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While Europe is desperately looking for tanks, there are 96 unused tanks in eastern Switzerland.
Daniel BallmerEditor Politics
No way! The Officers’ Society of the Panzer Troops (OG Panzer) fought tooth and nail against the sale of Swiss Leopard tanks. In parliament, security politicians are mulling the idea of selling at least part of the tank fleet.
After all, 96 Leopard 2 tanks have been sitting unused in a hall in eastern Switzerland for years. Some of it could be passed on to countries like Germany or Poland, which themselves supply tanks to Ukraine. In this way, these countries could fill in the gaps that have arisen in their arsenal.
“We already don’t have enough vehicles today”
But the officers want nothing to do with that. The OG Panzer accuses the parliamentarians of “disorientation” and a Hüst-and-Hott mentality. A sale of tanks was decided to reject. On the contrary: the decommissioned Leopard tanks would have to be reactivated and brought up to the latest state of the art.
“We already don’t have enough vehicles for all the troops,” clarifies OG President Erich Muff. “The stocks are only geared towards the refresher courses: one battalion at a time always trains on the same tanks one after the other.” In the event of an emergency, however, the stocks would already not be sufficient. “We cannot take on the task of national defense in the event of an operation.”
“Our security politicians should know better”
Muff calculates that at least three mechanized armored brigades are needed to defend the country. With reserves, that would be well over 300 Leopard tanks needed. In fact, 134 tanks are currently in use. Added to this are the 96 vehicles that have been entered, making a total of 230 units.
“So we already have too few tanks. Our security politicians should actually know better than that,” says Muff. The tanks needed were only mothballed under the prevailing pressure to save. «The Swiss army is only designed according to the budget!»
As a neutral country, Switzerland must be able to defend itself. OG President Muff is convinced that now is the time to align military resources with actual threats. “If the war in Ukraine shows one thing unadorned, it’s that you can only rely on your own armed forces.”
“We just don’t need them”
The Aargau FDP National Councilor Maja Riniker (44) and her fellow campaigners see it very differently. They want to pass on unused tanks to countries like Germany. In a first attempt, however, Riniker’s proposal to sell the tanks for the symbolic price of one franc failed in the Security Policy Commission.
However, she will bring the subject up again in the spring session. Because the fact that Ukraine can continue to defend itself is also in Switzerland’s interest, she emphasizes.
Riniker expects that the Swiss army will one day still be able to use some of the almost 100 tanks. But even in this case there were still enough Leos left that Switzerland could sell. “We simply don’t need them,” said the politician, who triggered a storm of indignation among the officers.