Posted: 23.03.2023 16:02:00

Media: Switzerland dismantles Rapier air defence systems that could be sent to Ukraine

Switzerland has started recycling sixty serviceable British Rapier air defence systems that could be sent to Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports with reference to NZZ am Sonntag

Photo: www.reuters.com

The publication clarifies that the complexes are quite old, but they could still be used on the battlefield. However, as Kai-Gunnar Sievert, from the Federal Office for Defence Procurement of Switzerland, noted, the first batch of British air defence systems has already been dismantled. Three more batches are planned to be disposed of in the near future.

According to the source, Switzerland bought British Rapiers back in the 1980s. Although they passed modernisation in 2017, the country's authorities decided to get rid of them, and the decommissioning began at the end of 2022.

In line with a 2006 Swiss government decree, foreign systems that are no longer in service must first be sold to the manufacturing state. In this case, it is the UK which could subsequently send the weapons to Ukraine. However, as the Swiss authorities reported earlier, Bern opposes re-exports of weapons to the countries involved in armed conflicts.