The purchase of new drones for the Swiss army threatens to turn to fiasco – rts.ch

Since his arrival at the head of the Federal Department of Defense (DDPS), the Federal Councilor Martin Pfister has been trying to bring order to the major strategic projects of the army. At the top of the battery, there is the purchase of the F-35 fighting aircraft and its price that Americans will increase.

>> Reread: Washington refuses to guarantee a fixed price for the purchase of F-35

But another sensitive file currently occupies the chief of the DDPS: the acquisition of six hermes 900 drones produced by the Israeli group Elbit Systems. The army wants to use these large devices to surveillance and recognition. Amount of this purchase: some 300 million francs voted by Parliament… in 2015.

Since then, the Swiss soldiers have been waiting for. Two drones were delivered in 2022. A third will soon be. But here in Switzerland, these devices are still testing. The manufacturer has accumulated delays and breaches. Project management on the Swiss side has also shown weaknesses. It was federal finance control that said it several times, including in a last report published in 2025.

>> Reread: Israeli drones under the fire of criticism: “a real disaster”, denounces Pierre-Alain Fridez

Federal Advisor Pfister changes course

Despite the disappointments, the official position of the army and the DDPS has always been to support this project. Successive federal advisers Ueli Maurer, Guy Parmelin and Viola Amherd did it several times. Martin Pfister decided to change course.

We learned of it at the beginning of the summer, this acquisition project is today in a stay. The director of Armasuisse, the Federal Armament Office, revealed it at the microphone of SRF. In detail, three options were presented to the new federal adviser.

>> Reread: The Swiss army could give up Israeli drones by dint of delays and breakdowns

“One variant is to continue as so far. The other is to give up certain features [de l’appareil]. And the third option is to stop everything, “said Urs Loher at the microphone of SRF. Martin Pfister will have to decide in the coming weeks.

Abandon the project, a risky option

Around the federal advisor, opinions diverge. He says to himself that the head of the army (soon on the start) Thomas Süssli is favorable to the abandonment of the project. Small tactical drones could accomplish the missions of the Hermes 900.

A position that Stefan Holenstein, president of the association of Swiss military societies partly includes. “Federal finance control stressed that no one could say on what date this drone would work. In principle, such a observation would be the blow of grace for any project.” And the colonel also notes the probable breakdown of trust with the Israeli partner.

“Give up this drone model to take another equivalent drone, that is to say a drone that will be able to provide information to land forces and air forces, this will cost money and require additional deadlines, but it can be considered,” analyzes Alexandre Vautravers.

The editor-in-chief of the Swiss military journal continues: “On the other hand, to replace an operating drone, a drone which evolves at a certain altitude, which has a certain radius of action, replace this capacity with smaller tactical drones, which have a lesser range, which have less autonomy, which have sensors of less good quality, that’s something that will be extremely difficult”.

In addition, if Switzerland renounces this project, it is very likely that the manufacturer Elbit Systems will start a legal battle to obtain compensation. “This is the worst solutions,” insisted Urs Loher, the director of Armasuisse in an interview on SRF. Finally, the 280 million francs already spent for this acquisition would be lost.

Give up the “Swiss Finish”

The alternative would rather be to give up certain features initially commissioned by the Swiss army. Clearly, take the drone as it is currently.

When ordering, the air forces had requested options outside the catalog, in order to “seal” the aircraft. In particular a diesel engine rather than petrol, a defrosting system, a device to identify and avoid obstacles in uncontrolled airspace and a redundant automatic landing system.

If now the drone operates in diesel, the other three options required by the Swiss army are not ready. Today Armasuisse even wants to stop the work on the low -altitude obstacle detection system developed by Elbit with the Swiss company Ruag (see box).

“We can simply no longer finance the specific requirements of Switzerland [pour ce projet]”, notes Stefan Holenstein, president of the association of military societies.” And especially if [ce drone] Works for other countries without Swiss specificities, why wouldn’t it work for Switzerland? In my opinion, this time of the ‘Swiss Finish’ is over. We must really examine alternative solutions and join international partnerships. “

Cost-benchmarks analysis

Armasuisse believes that drones could very well operate without these three features. For example, for a day -to -day mission below 5000 meters in the Alps, the drone could be accompanied by a helicopter. As for the lack of defrosting, on the cold days, the drone would be purely and simply replaced by a helicopter. And then in terms of the redundant landing system, in the event of GPS failure, a pilot on the ground could take over.

The army is currently carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of the different options on the table. Contacted, the Elbit Systemps company did not respond to our requests. Neither Armasuisse nor the DDPS could tell us when a final decision will be taken on this file.

^{Subject treated in the morning of 19.08.2025.}

Marc Menichini, RTS investigation center