Ruag MRO Holding and US aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin have formalised their collaboration on the Rigi project. According to the announcement made by the Swiss company on Thursday, 15 October 2026, the Emmen site, in the canton of Lucerne, will carry out the final assembly and testing of three F-35A fighter jets. That is one aircraft fewer than the four originally planned.

What the agreement between Ruag and Lockheed Martin covers

The contract covers the final assembly and testing of three F-35As in Emmen, Ruag said. The company highlights the significance of this step: Emmen will become one of only four sites in the world for the final assembly of the F-35A, as well as one of only four sites in the world for testing the aircraft. The other sites are not named in the dispatch.

The announced timetable is as follows: the first components are due to be delivered in the first half of 2027, and production is due to start in autumn 2027.

This is a company announcement, relayed by the Keystone-ATS news agency and published by SWI swissinfo.ch. Ruag's press release could not be consulted directly; the information above comes from this dispatch, which is linked at the end of the article.

From four aircraft to three

The reduction in the number of aircraft assembled in Switzerland is the main change compared with the project as previously presented, which covered four F-35As. The dispatch gives no explanation for this revision, and neither Ruag nor Lockheed Martin is quoted on the matter. It would therefore be premature to draw conclusions about the development of the programme as a whole.

Ruag's case: expertise and maintenance

According to Ruag, this collaboration allows Switzerland to build expertise on a latest-generation fighter jet and to strengthen its independence in maintenance. Jürg Rötheli, chairman of the board of directors of Ruag MRO Holding AG, describes Rigi, in the press release, as a key strategic project for military aviation.

These claims are part of the company's communication. They describe an objective, without detailing which maintenance services will actually be provided in Emmen once the aircraft are delivered, or on what terms.

Jobs and spin-offs: what has not been disclosed

The dispatch mentions neither the value of the contract, nor the number of jobs affected or created in Emmen, nor the share of the added value that would go to Swiss industry and to any subcontractors. As things stand, it is therefore not possible to measure the effect of the agreement on employment or on the regional industrial fabric.

The scope of the announcement also deserves clarification. The agreement is concluded between two companies, Ruag MRO Holding and Lockheed Martin, and concerns industrial work in Emmen. The dispatch reports no new decision by the federal authorities regarding the procurement of the F-35A itself. The next verifiable milestones will be the delivery of the first components, expected in the first half of 2027, followed by the start of production in autumn 2027.

Sources

  • SWI swissinfo.ch: "Swiss firm Ruag and Lockheed Martin expand collaboration on fighter jets"