As the Kommersant newspaper reported in the material [...] by Alexey Tarkhanov, "Switzerland will break the Rapier better. The country has abandoned the scheme for the supply of missile systems to Ukraine," Switzerland is preparing to destroy the British-made Rapier anti-aircraft missile systems that have been decommissioned. This decision was made instead of the possible sending of weapons back to the UK for possible use in the theater of military operations in Ukraine. European politicians decry too strict adherence to the Swiss policy of neutrality, military experts are looking for a simpler explanation for this.
The launcher of the Rapier anti-aircraft missile system of the Swiss Armed Forces (c) the Ministry of Defense and Sports of SwitzerlandAs the Zurich Neue Zurcher Zeitung and Paris Le Monde reported last week, 60 short- and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) removed from combat duty will be destroyed.
The first installations have already been disassembled and disposed of. We are talking about air defense systems acquired by Switzerland in 1980 from Britain. As military experts, such as Peter Schneider, former editor-in-chief of Revue Militaire Suisse, point out: "These missiles, of course, are not new, but they cannot be called completely obsolete. They could be perfectly used against drones, helicopters or even fighter jets." Why can't they be used in the framework of the military conflict in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces uses many systems that have already been decommissioned in the West and transferred to Kiev, the French newspaper asks.
Switzerland is jealous of its neutrality and does not want to be involved in any way in any war on any continent.
Kommersant has already written about how the confederation denied several European countries the right to re-export ammunition produced and sold by Switzerland to the Cheetah anti-aircraft artillery installations. This decision was made by the National Council. However, the case of Rapiers is completely different from the point of view of international law and Switzerland's obligations.
According to the law, the country has every right to sell or even transfer the weapons it once bought back to the manufacturer for free if they are removed from service. This rule allows you to avoid the accumulation of unnecessary military junk in army warehouses. From this point of view, nothing prevents Switzerland from returning missile systems to Britain without sacrificing neutrality. What London will do with them then is another question.
Switzerland's refusal to return missiles, however, can be viewed from the other side, as experts do. They recall that the Rapier was developed by British Aircraft Corporation in the 1960s and entered service in the 1970s. For the first time in a real war, it was used during the British-Argentine conflict in the Falkland Islands, and the results of its use partially disappointed the military and developers. Since then, the system has been improved more than once. Switzerland was armed with one of the old modifications - Field Standard B, while in Britain Field Standard C was used. Moreover, the British took their missiles off duty and destroyed them back in 2021.
The Swiss claim that the British manufacturers received notification in advance that the Swiss army intends to part with their "Rapiers", and did not express the slightest desire to take them back.
Thus, now, even if the idea of transferring weapons to the Ukrainian army prevails, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to implement it. Neither Switzerland nor Britain have enough spare parts left to maintain the combat readiness of the machines. The Swiss will have to repair the missiles themselves, as well as train Ukrainian personnel to handle Rapiers. This will already be a clear violation of the principle of neutrality, which the government of the country, most likely, will not go to.
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