Hands off our radio transceivers!
The USKA is opposing the blanket confiscation of amateur radio installations in times of crisis, as provided for in the federal government’s proposed requisition ordinance.
The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (VBS) is planning a new requisition ordinance. The draft is extremely far-reaching and allows the army to requisition technical equipment and services without clear restrictions in the event of an emergency. For radio amateurs, this means, in the worst-case scenario, that the DDPS will come and take their equipment away.
Consultation
For this reason, the USKA submitted a statement as part of the consultation process on 30 June 2026. The USKA calls for amateur radio equipment and resources, including licensed operators, to be explicitly exempted from requisition, provided they are intended for emergency and crisis communications.
The value of a radio station does not lie in its metal casing. It is only the interplay between the equipment, the antenna, the power supply and the years of experience of radio amateurs that brings real benefit in a crisis. A requisitioned piece of equipment in the hands of an untrained soldier is completely useless.
Well-established infrastructure
In contrast, we guarantee a decentralised, well-established infrastructure. We operate more than 250 repeater sites in Switzerland at high altitudes such as the Säntis, Pilatus and Chasseral. Thanks to emergency power supplies, these networks can operate independently for at least three days.
The authorities in the cantons and municipalities have recognised this. There are already more than a dozen cooperation agreements in place with the Civil Defence and the fire services.
Federal government jeopardises communications security
If the federal government dismantles these structures through requisitioning, it jeopardises Switzerland’s communications security. Our radio transceivers run on standard batteries or small solar panels. We are able to establish initial contact from a crisis area within a very short time following a total failure of commercial networks.
USKA offers a hand in cooperation
The USKA represents over 3,000 of the approximately 5,000 radio amateurs in the country. We offer the federal government our cooperation, but in return we demand the protection of our technical resources. The fact is: amateur radio helps the country most when it is allowed to operate.
