On the night of October 29, 2026, a massive fire engulfed the defence contractor B&T AG’s control centre and production facility in the Swiss city of Thun.

The Bern Cantonal Police and company management are treating arson as the primary cause of the incident.

The fire broke out at the Tempelstrasse facility around 3:10 AM. Emergency services were only able to fully extinguish the flames later that afternoon.

Gutted

The upper floors, assembly areas, warehouses, engineering offices, flagship retail shop, and indoor shooting range were heavily affected.

$24 million up in smoke

No injuries were reported. Financial Losses: B&T CEO Karl Brügger estimated the initial material damage to be between 12 and 20 million Swiss francs ($15–24 million).

As reported by The Firearm Blog, the property is insured, the company’s survival is not threatened, and B&T has pledged to resume operations quickly.

Motive and Claims: An anti-war group claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a video showing individuals throwing incendiary devices at wooden pallets stacked against the building’s exterior wall.

Suppliers of riot control equipment

In their manifesto, the perpetrators stated the arson was motivated by B&T’s supply of riot control weapons, specifically the GL06/LBD 40 grenade launchers, to the French state police, which are used to disperse demonstrations.

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Killer States on the Loose

The Ukraine Connection: B&T has historically supplied small arms (including APC9 PRO-G submachine guns) and specialized equipment to Ukrainian law enforcement and security forces.

These weapons were either supplied under pre-existing contracts or via third-party nations. Investigators and security experts are evaluating whether this connection served as an additional motive for the attackers.

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