Swiss gunmakers lose one-third of exports due to national neutrality

Swiss defense companies have lost ground amid European rearmament due to export restrictions and a ban on reselling Swiss weapons to Ukraine.

Representatives of the Swiss arms industry reported this to Reuters.

Swiss defense companies are demanding that restrictions on the resale of their goods be eased, as their exports have been falling rapidly for two years. This raises serious concerns about the loss of large profits during the increase in defense spending in Europe.

The decline in interest in Swiss weapons is evidenced by data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs: in 2023, exports of arms, ammunition, and other defense products fell by 27%, and in 2024, by another 5%. This was immediately after Switzerland imposed a ban on the re-export of its weapons to Ukraine.

Germany, the largest buyer of Swiss arms, has excluded Swiss companies from some procurement deals, while Denmark and the Netherlands have suspended orders.

“There is a big surge in defense spending in Europe, and Switzerland will miss out,” Matthias Zoller, a spokesman for the industry association Swissmem, states. “This is a disaster not only for the industry but also for the country’s defense capability. Instead of working day and night to increase production, many companies in Switzerland are letting people go or investing elsewhere.”

Read more on the capabilities of the Swiss defense industry in the article “Switzerland: a big defense industry in a small country.”

The secretariat representative said that further avoiding Swiss arms by other countries would have harmful consequences, “would be a problem for the Swiss army and then could become a problem for Swiss security policy.”

Searching for solutions

The Swiss government is currently discussing the possibility of easing export restrictions “under extraordinary circumstances” and limiting the ban on re-exporting Swiss weapons to five years after delivery to the customer.

The Social Democrats supported the move to a five-year limit, said Fabian Molina, a member of the lower house of parliament.

“We must do everything possible to support Ukraine because European security is now being defended in Ukraine,” Molina noted. “Weapons that have already been sold to third countries should be allowed to be exported to Ukraine under strict conditions because they need them right now.”

It should be remembered that according to the neutrality laws and the Swiss law on war materials, weapons cannot be sent directly to countries involved in armed conflict, and the re-export of previously sold weapons is also blocked.

This policy made it impossible to transfer decommissioned Swiss anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine and to sell Leopard 1 tanks made by Swiss companies from Italy during the Russo-Ukrainian war.

At the same time, Swiss companies continue to send demining equipment to Ukraine. In particular, in 2025, Global Clearance Solutions is to supply 26 GCS-200 unmanned demining vehicles.