Federal construction workshop

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The company Federal Konstruktionswerkstätte (K + F) ( French studios fédéraux de construction ) in Thun was a publicly owned enterprise and part of the Group on Arms Services of the Federal Military Department (now VBS). The aim of K + W was to make Swiss national defense independent of imported armaments and in times of crisis. The abbreviation "K + W" is the official abbreviation, in it the "+" stands for the Swiss cross , ie for "federal", analogous abbreviations were and are also common for other federal companies. EKW is also incorrectly abbreviated in aviation circles. K + W existed from 1863 to 1999 and is now part of the core of RUAG .

history

Technological developments showed the Swiss army command in the middle of the 19th century that a separate, uniform gun production was necessary. In 1861, at the request of the Federal Council, the federal Parliament to set up a repair shop. In 1863, the artillery inspector and later General Hans Herzog founded the Federal Repair Workshop in Thun, called the Federal Construction Workshop from 1874, and the Federal Laboratory, which later became the Federal Ammunition Factory in Thun.

The tasks were already the following in the 19th century:

  • Manufacture and repair of those parts of the army equipment that cannot be transferred to other military workshops or private individuals
  • Creation of drawings and models as well as implementation of corresponding tests.
  • Elaboration of rules and regulations on war material.
  • Execution of private orders, if the relevant circumstances permit.

Guns, field vehicles, railroad cars, mobile workshops, kitchens, ships and many other items of equipment were manufactured on these bases. But even the founder, General Herzog, initiated several renewals of the artillery without involving K + W. They also worked with foreign manufacturers to develop guns, such as the German Krupp or the Swedish Bofors .

In the run-up to the First World War, the workforce rose to around 500 people. After the war, the number of orders and thus also the workforce decreased drastically. It was not until the arms race in Europe had long since started again that the machinery was modernized in the mid-1930s and various projects in the field of aircraft construction and gun development were pursued. In 1938 a major fire destroyed production and storage facilities. In 1939 the workforce was around 1,100, in 1942 there were 1,600 employees, but staff reductions began as early as 1943. Despite private orders in the aircraft market (Willi Farner Flugzeugbau Grenchen, Pilatus Flugzeugwerke ) and from other customers, the workforce then fell to 700 employees.

In the mid-1990s, privatization was gradually prepared. As a federal enterprise, K + W was renamed SW Swiss Company for Weapons Systems. In September 1998 a stock corporation was founded and the company was brought in as a contribution in kind. The new company was then: SW SCHWEIZERISCHE UNTERNEHMUNG FÜR WAFFENSYSTEME AG (SW ENTREPRISE SUISSE D'ARMEMENT SA) (SW IMPRESA SVIZZERA Dl SISTEMI D'ARMA SA) (SW SWISS ORDNANCE ENTREPRISE CORP.) The transition to a private company was thus legally completed.

Gun construction

From the beginning, the company dealt with the maintenance, improvement and manufacture of all kinds of guns. Often Swiss or foreign companies were called in for the development or production, or third-party guns were built under license. The first task in 1863 was the redevelopment of a carriage for 311 newly purchased four-pounder muzzle-loading guns. One of the most recent developments was the 15.5 cm fortress cannon 93 L52 BISON , a fortress artillery system used by the Swiss Army , which was then decommissioned because of the end of the Cold War and the new threat posed by GPS- controlled cruise missiles .

Countless cannons, howitzers, mine launchers (mortars), anti-aircraft cannons, fortress guns and anti-tank weapons of various calibers were developed, tested, manufactured, maintained and modified. The associated vehicles and additional equipment were also manufactured. K + W was one of the few companies that could produce such systems from scratch, including the pipes.

vehicle construction

Artillery pieces required special vehicles from the very beginning. With the modernization of warfare, countless types of vehicles were produced for the army as early as 1870. So ammunition wagons, telegraph wagons, railway wagons, brigade gons, provisions wagons, field blacksmiths, ships, wheels, etc. With the motorization from 1893 on, new maintenance tasks arose. Before the Second World War, Switzerland procured a few tanks, which subsequently also required maintenance. There were a few attempts with their own armored vehicles before. It was not until the 1950s that Switzerland procured large quantities of tanks abroad, but some of them were unsatisfactory. So an own tank development was started, which culminated in 1961 on behalf of 150 Panzer 61 and then in the sequel for the Panzer 68 . In the meantime the Swiss Army had a sizeable tank fleet to maintain. Shortly before the end of the Cold War , which was not yet foreseeable , a new development of a modern tank was stopped in favor of a license production of the Panzer 87 ( Leopard 2 ). The final production of 345 Leo 2 ensured full workbooks. In addition, the entire vehicle fleet of the Swiss Army was tested, procured, modified, maintained and repaired, and also disposed of.

Aircraft construction

In the years before the First World War, the Swiss Army also recognized the need for aircraft. The Swiss Air Force was founded in 1914 . The war prevented the procurement of the latest generations of aircraft, which were also changing rapidly. That is why, in May 1915, the Federal Council gave K + W the order to build six aircraft based on August Haefeli's designs . A month later, a separate department for the design and manufacture of aircraft was created, in November the first new machine could take off for a test flight and in April 1916 the six DH- 1s were delivered.

As a result, various types of aircraft were built through self-construction, license construction or conversion for the Swiss Army and for export. In 1940 aircraft construction was gradually relocated from Allmendstrasse in Thun to Emmen ; In 1943, the design office was relocated to Emmen and the Federal Aircraft Factory was officially founded in Emmen. This meant that aircraft construction and maintenance was no longer the task of K + W in Thun.

  • Working on assembled aircraft engines

  • Construction of the wing frame

  • Häfeli DH-1, double decker with machine gun

Privatization after the end of the Cold War

In 1998, the Federal Construction Workshop was gradually transferred to the RUAG Group , which is organized under private law and forms the core of today's RUAG Defense division. The staff lost their civil servant status and were given employment contracts under private law with transitional provisions. Most of the products and services were taken over by RUAG. In a transition phase, the company name was Swiss Company for Weapon Systems (SW) ; A stock corporation was formed under this name, which was then integrated as RUAG Land Systems . Similarly, the Swiss Federal Arms Factory was largely integrated into the “Swiss Electronics Company (SE)”, while other parts were incorporated into the “Swiss Company for Weapons Systems”. Today everyone is reunited at “RUAG Defense”.

Aircraft types from K + W

Haefeli

August Haefeli constructed the following patterns for K + W:

  • Häfeli DH-1
  • Häfeli DH-2
  • Häfeli DH-3 (M III)
  • Häfeli DH-3 (M IIIa)
  • Häfeli DH-3 (M IIIb)
  • Häfeli DH-4 (M IV)
  • Häfeli DH-3 (M IIa)
  • Häfeli DH-5 (MV)
  • Häfeli DH-5 (MV)
  • Häfeli DH-5 X (MV x)
  • Häfeli DH-3 (M IIIa)
  • Häfeli DH-5A (M Va)
  • Häfeli DH-5 (MV-1)
  • Häfeli DH-5 (MV-1)

Prototype Haefeli:

Dewoitine

K + W built the following Dewoitine samples for Flugwaffe and Export :

  • Dewoitine D-9 , three copies were assembled from parts supplied by Dewoitine.
  • Dewoitine D.19 , one copy obtained directly from Dewoitine, two assembled from delivered parts
  • Dewoitine D.21 , seven D.21 built for the Argentine Air Force. Another 58 units with Lorraine-Dietrich engines were built under license.
  • Dewoitine D.26 , 11 pieces built.
  • Dewoitine D.27 , the prototype was produced in 1928 and then five pre-series aircraft and two construction lots with 15 and 45 series aircraft for Switzerland.

C-35 / C-36

The other types of this "Line C-36" were produced by the Federal Aircraft Factory in Emmen.

Licensed buildings

Tanks, armored vehicles

Tank construction workshop Thun (1977)

In-house constructions:

  • Melee cannon 1 (NK 1), only 1 prototype built in use 1944–1947
  • Medium tank 1958 (MPz 58), 1 prototype + 12 units in service 1958–1964, later converted to Zielpanzer 61 .
  • Panzer 61 (Pz 61), 150 pieces in service from 1964 to 1994, all vehicles have been modernized to the Panzer 61 AA9 (Pz 61 AA9)
  • Panzer 68 (Pz 68), 220 units in service from 1971 to 1999, 25 units modernized as Pz 68/88 until 2003
  • Panzer 68/75 (Pz 68/75), 170 pieces in service from 1978 to 2003
  • Panzer 68/88, 195 pieces (including 25 modernized Pz 68), in service from 1993 to 2003
  • Zielpanzer 68 , 10 pieces in service from 1974 to 2007
  • Entspannungspanzer 65 , 69 pieces in service from 1972 to 2008. Conversion to Entpannungspanzer 65/88.
  • Bridge armor 68 (Brü Pz 68), 30 units in service since 1976 all were modernized in 1989 to bridge armor 68/88
  • 35 mm Flab Panzer B22L development with Oerlikon-Bührle based on the German GEPARD. 2 pieces built, for tests in use 1979–1980 Development in favor of the Rapier surface-to-air missile canceled.
  • 15.5 cm artillery Panzerkanone 68 (15.5 cm Art Pz Kan 68), 4 pieces built for test purposes in use from 1972 to 1975. Project canceled in favor of the American M109.

Drawn guns

12 cm mortar with bronze barrel

Licensed and self-made, chronologically

  • Four pounder field cannon 1862
  • 10.5 cm field cannon 1866
  • 8.4 cm field cannon 1871
  • 7.5 cm mountain gun 1877
  • 12 cm cannon 1882
  • 7.5 cm field cannon 03/22
  • 12 cm field howitzer 12/39
  • 15 cm field howitzer 1916
  • 4.7 cm infantry gun 35
  • 7.5 cm flab cannon 38
  • 12 cm mortar 41
  • 10.5 cm cannon 35 L42
  • 15 cm field howitzer 42
  • 10.5 cm howitzer 46

Fortress guns

15 cm cannon for Furggels Fortress

The Swiss fortress artillery played a major role in arming Switzerland from the middle of the 19th century until the end of the Cold War.

literature

  • 125 years of the Swiss Federal Design Workshop in Thun. K + W Thun, Thun 1988.
  • Colonel a. D. Henri Habegger: Guns of the Swiss artillery, part of self-propelled guns in Switzerland. Beer, Zurich 2012, In: Fireworks Society Zurich: New Year's Gazette of the Fireworks Society (Artillery College) in Zurich for the year 2013 / vol. 204. ISBN 978-3-906262-78-9 .
  • Highlights and lows. A journey through the last four decades. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of November 29, 1974, page 97.
Concerning aircraft construction

Web links

Commons : Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 125 years of the Federal Construction Workshop in Thun, 1988 . K + W Thun, Thun 1988.
  2. ^ List of Haefeli "DH" aircraft in the Swiss Air Force , accessed on November 9, 2013
  3. ^ Aircraft Lexicon from AZ . In: Aircraft - The new encyclopedia of aviation, issue 78, Orbis Publishing GmbH, 1994, pp. 2181-2183
  4. ↑ Planes from A -Z . In: AERO - The illustrated collective work of aviation, No. 64, Marshall Cavendish International, 1984, pp. 1789–1791
  5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Luftwaffe website "Retired Assets - Airplanes, Helicopters, Flab, 16 Nov. 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lw.admin.ch
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Cockpit, the Swiss aviation magazine No. 11 / November 2012 p. 48ff. Retrieved on November 28, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cockpit.aero
  7. ^ The artillery system 15.5 fortress cannon 93 L52 Bison , at www.offiziere.ch, accessed on November 16, 2013