Chaos at a weapons company: Ruaga debate needs more honesty

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Ruag resembles a self-service store and has long been a case of corruption prosecutors. Supervisors and regulators have failed. The manager signed a lease overnight, which turned out to be three times more expensive – and no one stopped him. The principle of dual control, control and compliance seems to be a foreign concept to Ruag. The dream of running a defense company with 80 percent of its orders from the government and 20 percent from the private sector is increasingly turning into a nightmare. In Ruaga, one scandal follows another.

Switzerland is not an attractive place for weapons

Ruag International’s subsidiary is faring no better. Shortly after the war in Ukraine began, the federal government sold Ammotec to Italy’s Beretta—at a time, mind you, when ammunition was becoming a scarce commodity. Although Ruag is intended to be a center of excellence for the F-35, the federal government has sold Ruag Australia to the Asdam group. As a result, skills and contacts are lost.

The Ruaga debate needs more honesty. Due to Swiss neutrality and associated export restrictions, Switzerland is not an attractive location for weapons production. Weapons produced in Switzerland are primarily the weapons of the Swiss army. It would make more sense to transform Ruag into a state-owned company rather than continue with old wives’ tales about a private sector solution. State or private sector? At some point you will have to decide! If Ruag is also a state-owned company in the legal sense, DDPS can no longer shirk its responsibility to take action.

Source: Blick