National Council has failed omissions of the army

The security policy situation has changed massively since the Ukraine War. A strong air defense has become central. Switzerland realized that. But she got stuck halfway.

It was the night of April 13, 2024 when the alarm was triggered in Israel. Iran fired over 300 ballistic rockets, cruise missiles and drones to the country.

Israel later said that air defense had intercepted 99 percent of the missile. The attack was financially expensive for the attack – to up to $ 1.3 billion, as the Israeli Brigadiereral Rim Aminoach calculates.

Switzerland now wants to invest a similarly high amount in air defense – in ammunition. On Tuesday, the National Council’s Security Policy Commission decided with 16: 9 votes.

Of course, the situation of Switzerland is fundamentally different from that Israel. Switzerland is located in the heart of Europe and is currently not directly threatened. Israel, on the other hand, lies in the middle of the crisis and war zone of the Middle East. In addition, Switzerland is just building a modern air defense, while Israel is considered a leader worldwide with its air defense system, including Iron Dome.

In the event of war, Switzerland would be almost defenseless, says the historian

At the latest the Ukraine War, Switzerland demonstrated that the security policy situation has changed massively. And that in the face of modern weapons such as long -haul rockets and drones, they would be “almost defenseless in the event of war”, as military historian stig formulates.

In 2021, a year before the war in Ukraine, the Federal Council decided on the AIR 2030 program. It comprises 36 F-35 fighter jets and five patriot systems of the ground-based air defense of great reach. Your steering weapons are used against aircraft and cruise missiles. Since February 24, 2022, in Ukraine it has been shown how central the patriot systems have been to protect the infrastructure.

A threat from a distance is considered “rather likely” today

Today, the overall Federal Council classifies the danger from the air for Switzerland significantly higher than in 2021. In the additional security report of September 2022, « an armed attack could also be carried out from a distance », the army’s message in 2024 suddenly estimates a threat from a distance as « rather likely ».

Therefore, the VBS defense department lifted the procurement of floor -based air defense systems for medium -sized range for CHF 660 million in the urgent procedure in the armaments program. The VBS wants to procure four to five Iris T-SLM systems from the German manufacturer Diehl Defense. These steering weapons combat enemy helicopters, cruise missiles and steering weapons.

You will be procured through the “European Sky Shield Initiative” program. The negotiations are « in an advanced phase, but not yet complete, » says Armasuisse. In the next few years, the VBS also plans to create a system -based air defense system for short reach, against small attack drones.

The VBS therefore invests a lot in air defense. But it did not think his efforts. What is missing? The most important thing, namely the ammunition, which guarantees perseverance in an emergency. Only training ammunition and small quantities of emergency ammunition were ordered. This is negligent in times when all states upgrade massively and the waiting lists for ammunition for air defense are getting longer.

The VBS wants to distribute the funds with the casting can

There are reasons for the VBS from larger quantities of ammunition: ammunition for air defense is extremely expensive. Each patriot shot costs around $ four million, every shot with Iris-T for 400,000 euros. The department waives this purchase in order to be able to distribute its means with the casting can to other areas – army, equipment, drones.

The air defense case proves: the VBS lacks a clear strategy. It has to be better presented where it wants to set which priorities. Therefore, a report of the overall Federal Council is mandatory, which shows how the army should develop. FDP Councilor Josef Dittli demands him-and the highest officers also consider him mandatory.

With the billion-dollar decision, the Security Commission of the National Council is relentlessly opened by this failure.