A Skyranger air defence system, photographed during an official visit in July 2026 to Rheinmetall Air Defence’s Competence and Production Centre in Zurich.
Keystone / Claudio Thoma
Despite some of Europe’s strictest arms export rules, Switzerland sells hundreds of millions of francs’ worth of military equipment abroad each year. Now the government wants to ease those restrictions. In the run-up to the November 29 referendum on the issue, the arms sector and anti-militarist groups are at odds over the need to safeguard this industry.
To what extent can a neutral country export arms? This basic question has troubled Switzerland ever since its armaments industry took off in the period between the two world wars. The debate is now back in the spotlight as the November 29 vote approaches.
The Federal Act on War MaterielExternal link currently prohibits the sale of arms to countries embroiled in armed conflict. Purchasing countries are moreover not allowed re-export Swiss-made weaponry without Switzerland’s consent.
In recent years, some of Switzerland’s European partners have found this legislation incomprehensible, mainly because it prevents them from sending Swiss-made weaponry to Ukraine. They also fear a supply shortage in the event of a war involving the EU or NATO.
The Swiss government now wants to allow the delivery of arms to 36 partner countriesExternal link – including EU member states, the United States and Japan – even in the event of a conflict. A non-re-export declaration would no longer be systematically required. Direct shipments and re-exports of Swiss war materiel to Ukraine would remain strictly prohibited.
>> Read our article explaining what the vote is about:
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Swiss to vote on loosening arms-export restrictions
‘Strategy’ or ‘hypocrisy’?
The authorities and the defence sector say the reform is necessary to safeguard Swiss production capacity and expertise. It is, above all, a matter of strategy and security, says Matthias Zoller, secretary-general of Swiss ASD, which represents the aeronautics, security and defence sector within SwissmemExternal link, the umbrella organisation for the technology industry. “The arms industry is the backbone of a country’s entire security,” he stresses.
The opponents of the reform, meanwhile, denounce it as “hypocritical”, driven primarily by the sector’s economic interests. “From a moral point of view, this industry should not be treated just like any other,” says Pauline Schneider, political secretary at the anti-militarist Group for a Switzerland without an Army.
They reject the argument that easing export restrictions would strengthen the country’s defence capacity. Instead, they fear that more Swiss-made weapons would end up in war zones, which they see as fundamentally incompatible with neutrality.
But just how significant is this industry really for Switzerland?
Historic Swiss companies become arms multinationals
Switzerland is home to an ecosystem of arms-manufacturing companies, many of which operate internationally. There are around 140 manufacturers of systems and subsystems, as well as some 3,000 smaller subcontractors, which produce components for weapons and ammunition.
Categorising these companies is complicated by the existence of “dual-use goods”, namely equipment that serves both civilian and military purposes, such as sensors, software or drones. In recent years, a growing number of industrial firms in the civilian sector have quietly shifted part of their operations towards defenceExternal link, to capitalise on the sector’s strong growth.
Only few of the country’s leading companies are still 100% Swiss-owned, and none feature in the global top 100External link. They include Ruag, which is owned by the Swiss government and supplies and maintains equipment for the armed forces, as well as the aerospace manufacturer Pilatus and the firearms manufacturer Brügger & Thomet (B&T).
Several historic Swiss flagship companies have been acquired by foreign multinationals. This is notably the case of armoured-vehicle manufacturer Mowag, which belongs to the US global giant General Dynamics, and the former Oerlikon, specialised in anti-drone cannons, which became Rheinmetall Air Defence following its acquisition by the German firm Rheinmetall.
The renowned firearms manufacturer SIG Sauer is also owned by a German holding company, while Safran Vectronix (formerly Wild Heerbrugg), known for its military sighting equipment, is now French owned. Saab Bofors, which produces warheads, was formed following the Swedish Saab group’s acquisition of a division of Ruag.
Not an economic heavyweight
The macroeconomic significance of the Swiss defence sector is, however, relative. According to a reportExternal link compiled in 2023 for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the sector accounted for nearly 10,000 direct jobs in 2019. Half of these were in actual arms production and the other half in dual-use goods.
Considering the indirect impact on employment in other sectors too, the defence industry represented a total of some 16,000 jobs, or around 0.4% of total employment in the country.
The sector’s direct value added was estimated at a total of nearly CHF1.7 billion ($2 billion), again split evenly between arms and dual-use goods. Total value added, including indirect effects, stood at around CHF2.8 billion (0.4% of GDP).
It should be noted, however, that this industry is more significant in certain regions of Switzerland, particularly in German-speaking cantons such as Nidwalden, Thurgau and Uri, where it is a major employer.
The share of armaments in international sales is also negligible. In 2025, war materiel accounted for just 0.2% of Switzerland’s total export volume, according to SECOExternal link.
Nearly CHF1 billion in exports
The value of shipments abroad has nevertheless reached peaks on several occasions in recent years. The record was set in 2022 (CHF955 million), closely followed by 2025 (CHF948 million).
More than 60 countries, led by Germany, purchased Swiss war materiel last year.
In response to the rejection of their re-export applications, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands had announced that they would halt purchases of Swiss arms.
Exports to Denmark, a major market for Swiss weaponry, have indeed been falling year after year, dropping from CHF136 million in 2022 (14%) to less than CHF13 million in 2025 (1%).
By contrast, the value of sales to Germany – traditionally the other main customer – last year reached the highest level since at least 2019 (CHF386 million, or 40% of total exports of war materiel exports).
These figures add grist to the debate ahead of the upcoming vote. For Schneider of the Group for a Switzerland without an Army, they are proof that the “arms industry is thriving”.
“It is bold of the sector to claim to be in difficulty, when we have seen a 43% rise in exports between 2024 and 2025, and when exports to Germany have even continued to climb,” she says. “If current regulations are not enough to prevent a rise in exports, there is no reason to relax them further.”
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Warning signs of decline?
Zoller of Swiss ASD instead sees signs of a decline. “In 2023 and 2024, exports shrank by 30%, although the international market was booming in the wake of the war in Ukraine,” he points out. This indicates a “loss of confidence” among Switzerland’s partners, he believes. “While Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark are stating this openly, there is a sense that other countries are also shunning military equipment from Switzerland, but without saying so.”
The industry expert also points to job cuts at SwissP DefenceExternal link (part of the Beretta Group) and at RuagExternal link, “even as ammunition manufacturers are struggling to meet global demand”. Several companies, such as Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, Rheinmetall Air Defence and Mowag, have moreover had to set up production lines abroad to be able to continue selling within the EU.
In his view, the latest statistics also reveal a worrying shift in the nature of the goods being exported. According to reports by the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), ammunition accounted for 43% of exports in 2025, compared with 25% in 2022, at the expense of weapons and fire-control systems. “We have moved from exporting systems to exporting parts,” he sums up. Major European manufacturers are no longer buying high-performance products from Swiss companies, but instead “more interchangeable” components. “The greatest risk is loss of know-how,” he warns.
The anti-militarist Schneider finds these concerns cynical. “It doesn’t matter whether Switzerland exports armoured vehicles, ammunition or rifles. These are weapons that end up in other countries and are then inevitably used against civilian populations.”
Whatever the case, by international standards Switzerland is still an industry dwarf, with an under 0.5% share of global arms transfers. The global market is dominated by the United States, followed at a distance by France and then Russia, according to the ranking compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRIExternal link).
Edited by Samuel Jaberg, Adapted from French by Julia Bassam/ds
