 34 Hornets is worth an estimated $2 billon to McDonnell Douglas, the nation's top defense contractor.
The Swiss Federal Council plans to submit a procurement request to the Swiss parliament next year. If approved, delivery on the program could begin in 1995, McDonnell Douglas spokesman Lee Whitney said.
The F/A-18 was chosen over the F-16 Fighting Falcon made by General Dynamics Corp., another St. Louis-based contractor, and over fighter planes from Sweden and France after a lengthy analysis that began following the Hornet's selection by a Swiss military procurement agency in 1988.
News of the potential contract boosted stock prices Wednesday for McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Corp., which builds the fuselage for the Hornet.
McDonnell Douglas shares were the prime beneficiary, rising $2.375 to $52.625 a share. Northrop tacked on 62.5 cents, to $27.875, as did General Dynamdck, to $40.875. Volume was not unusually heavy in any of the New York Stock Exchange issues.
'Superior performance capabilities and operational autonomy determined the outcome of the selection in favor of the F/A-18,' the Swiss Federal Military Department said in a statement. 'The F/A-18 meets our military requirements to the fullest extent.'
The contract would include delivery of two completed Hornets built in St. Louis and of kits for constructing 32 aircraft at Switzerland's Federal Aircraft Factory, Whitney said. McDonnell Douglas also would provide technical support and training.
More than 1,000 F/A-18s are in service with the U.S. Navy, which plans to continue adding the fighters to its fleet into the next century.
The F/A-18 also is used by the U.S. Marine Corps and the air forces of Canada, Australia, and Spain. About 40 Hornets are being produced for the Kuwaiti Air Force.
The Swiss Federal Military Department said the F/A-18 can operate without the support required by competing fighters.
'If conditions dictate,' the department said, 'the F/A-18 can operate independent of a centralized ground-based air surveillance command and control system. This is particularly crucial for all-weather operations over mountainous terrain.'
The agency also cited the F/A-18's twin-engine safety as an important factor in its selection over competing aircraft.
A spokesman at General Dynamics' Fort Worth, Texas, division, where the F-16 is built, could not be reached for comment.
