Swiss Army receives new artillery from Germany
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss armed forces are modernising their artillery by replacing M109 self-propelled howitzers, dating from the 1960s. New artillery pieces from Germany are expected to be delivered from 2031.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
The contract was concluded with the manufacturer KNDS Germany, as announced by the Federal Armaments Office Armasuisse on Monday. The new AGM Artillery Gun Module artillery system is to be mounted on a Swiss carrier platform.
The army is procuring a total of one prototype and 32 series systems. In addition to the vehicles, the contract also includes funding for ammunition logistics, training and simulation systems as well as spare parts, documentation and tools. A prototype is to be completed in 2027 and tested the following year.
The new system should be faster and more effective. Modern sensor technology, digital guidance and automated processes should also improve protection and responsiveness during operations, Armasuisse added.
The procurement is part of the Armed Forces Dispatch 2025, which the Federal Council submitted to Parliament. In it, CHF1.7 billion was requested and approved for defence projects. However, an additional CHF1 billion for air defence ammunition was rejected.
The requests were justified by the deteriorating security situation in Europe. The investments are intended to close capability gaps in the army. Defence Minister Martin Pfister said that it was important to be prepared for various threats.
Translated from German by AI/mga
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch.
