Swiss arms industry divides opinion over its health

Switzerland’s arms industry is at the centre of a debate over whether it is thriving or in danger, as voters prepare to decide on easing weapons-export rules. A yes vote in the November 29 referendum on the War Materials Act would loosen those rules, SRF reports in an article by Pauline Turuban of SWI swissinfo.

Switzerland has about 140 arms companies, many of them active internationally, and around 3,000 small and medium-sized businesses supply components to the defence sector. In recent years, more civilian industrial companies have quietly shifted some of their work towards defence to benefit from the sector’s growth.

The industry’s contribution to the national economy remains limited. A study estimated that it directly or indirectly employed about 16,000 people in 2019, or 0.4 percent of the country’s workforce, and generated around 2.8 billion francs in value, also 0.4 percent of gross domestic product. In 2025, military goods made up just 0.2 percent of Swiss export volume.

Some leading companies remain fully Swiss-owned, including state-owned Ruag, aircraft maker Pilatus and firearms manufacturer Brügger & Thomet. Others have been acquired by foreign groups: armoured-vehicle maker Mowag is now part of General Dynamics, Oerlikon is part of Rheinmetall, SIG Sauer is owned by L&O Holding, and Wild Heerbrugg is now Safran Vectronix.

Despite the industry’s small share of exports, the value of arms exports has reached record levels in recent years. Exports peaked at 955 million francs in 2022 and reached 948 million francs in 2025. After Swiss authorities barred the transfer of Swiss weapons to Ukraine, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands said they would turn away from Swiss arms. Exports to Denmark fell from 136 million francs in 2022 to less than 13 million in 2025. Meanwhile, sales to Germany reached 386 million francs last year, their highest level since at least 2019.

Pauline Schneider, political secretary of the Group for a Switzerland without an Army, says the figures show the industry is doing well. She argues there is no reason to loosen the rules further, noting that exports rose 43 percent between 2024 and 2025 and that sales to Germany continued to increase.

Matthias Zoller, secretary general of the Swiss ASD industry association, says the sector is eroding. He points to a 30 percent decline in 2023 and 2024, despite a sharp expansion in the international market after the war in Ukraine, and says this signals a loss of trust. Zoller also says ammunition’s share of exports reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs rose from 25 percent in 2022 to 43 percent in 2025, at the expense of weapons and fire-control equipment. He warns that European manufacturers are buying fewer high-performance products from Switzerland and more interchangeable components, putting Swiss expertise at risk.

Schneider rejects those concerns, saying it makes no difference whether Switzerland exports tanks, ammunition or rifles: weapons are sent abroad and, she says, inevitably used against civilians. By international comparison, Switzerland remains a small player, accounting for less than 0.5 percent of global arms transfers.