Bloomberg said that Switzerland will hold a national referendum on May 18 to determine whether the country should buy 22 Gripen combat jets as Swedish weapons-maker Saab AB and the Swiss government seek to convince voters.

Switzerland selected the single-engine Swedish jet in November 2011 in favor of the Dassault Aviation SA (AM) Rafale fighter and the Typhoon built by a consortium of Airbus Group (AIR), BAE Systems Plc (BA/) and Finmeccanica SpA, the newsbureau said.