Switzerland has a total of 220 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, 134 of which were upgraded in 2006, as well as 96 that are in storage. The Swiss government is willing to retire and sell 25 of the latter to KMW, their original manufacturer, as long as they are not supplied to Ukraine.
The Federal Council supports a proposal by the Security Policy Commission of the National Council (SPC-N) to decommission 25 Leopard 2 battle tanks. As she decided during her meeting on May 24, 2023, Federal Councilor Viola Amherd, head of the DDPS [defense ministry], will defend this point of view during the parliamentary deliberations in connection with the message on the army 2023.
At the moment, the army has a total of 134 tanks of type 87 Leopard 2 A4 WE, which were modernized within the framework of the 2006 armament program. It also has 96 other tanks of the same type which have not been renovated and which are immobilized.
On February 23, 2023, two German ministers, MM. Robert Habeck (economy) and Boris Pistorius (defense), have written to the head of the DDPS asking her to resell these disused tanks to Rheinmetall, the German company that produced them. They pledged not to transfer them to Ukraine, but to keep them for Germany or for other NATO or EU partners wishing to supplement their own armament.
On March 28, 2023, a majority of the National Council’s Security Policy Commission requested the decommissioning of 25 tanks as part of parliamentary deliberations on the Message on the Army 2023, it being understood that this decommissioning should not intervene only in the event that the tanks are resold to the company that produced them.
The Federal Council supports this proposal and empowers the head of the DDPS to defend it during parliamentary deliberations on the Dispatch on the Armed Forces 2023.