Switzerland has joined the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), with the Federal Council approving the corresponding declaration of accession to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on April 10. The focus of the initiative, which was founded in August 2022 and in which Austria would also like to participate, is on cooperation and coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects in the area of ground-based air defense.
The ESSI was founded at the request of Germany and is an initiative for ground-based air defense in Europe. The aim is to strengthen air defense in Europe and better pool efforts in this area. Eleven countries have now signed the declaration of accession to the MoU, including Austria. Like Austria, Switzerland has also set out its reservations regarding neutrality in an additional declaration, for example to exclude any participation or involvement in international military conflicts (-> Is Sky Shield compatible with Austria’s neutrality?). The ESSI aims to better coordinate and, if necessary, bundle air defense procurement projects in Europe in order to exploit economies of scale in the procurement of systems and improve interoperability between the partner countries. This will also enable cooperation in training, system maintenance and logistics. For Switzerland, participation in the ESSI primarily focuses on better coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects. https://militaeraktuell.at/allentsteig-unbemannte-abc-gefahrenerkennung/
Basis for concluding program agreements
The MoU defines the general provisions according to which the participating states can implement the projects and programs for cooperative procurement within the framework of the ESSI and exchange information on the possibilities in other areas of cooperation, such as logistics or military training and exercises. Within the framework of the ESSI, separate program agreements can be concluded for individual projects and programs.
Even after signing the declaration of accession, the partner countries are free to decide where and to what extent they participate in the ESSI and which systems they procure. Joining the ESSI does not constitute a preliminary decision in favor of a specific system. Furthermore, signing the declaration of accession to the MoU does not create any obligations.
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