The Swiss parliament finally approved the purchase of 36 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jets without waiting for a referendum on the $5.5 billion deal, Reuters reports.

Last year, Swiss authorities chose the F-35 as their next-generation fighter jet, angering opponents who said they would secure a referendum to overturn what they called an unnecessary version of the Ferrari.

The government said it would sign the contract before the referendum, arguing that it was unlikely that the purchase could be carried out on the same terms if the deal had to be renegotiated after the expiration of the offer next year.

The Cabinet noted that many countries have increased spending on weapons systems, saying that Finland decided to buy 64 F-35As, Germany wanted to buy up to 35, and Canada would buy 88.