AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
BERN: The Swiss army has cancelled the sale of 93 used combat tanks to Chile because of the costs of training and technical support, the defence ministry said Sunday.
The ministry withdrew its April offer of Leopard 2 tanks after analysing the operation's costs and benefits, the ministry said in a statement published on its Internet site.
The deal included the costs of delivering the tanks to the South American country plus training and maintenance, the statement said.
The 56.5-tonne (ton) German-built Leopard 2 A4 tanks, which entered service between 1987 and 1993, are armed with 120-millimetre guns and have a top speed of 70 kmh (43 mph).
Because of the costs associated with second-hand military equipment, Swiss defence chiefs adopted a policy of returning the material to its country of origin or, if that failed, recycling the equipment in Switzerland, the ministry said.
Switzerland's military is undergoing drastic downsizing to reflect the shift from Cold War-era defence of Swiss soil to foreign peacekeeping missions and defence chiefs are confronted with disposing of a huge arsenal of material and munitions.
Under the constitution of the landlocked federal republic, which maintained political and military neutrality during Europe's two biggest wars, military service is obligatory for every able-bodied man.
