Overview

• Switzerland wants to participate in the European Sky Shield air defence umbrella despite its neutrality.
• The European Sky Shield aims to coordinate procurement of air and missile defence systems and enable cooperation in training, maintenance, and logistics.
• Despite Switzerland's neutral status, the Minister of Defense intends to sign a letter of intent to join the initiative which currently has 17 participating countries.
• The initiative was proposed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and aims to pool expenses for missile defense systems, excluding the Franco-Italian SAMP/T Mamba system which France opposes.
• Switzerland and Austria plan to join the European Sky Shield Initiative in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, becoming the first neutral nations to join the 17 other nations involved.