After the member states of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) agreed to Switzerland’s application for admission, Chief of Armament Urs Loher signed the MoU and the unilateral declaration of accession by Switzerland on 17 October 2024. Switzerland will thus become the 15th member of the ESSI. On 10 April 2024, the Federal Council agreed to accession to the ESSI and authorised the DDPS to sign the ESSI Cooperative Procurement Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as well as the additional unilateral declaration of accession by Switzerland. After the Foreign Policy and the Security Policy Committees also agreed to the matter, the DDPS initiated the accession process on 8 July 2024 with the signing of the application for membership by Chief of Armament Urs Loher. The member states of the ESSI agreed unconditionally to Switzerland’s accession in a subsequent consultation. Chief of Armament Urs Loher thereupon signed the MoU and the additional unilateral declaration of accession by Switzerland on 17 October 2024.
Signing the declaration of accession to the MoU does not lead to any obligations. Even after signing, Switzerland will decide freely where and to what extent it will participate in the ESSI and which ground-based systems it will procure. As previously, when signing the Memorandum of Understanding in July 2023, in which Switzerland and Austria presented their reservations under neutrality law in an additional declaration, Switzerland also additionally set out its reservations under neutrality law in a public unilateral declaration of accession regarding the signing of the MoU. This refers in particular to the suspension clause of the MoU which enables Switzerland to withdraw from the cooperation due to its neutrality, should a member of the initiative become party to an international armed conflict.
With its participation in the ESSI, Switzerland is increasing international opportunities for cooperation: ESSI enables better coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects in the area of ground-based air defence (GBAD). The general provisions are defined in the MoU, according to which the member states carry out the projects and programmes for the cooperative procurement of GBAD systems as part of the ESSI and can exchange ideas on the opportunities in other areas of cooperation. As a participant state of the ESSI, Switzerland can now conclude separate programme agreements for individual projects and programmes as part of the MoU. The initial focus is on medium-range ground-based air defence. Attractive opportunities for cooperation will be available in the future in the areas of shorter-range and longer-range air defence.
European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) is a project to build a ground-based integrated European air defence system which includes anti-ballistic missile capability. The initiative was originally proposed by the Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz in August 2022. The proposal was made during the 2022–2023 Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure and amid increased concerns about the limited European capability to defend against such threats as the Russian 9K720 Iskander ballistic missile systems deployed in Kaliningrad. As of July 2024, 22 European states participate in the initiative. The ESSI will use multi-layered defence, with the following systems planned:
Short range: Skyranger 30, Medium range: primarily IRIS-T SLM, Long range: MIM-104 Patriot and Very long range (exoatmospheric): Arrow 3. In December 2022, the German Chancellor expressed a hope that the system will be developed in the next five years. In June 2023, the German Bundestag authorized nearly €4 billion for the acquisition of Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system from Israel. The contract was signed in November 2023.
