Switzerland to bolster ailing armaments industry

Federal Council gears armaments policy to worsening global situation Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has adopted a new procurement strategy to save the ailing Swiss defence industry from collapse.

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The strategy aims to procure the majority of armaments domestically and to invest more in domestic research.

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The state government wrote in a press release on Friday about a “reorientation of defence policy”. The aim is to strengthen domestic industry, expand international defence cooperation and procure new technologies faster, more flexibly and cheaply.

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A corresponding action plan contains 23 measures. For example, in future, 60% of all defence procurement should take place in Switzerland if possible, and a further thirty per cent in Europe.

The Federal Council also plans to strengthen cooperation with Swiss universities, start-ups and SMEs. By 2030, 2% of the armed forces budget is to be allocated to research and development in Switzerland – today, this proportion is less than 1%.

Various departments are now to implement the strategy.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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