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RUAG Holding (originally Rüstungs Unternehmen Aktiengesellschaft; Joint Stock Defence Company) is a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...
company specialising in aerospace engineering and the defence industry. Its headquarters are located in
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
, while it also has numerous production sites in Switzerland ( Nyon,
Aigle , neighboring_municipalities= Vaud: Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, Ollon; Valais: Vouvry, Collombey-Muraz , twintowns = L'Aigle (France), Tübingen (Germany), Bassersdorf (Switzerland) } Aigle (French for " eagle", ; frp, Âgllo) is ...
, Thun,
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
, Emmen, Altdorf,
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...
and Interlaken), Germany (
Oberpfaffenhofen Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and ...
,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
Wedel and
Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...
), Sweden (
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Linköping and
Åmotfors Åmotfors is a bimunicipal locality situated in Eda Municipality and Arvika Municipality Arvika Municipality (''Arvika kommun'') is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Arvika. The prese ...
), Hungary (
Sirok Sirok is a historic village (population 2,100) in Heves county in Hungary, situated near Eger in Mátra mountains. Today it is most known for its 13th-century castle ruins. Etymology The name comes from the Slavic ''širokъ''—wide like � ...
, Eger), Austria (
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, Berndorf) and United States ( Tampa and Titusville), and sales companies in Australia, UK, France, Belgium,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
.


History


Background and initial years

During the 1990s, the government of Switzerland decided that the nation's military enterprises needed to be restructured, a view which led to the passing of the Federal Act on Federal Armaments Companies (FArmCA) in 1997. In accordance with this act, a new entity, known as ''RUAG Switzerland Ltd'', was established to bring together four former state-run enterprises: ''SE Schweizerische Elektronikunternehmung AG'', ''SF Schweizerische Unternehmung für Flugzeuge und Systeme AG'', ''SM Schweizerische Munitionsunternehmung AG'', and ''SW Schweizerische Unternehmung für Waffensysteme AG''. Prior to this merger, these companies were comprehensively restructured with the intention of making them competitive commercial enterprises. RUAG formally commenced operations on 1 January 1999. Even prior to its establishment, RUAG was confronted by a severe challenge in the form of dwindling orders from the Swiss Armed Forces due to post-
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
defence cuts having greatly diminished military spending. Recognising its overdependence on the Swiss military, which initially accounted for 86 percent of RUAG's sales, the company adopted a long-term strategy of diversification, progressively expanding its activities in the military and civil sectors both inside Switzerland and on the global market. This expansion went beyond only organic growth, necessitating numerous acquisitions, often focused in specific fields, such as aircraft and helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO); command, information and communication systems; simulation and training systems; and small-calibre ammunition. Positive results were soon achieved. During 2000, RUAG's Aerospace division reported 39 per cent growth in sales on the third-party market, which were generated from various programmes of aircraft manufacturers, including
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
,
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
and
Pilatus Pilatus may refer to: People * Pontius Pilate (Latin: Pontius Pilatus, died 39 AD), Roman governor of Judea * Leontius Pilatus (died 1366), Greek Calabrian scholar * Rob Pilatus (1965–1998), artist and member of group Milli Vanilli Other uses * ...
. Other business included MRO services to foreign
Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...
fighter aircraft, repair work on AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...
and production of payload fairings for the US's
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...
launch vehicle. RUAG's Land Systems division was also had optimism in the civilian sector, performing component assembly for injection moulding machines used in
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
production. By the end of 2001, RUAG had reached a turning point, reporting 8 per cent overall growth for that financial year despite a sustained decline in the domestic defence sector; these gains were achieved upon the international market, particularly within the civilian sector. RUAG was negatively impacted by the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
that started during 2008, soon thereafter reporting a significant drop in orders from the civilian sector, particularly for aerostructures and MRO services, as well as its automotive and
semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way ...
interests. Consolidated profit was hit by CHF 160 million of write-downs, causing a negative EBIT of CHF 113 million – the first deficit recorded in RUAG's operational history. Around this time, RUAG made a strategic move into the space industry, which had been previously a tiny area of the business. In 2008, it acquired ''Saab Space'' and its subsidiary ''Austrian Aerospace''; during the following year, RUAG also bought the ''Oerlikon Space AG'', and subsequently created its
RUAG Space Beyond Gravity is the space-oriented segment of the Swiss technology group RUAG. At a total of fourteen sites in Switzerland ( Zurich, Emmen and Nyon), Sweden (Gothenburg, Linköping), Finland (Tampere), Germany ( Coswig), USA (Denver, Titusv ...
division, Europe's largest independent space supplier.


2010s

By 2010, RUAG's aviation division comprised three core areas: military MRO, business aviation, and special mission aircraft; of these, business aviation reportedly suffered a downturn following the Great Recession. The company made efforts to bolster its business aviation activities, focusing on providing MRO services to end users. In 2019, RUAG decided to sell its business aviation facilities in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
and
Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...
to Dassault Aviation; the company stated that it was part of a strategic alignment, instead concentrating resources on its aerostructures and space programmes. RUAG has progressively expanded the range of military aircraft that it provides MRO services for. During 2012, it competed against EADS to provide aircraft support services to the German military. In 2014, the company partnered with Finnish firm Patria to offer MRO services to McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet operators worldwide. During the 2010s, RUAG performed a major modernisation of the Swiss Air Force's Airbus Helicopters AS332 Super Puma helicopter fleet, and has subsequently promoted this capability for other operators. During the 2010s, RUAG Aerostructures became a tier-one supplier of aircraft
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
sections, wing components, flaps, and other elements for both civilian and military aircraft. It is a long-term supplier to aerospace giant
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
, having delivered in excess of 9,000
Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...
fuselage sections by January 2020. On 19 December 2019, the two companies concluded a six-year arrangement for RUAG to manufacture the center fuselage section, flooring and side shells of the A320 at a rate of 60 sections per month at its plants in
Oberpfaffenhofen Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and ...
, Germany; Eger,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
; and
Emmen, Switzerland Emmen is a village and municipality in the district of Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. The municipality Emmen consists of the village Emmen, the town Emmenbrücke, and several hamlets. History Emmen is first mentioned in 840 ...
. In addition to its work for Airbus, other customers of RUAG Aerostructures include
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
, Bombardier Aviation, Dassault Aviation, GE Aviation, Pilatus Aircraft, and
Saab AB Saab AB (originally , later just SAAB and Saab Group) is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. Headquartered in Stockholm, the development and the manufacturing is undertaken in Linköping. Saab produced automobiles from 19 ...
.


Dornier 228NG

During 2003, RUAG acquired the
type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applic ...
for the
Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin- turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In ...
.Alcock, Charles
"Ruag Dornier 228NG approval planned for first quarter."
''AIN Online'', 28 December 2009.
In December 2007, RUAG announced its intention to launch a modernized version of the Dornier 228, which it designated as the ''Dornier 228 Next Generation'', or Dornier 228 NG.Eriksson, Sören and Harm-Jan Steenhuis
''The Global Commercial Aviation Industry.''
Routledge, 2015. , pp.59–62, 241.
At the 2008 Berlin Air Show,
HAL HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of figh ...
agreed to supply the first three component sets — fuselage, wings and tail — for €5 million, as a part of an €80 million ($123 million) ten-year contract. Final assembly for the aircraft is performed in Germany; however, most airframe subassemblies, such as the wings, tail and fuselage, are produced by HAL in India."Dornier 228 NG – Benefit from a New Generation."
''RUAG Aviation'', Retrieved: 27 February 2016.
RUAG decided to suspend production of the Dornier 228 NG after the completion of an initial batch of eight aircraft in 2013. In 2014, RUAG and
Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
signed an agreement for the latter to become a key supplier of the program.Alcock, Charles
"Ruag to Kick Off Dornier 228NG Production in Mid-2016."
''AIN Online'', 13 February 2016.
Production was restarted in 2015, with deliveries of four per year planned from 2016. the assembly line is reportedly capable of producing a maximum of 12 aircraft per year.Batey, Angus
"RUAG, Dornier OEM, Sets Up 228 Production."
''Aviation Week'', 15 June 2015.


Structure

The RUAG has the following operational divisions:


Aerospace


RUAG Aerostructures
(component manufacturing, aerostructures and
recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...
with products mainly for the civil market) *
RUAG Space Beyond Gravity is the space-oriented segment of the Swiss technology group RUAG. At a total of fourteen sites in Switzerland ( Zurich, Emmen and Nyon), Sweden (Gothenburg, Linköping), Finland (Tampere), Germany ( Coswig), USA (Denver, Titusv ...
(in Switzerland, Sweden and Austria) * RUAG Aviation (MRO for civil and military use, producer of the
Dornier 228 NG The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 198 ...
, system solutions)


Defence


RUAG Ammotec
(small arms
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...
up to 12.7 mm for defence, law enforcement
hunting and sport
. RUAG is also the original producer of the
HG 85 The HG 85 (''Hand Granate M1985'') is a round fragmentation hand grenade designed for the Swiss Armed Forces and still produced by RUAG Ammotec in Switzerland. HG 85 is the internal designation of the Swiss Army and replaces the HG 43 from WWII. ...
. Producing subsidiaries are located in Germany, Hungary, USA and Sweden. The products for the civil market are branded under the names RWS, Geco, Rottweil, Norma Norma and Gyttorp. * RUAG Defence
Combat and support vehicle maintenance

simulation and trainingnetwork enabled operations

cyber security
. Production in Switzerland and Germany.


References


External links


Official site

RUAG Space AB

RUAG Space GmbH
Military vehicle manufacturers Firearm manufacturers of Switzerland Aerospace companies of Switzerland Defence companies of Switzerland Companies owned by the federal government of Switzerland Companies based in Bern Science and technology in Switzerland Swiss brands Ammunition manufacturers {{Switzerland-company-stub