Rami Swiss, a subsidiary of the North American antenna specialist Rami with headquarters in the state of Michigan, has put a new production site into operation in Courtételle in the canton of Jura. Antennas for military radio equipment will be manufactured there, among other things. The company was founded in Delémont, also in the canton of Jura, in 2021 before moving its Swiss headquarters to Courtételle a year ago, where work started on converting a former factory.

Elbit Systems Switzerland is the company’s contracting entity and, so far, its only client. It is the Swiss subsidiary of one of the three largest Israeli defense companies and exporters in Haifa and is located in Bern. It been operating for the Swiss Armed Forces for decades. Elbit Systems will now manufacture in Switzerland for the first time at the factory in Jura.

Settlement due to proximity to Basel and France

According to Le Quotidien Jurassien, the factory is distinctive: it is the first in Switzerland to target direct compensation transactions, as Member of the Council of States for Jura Charles Juillard explained at the opening. This means that a foreign manufacturer must share a portion of orders with local companies when it comes to Swiss military procurement. Jakob Baumann, Member of the Board of Directors at Elbit Systems Switzerland, commented to the local radio station RFJ: “The requirements for compensation business are a stimulus for companies to manufacture in Switzerland. We have decided to go one step further and manufacture not only components but also antennas here.”

According to Le Quotidien Jurassien, various reports state that the settlement in Jura was above all possible due to the available area, the proximity to Basel and France, and the exchange with the location and innovation promotion agency Basel Area Business & Innovation. Rami Swiss currently employs 20 “highly skilled” members of staff and benefits from the “region’s history of watch production” according to Baumann. According to CEO Forrest Colliver, the aim is to “rapidly increase their numbers to 25” and find new printed circuit board clients “not just in the military sector.”