Defense Secretary Viola Amherd set up a search committee for the hiring process last February. A total of 34 people applied for the position and 72 others were actively notified. The application process has shown that Urs Loher (56) best meets the requirements profile, the Federal Council wrote about the decision.
Loher’s operational and strategic management experience, his good knowledge of the Swiss security management system and his experience in the procurement of complex technological goods were particularly convincing.
Already once in the VBS
Loher studied at ETH Zurich and obtained his PhD. From 2002 he worked for ten years at the Ministry of Defense (VBS), including as deputy director of the then Federal Office for Air Force Operations and as head of the Command and Reconnaissance Systems competence area.
In 2012 he switched to the private sector. First he went to the arms company Rheinmetall Air Defense, then to the arms concern Thales Suisse AG, where he has been CEO since 2019. Loher is also chairman of the “Aviation, Security and Defense” industrial sector at Swissmem, the umbrella organization of the Swiss mechanical engineering, electrical and metalworking industries. In the army he is a colonel of the general staff.
Largest tender in years
Beginning in August, Loher will have overall responsibility for the development, evaluation, procurement and disposal of Army systems and equipment, as well as the planning and procurement of DDPS real estate. In the near future, this will include the “biggest armaments purchase in decades,” as Amherd said, referring to the purchase of the F-35 fighter jets.
Martin Sonderegger, who retires next year, spent a total of 36 years with the federal government and was appointed Chief of Armaments by the Federal Board in 2015. During his tenure, the selection and procurement process for the new American fighter jet F-35 ground to a halt. “I already thank Mr. Sonderegger for his many years of service,” said Amherd.
Also on Friday, the Federal Council appointed Brigadier General Alexander Kohli Chief of the Army Staff, simultaneously promoting him to General. From January he succeeds Jean-Paul Theler, who stepped down at the end of this year.
(SDA)