The sky is darkening for the Swiss army. The new reconnaissance drones of the great mute are blind. Purchased from Israel and supposed to be put into service in 2019, the devices still do not work. According to an investigation by German-speaking public television SRF, the problem comes from GPS, in particular the in-flight obstacle avoidance system.
In times of war, Swiss army drones should deliver information. In peacetime, they are supposed to monitor migration at our borders. But these flying devices are caught in turbulence, reveals a SRF investigation.
German-speaking public television got its hands on a communication from the Finance Delegation addressed, just before Christmas, to Federal Councilor Viola Amherd.
The document alerted the Minister of Defense to the non-functioning of the in-flight obstacle avoidance system of the Swiss army’s new drones, the Israeli Hermes 900 HFE drones (the “ADS 15” – for Reconnaissance drone system 2015) – supposed to replace the old Ranger ADS 95 drones, decommissioned in 2019.
Consequence of this technical defect: drones could, for example, easily hit birds, or even paragliders.
“We were probably too gullible”
The fault would lie with the Israeli manufacturer, but also with the Swiss army. “At the beginning, we were probably too gullible about the fact that everything would go well,” said Urs Loher, boss of Armasuisse, at the 7:30 p.m. radio station on RTS.
The man spent his holidays negotiating with the Swiss company Ruag to avoid any additional costs, and above all to find a technical solution to this failure.
“If it were not possible (to find a technical solution) – which we do not suppose, because we have commissioned an external study which confirms that it is feasible – then the drones would need a support vehicle in uncontrolled airspace”, explains Urs Loher. That is to say that the drone would be assisted by “a helicopter or a plane”, confirms the boss of Armasuisse.
“Totally absurd”
Mauro Tuena, Zurich UDC national councilor, is scandalized by the situation. “It’s totally absurd. I can’t believe my eyes,” he says at the RTS microphone.
“It’s still an amount of 300 million francs. Parliament approved it. There were specifications. (…) And now, we always hear that it doesn’t work , that it doesn’t work, that it isn’t operational,” the MP protests.
Worse still, the account is not there. Switzerland had ordered six drones. She only received four. While they were expected to be fully operational in 2019, they will probably not be, if all goes well, until 2029.
TV subject: Thierry Clémence
Adaptation web: Julien Furrer
