Swiss War Materiel and Arms Exports

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Starrag machines for Israeli arms suppliers

Goods category: Dual-use goods (Goods Control Act)

Smoke and fire at a high-rise building in Gaza City after an Israeli attack, 07.10.2023.

CC BY-SA 3.0

On 12 February 2024, Starrag received a licence for a CNC turbine-blade milling machine worth 1.435 million Swiss francs for Bet Shemesh Engines. The recipient works with the Israeli air force. On 25 July 2024, SECO authorised Starrag Vuadens to export a milling and turning centre worth 761’000 Swiss francs to Ricor Systems. Ricor manufactures cooling technology for military infrared sensors and targeting devices, among other products. Licence 8046550 of 12 February 2024 concerns a five-axis LX021 CNC turbine-blade milling machine from Rorschacherberg; the control-list entries are 2B201.a1 and 2B001.b2. The milling and turning centre for Ricor is a Bumotec 191neo from Vuadens. Its licence number is 8048460; the recipient, Ricor Systems 2011, is based in En Harod Ihud. The control-list entries are 2B001.b and 2B201.a. On 5 March 2026, SRF reported on two precision machining centres exported from the canton of Fribourg for around 1.4 million Swiss francs. The report does not clearly link these exports to the two individual licences mentioned here. Approval is therefore documented for the individual transactions, while their full completion remains unclear.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Dual-use goods are not subject to the War Materiel Act, but to the much weaker Goods Control Act. These cases are included for illustration.

Countries

Conflicts

Companies

Time period

Approvals in February and July 2024

Sources