Swiss Armed Forces

At its meeting on 5 December, the Federal Council appointed Daniel Frutig-Meier as chairman of the Board of Directors of RUAG International, the parent company of Beyond Gravity. He will first join the Board of Directors as a regular member in January 2026 and will take up his position as chairman of the Board of Directors at the 2026 Annual General Meeting.

The Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse has completed the evaluation for a new service pistol and selected a type. The model SIG Sauer P320 has been selected as the new pistol. The manufacturer has assured that production will be set up in Switzerland. This complies with the Armament Policy Strategy of the Federal Council to retain and set up security-relevant industrial capabilities in Switzerland.

The Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have launched the “A-VIPER” research project. It is based on the existing framework agreement between the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and the US Department of Defense (DoD). The aim of the project is to further develop the automated identification, analysis and prioritisation of software vulnerabilities in security-critical systems.

A panel of experts has selected the three best proposals for the environmentally sound and safe recovery of ammunition from Swiss lakes. The proposals provide important approaches for further investigation; however, there are no plans to actually recover the ammunition, provided that the monitoring efforts continue to show that the ammunition is not having any negative effects on the environment.

Federal Councillor Martin Pfister, Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, will visit Florennes Air Base in Belgium on 1 December. He will be accompanied by 12 members of the National CounciI and the Council of States. The purpose of the visit is to learn about the operational experience of the Belgian Air Force with the F-35A fighter jet. Mr Pfister will also attend the Swiss Defence Industry Day in Brussels with the aim of promoting Switzerland as an attractive location for the defence industry and raising the international profile of its technological expertise. While in Brussels, Mr Pfister will also meet NATO's secretary general, Mark Rutte.