The 2015 Armaments Dispatch requested procurement of a new reconnaissance drone system (ADS 15) for the Swiss Air Force, and this was subsequently initiated. Reconnaissance drone system 15 (ADS 15) from the Israeli firm Elbit is a modern, high-performance system that will replace the ageing and now decommissioned ADS 95 system and give the Air Force unprecedented operational abilities.

With the first two ADS 15s having arrived and successfully completed test flights and certification flights now under way with the armasuisse flight testing team in Emmen, the time had come for a presentation on the ground and in the air.

About a dozen professionals from national and international media were present and had the opportunity to view the ADS 15 from all angles and close up.

They also saw the ADS fly past and then land and taxi on the tarmac. armasuisse project manager Tobias Burch and Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Böhm, in charge of introducing the ADS 15, also spoke to those present and answered their questions.

Once flight testing and authorisation by the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) have been completed, the two drones will be transferred to the Air Force during the second half of 2022. The remaining four drones will follow by the end of 2023.