Do., März 7th 2024
Armasuisse CEO Urs Loher advocates for a fortified Swiss armament industry, stressing self-reliance in manufacturing and European collaboration in procurement.
The CEO of Armasuisse, the Federal Office for Defence Procurement, Urs Loher sees a situation similar to the Cold War and wants to strengthen domestic armaments. Switzerland should also coordinate its arms procurement with other European countries and participate in their orders.
“We usually need much smaller quantities than other countries. So there is room for us,” said Loher in an interview with Tamedia published on Thursday.
Due to the small domestic market, the Swiss arms industry is reliant on exports. “The problem is that our country is increasingly perceived as unreliable when it comes to arms exports.”
He feels that foreign countries are becoming increasingly reluctant, with the German company Rheinmetall transferring some of its capacities out of Switzerland. “The fact that Switzerland is generally being increasingly bypassed worries me,” said Loher.
While Switzerland has limitations as a production location for traditional armaments, Loher sees potential in new areas: “Switzerland is not only well positioned in drones, but also in robotics and unmanned systems as well as artificial intelligence and quantum technology,” he said. “These are militarily important areas of research that we absolutely must keep in our hands.”
For example, China has promised a research institute in the field of drones at the University of Zurich a lot of funding, said Loher. “We have to be careful that we don’t sell out our expertise to China.”
©Keystone/SDA
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