Drone project in trouble Chief of Armaments: Canceling the procurement is the "worst option"
The DDPS's drone procurement is on the brink, and canceling the project is an option. However, Chief of Armaments Urs Loher sees this as the "worst option".
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- For Head of Armaments Urs Loher, canceling the drone procurement is the "worst option".
- It was previously announced that canceling the project was an option.
- Completion of the project was planned for 2019, but was then postponed to 2026.
- Five drones have now arrived in Switzerland. However, they still do not meet the requirements that Switzerland places on unmanned flying objects.
According to Head of Armaments Urs Loher, canceling the procurement project for reconnaissance drones for the Swiss Armed Forces, which is in a precarious situation, is the "worst possible option". In an interview, Loher explains two other options for the next steps.
Continuing as before and dispensing with functionalities requested by Switzerland are the two other options, said the head of the Federal Office of Armaments (Armasuisse) on Radio SRF's "Samstagsrundschau". On Friday it became known that the project could also be canceled.
Five drones already in Switzerland
A cost-benefit analysis is now being carried out in order to assess the options more precisely. In the case of the "abandonment" option, it must be clarified in particular whether some of the payments already made could be reimbursed or whether the supplier would even claim additional costs because it had made investments.
The procurement of six drones from the Israeli company Elbit cost CHF 298 million, according to the federal government. The purchase of the ADS-15 drone reconnaissance system for CHF 250 million was approved by Parliament in 2015.
The project was scheduled for completion in 2019, but was then postponed to 2026. Five drones have now arrived in Switzerland. However, they still do not meet the requirements that Switzerland places on unmanned flying objects.
All 17 top projects are being reviewed
The drone project is one of 17 ongoing top projects of the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). Federal Councillor Martin Pfister is now having all projects examined, as the Tamedia newspapers wrote on Saturday. The DDPS confirmed the plan to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Among the top projects is the purchase of 36 US F-35A fighter jets. Last week it became known that Switzerland and the USA had different views on the price. Switzerland is assuming a fixed price of six billion Swiss francs. The USA is claiming an additional 650 million to 1.3 billion dollars, as announced by the DDPS.
Other projects include airspace surveillance and ground-based air defense. Federal Councillor Martin Pfister created the "Planning, Controlling, Digitization and Security" department to oversee the top projects and appointed Robert Scheidegger as its head.
