Swiss Name New Army Chief Amid Procurement Controversies

(Bloomberg) -Isvicre appointed a well-established military career as the chief of the armed forces, a role that includes a series of supplying problems that shadow the discussions and the period of the predecessor.

The government said on Friday, 60 -year -old Major General Bendikt Roos, currently commanding the regional parts of the army and will begin his new role on January 1, he said. In February, he will replace Thomas Suessli, who announced his resignation.

The appointment of Roos, a career officer since 1997, points to his return to a more traditional leadership line. Suessli, a full -time officer in 2015, was a surprise candidate in 2019. He was appointed hoping that IT expert and former UBS Group AG employee would modernize the aging weapon systems and increase the unit of a cyberdef.

However, the time of the army in the rudder was marked with delays and increasing costs for key projects. Most importantly, an order for the three dozen F-35A hunter jet of the US defense firm Lockheed Martin Corp will cost more than 1.3 billion Swiss Franc ($ 1.6 billion) than expected at the beginning and attracts widespread criticism.

Defense Minister Martin Pfister was elected at a press conference for Roos’ very well founded in Ordu ”. This is very important for the reliability of leadership, ”he said.

It is not a Swiss NATO member, and only 0.7% of the gross domestic product to defend, but they have plans to raise it to 1% by 2030.

Export restrictions based on the country’s impartial stance made it difficult to access the weapon systems it needed. In July, Switzerland was informed that it would receive new Patriot ground -based air defense systems from the US due to efforts to prioritize support to Ukraine.

“The defense industry’s order books are full, Ro Roos said. “We should get used to the fact that we will not be the most important priority in the future.”

In another key defense personnel, the government called the current Swiss Ambassador Algeria to Serge Bavaud’s new president of the Federal Intelligence Service.

-With the help of Bastian Benrath-Wright.

(Updates in more context, starting in the third paragraph of the army chief)

There are more stories like this Bloomberg.com