– The digital military future is growing here
Ruag is building the military leadership landscape of the future. She wants to create an ecosystem in which IT companies work together on cybersecurity.
Published: February 2, 2024, 12:14 p.m
Those responsible have even hoisted an army off-road vehicle onto the C2I campus to simulate the interaction of various components of modern army communication.
Photo: Christian Pfander
At the entrance you have to hand in your identity card. Only those who provide this – or another official ID – will receive a badge that authorizes access to the building. A building, it should be noted, that from the outside is an inconspicuous, not to say desolate, concrete structure.
Then you go through an entrance lock. Only when the first door has closed with a click does the second one open, granting visitors access to a world in which a military command center of the future has been set up. Or rather, an entire military leadership and communications landscape.
Inconspicuous: The entrance to the Ruag C2I campus in Thun.
Photo: Christian Pfander
The location of the event is the C2I campus on Uttigenstrasse in Thun. Where powder for cannons and rifles was once produced, Ruag is building a kind of brain for an army of the future.
The world is becoming more uncertain
In your Vision for the year 2030 The Swiss Army describes a world that is increasingly “volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous”. In order to overcome the challenges associated with this, Ruag has built the C2I campus. C2I stands for “Command”, “Control” and “Intelligence” – “Command”, “Control” and “Intelligence Service”. These three elements are to be digitally networked here.
The blue rectangles on this huge screen show which troop formations are where. Live images from satellites, drones or other sensors are displayed on the right.
Photo: Christian Pfander
Following the example of a civilian campus, the area combines “the characteristics of an agile way of working as well as an open exchange with customers, partners and competitors,” said campus manager Philippe Dörflinger on Thursday evening in front of guests from politics and business (see box).
“Ruag as a technology partner of the army – visiting the Silicon Valley of Thun”: Under this motto, the Trade and Industry Association (HIV) of the Canton of Bern invited people to visit the C2I campus on Uttigenstrasse in Thun on Thursday evening. Around 70 business representatives took part in the event.
District President Philippe Müller was in Thun on Thursday evening to answer questions.
Photo: Christian Pfander
It was another stop on the tour under the motto “Security perspectives – an event with the district president”, in which the Bernese security director and current district president Philippe Müller is currently traveling throughout the canton. In addition to Müller, experts from Ruag and the cantonal police were available to answer guests’ questions about cybersecurity. (maz)
On the one hand, it is “a relevant test and integration room” that has been classified as “secret”. But still “a meeting place where solutions to complex IT challenges are found”.
Philippe Dörflinger, head of the C2I Campus, explains the complex technical context of military operations.
Photo: Christian Pfander
Just like Novartis in the pharmaceutical industry or the ETH in various areas, Ruag is building a campus in Thun in which a wide variety of companies that deal with digital security and communication should settle.
Start in the tank hall
“We started, as befits a digital company, in a garage,” said Dörflinger, looking back on 2017, when he started as a project manager. “Except that our garage was a tank hall.” But even this large garage soon became too small; the number of employees doubled annually; Today around 180 specialists from a wide range of IT disciplines work in the buildings on the Aare.
And the growth should continue: The plan calls for around 350 employees in three years – and growth should continue at a similar pace after that.
When asked where he wanted to get these skilled workers, Dörflinger said: “We recruit throughout Switzerland and in neighboring countries. The conditions are that the people speak one of our national languages and are prepared to take up residence here in the region.”
Goal: attract new companies
Due to the modular architecture of the buildings and rooms on Uttigenstrasse, but also the IT platform on which Ruag is building, “customers, partners and competitors can gradually settle in the ecosystem,” said Dörflinger. “This is the only way we can find solutions to the complex IT challenges – if every player contributes their innovative, specialist know-how.”
Binoculars and laptops are part of everyday military life in the 21st century.
Photo: Christian Pfander
The heart of the C2I campus is the “SNFW Lab”. In this, Ruag is testing how new military software can be quickly and safely integrated into existing and new systems. SNFW stands for “sensors, intelligence services, leadership and impact network”.
It is therefore a matter of using computer programs effectively wherever sensors or the intelligence service collect information, this information is assessed in the management bodies and ultimately orders are formulated for the front.
Schedules and costs are adhered to
In particular, Dörflinger’s statement that his team has never completed a project too late or at too high a cost should be music to the ears of politicians and administration, who are constantly grappling with exorbitant costs for IT projects or financial problems with army procurement must.
In a modern army, people, machines and computers must be able to communicate in real time.
Photo: Christian Pfander
According to Philippe Dörflinger, the program places “high demands on a uniform architecture in the areas of information technology, communication and technology”. Particularly in view of the fact that international exchange and cooperation should also be possible.
The focus of the program is on the Swiss Army, especially on the Cyber Command. “We do our job well when international cooperation works in test and training programs, but a system can also be operated independently at any time.”
More about Ruag and UttigenstrasseSubscribe to the podcast Spotify, Apple Podcasts or in any common podcast app.Marco Zysset has been editor for the Thun region since 2003. He also writes about tourism, digitalization and regional planning.More information
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