Switzerland is the mecca for Leopard 2 – and could train Ukrainians. The Committee of the Council of States does not want facilitated naturalization

Would that be the compromise solution, the middle ground? No Swiss weapons to Ukraine, but Swiss training for Ukrainian soldiers. On what weapon? On the Leopard 2, of course. The flagship tank known for its tremendous efficiency and which the mother country, Germany, has now agreed to supply to Kiev.

During the Cold War, Switzerland purchased hundreds of Leopard 2s from Germany, most of which were manufactured under license from 1987 in Thun in the Bernese Oberland. At that time, the preferred scenario for a land conflict with the Warsaw Pact forces, which were then up to the Austrian border, was a tank battle.

Switzerland thus acquired 385 Leopard 2s, of which 134 are now integrated into the force and another 96 “mothballed”. The decision to reduce the number of Leopard 2s in service with the Swiss Army was taken in 1998 when Adolf Ogi was Minister of Defense.

Thun has since established itself as one of the European capitals for armored weapons training. It owes its good reputation to its state-of-the-art simulators.

European armies are coming to the Oberland

So why shouldn’t the training center also take in Ukrainian soldiers? For example, last year Polish soldiers – their country owns Leopard 2 – were trained in the Mechanized Forces Center in Thun. The Polish Army is a regular in the town of Oberland. It has been sending men there since 2016 and will send more in 2023. That’s the plan. Austrians, Belgians and Norwegians also benefit from the high-tech facilities in Thun’s training centre.

But what about the Ukrainians? The expert Julien Grand, Lieutenant Colonel in the General Staff and Deputy Editor of the Revue Militaire Suisse, answers this question:

In this area, combat training, according to the officer, is like supplying weapons:

PfP as a gateway

Irrespective of the war in Ukraine, Julien Grand recalled that the training of foreign soldiers in Thun takes place within the framework of the Partnership for Peace (PfP), a NATO antechamber of which Switzerland has been a member since 1996. Their first participation in the PfP dates from a post-Cold War period marked by the willingness of previously inward-looking Switzerland to cooperate with European armies. “It should not be forgotten that the cooperation programs within the PfP are usually carried out on a bilateral basis and are always voluntary,” said the defense expert.

Since Ukraine is at war on the one hand and not a member of the Partnership for Peace on the other hand, this reduces their chances of being hosted in Thun. And Ukraine has not applied, the Ministry of Defense (DDPS) said.

The Swiss Leopard Cave

Switzerland threatens to become a leopard’s grave – buried by neutrality. She owns many of the tanks, but can’t do anything with them. A shell game ensues which would consist of moving the goods from hat A to hat B to hat C. At Watson’s request, the DDPS specified:

The Ministry of Defense refers to the 96 copies that the Swiss army is not currently using. The VBS adds:

A motion tabled last week by Maja Riniker, National Councilor of the Aargau FDP in the Committee on Security Policy, calls on the Federal Council to approve the sale of some of the Leopard 2s currently in storage to countries as their tank supplies after delivery to Kiev would fall off . The National Council is thinking of Germany and Poland. It sets one condition: the Swiss tanks sent abroad must not be returned to Ukraine.

Swiss Leopard 2: a secret box

What does “shutting down large systems” mean? The expert Alexandre Vautravers, Colonel in the General Staff, editor-in-chief of the Swiss military magazine and former commander of a tank battalion, explains the background:

In early 2011, the DDPS announced the sale of 12 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Canada, while another 42 were sold to German company Rheinmetall Landsysteme. “The 12 tanks that went to Canada were originally purchased directly from Germany by Switzerland and thus had not been converted. Some of them belonged to the battalion I commanded,” recalls Alexandre Vautravers.

Switzerland as “bank” for Leopard 2, which is useless if Ukraine and its allies urgently need it in the war? An argument we will probably hear more often. The Officers’ Society of the Panzer Troops (OG Panzer) is already protesting against this. She opposes the leopard levy proposed by National Councilor Maja Riniker in her motion. According to President Erich Muff, quoted by Blick, “neutral Switzerland” needs all of its armored capabilities. “If there’s one thing the war in Ukraine plainly shows,” he says, “it’s that you can only rely on your own armed forces.”