Focus on research: Annual reporting on research programmes “Unmanned Systems/Robotics” and “Space”
Last Tuesday, 13 May 2025, armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) welcomed internal DDPS employees to the annual reporting of the research programmes “Unmanned systems/robotics” and “Space”. The two research programme directors Dr Markus Höpflinger and Dr Peter Erni presented current research activities, results and ongoing projects to an interested audience.
Moana Häfeli, Strategic Staff, armasuisse Science and Technology
In brief
The goal of the annual reporting events of armasuisse Science and Technology’s (S+T) research programmes is to grant interested internal employees at the DDPS a look behind the scenes of the research programmes. This framework not only offers broad insights into various different fields of work and ongoing projects, but also a useful opportunity for the open exchange of ideas. The event thus encourages the mutual exchange of knowledge and strengthens cooperation internally in the DDPS.
The research programmes “Unmanned systems/robotics” and “Space” also generated lively interest amongst the internal employees of the DDPS. Last week, around 100 interested participants gathered for the second meeting of the year at the internal DDPS event in Thun.
On the verge of a robotics revolution
At the start, Dr Markus Höpflinger, research programme director of “Unmanned systems/robotics” spoke about the current situation of the research programme. Rapid technological developments, in particular in the fields of artificial intelligence, directly influence robotics. “What we can see today on the civilian market is already the technology of yesterday”, said Dr Markus Höpflinger. As a result, the use of these technologies in the military market is delayed even further by additional requirements. One particular challenge is therefore to be able to assess such technologies before they are launched on the market – and it is precisely here that the field of activity of the research programme comes into play. The main focus is on knowledge building, to subsequently incorporate the resulting findings into both innovation and procurement. The field of activity of the research programme “Unmanned systems/robotics” extends over five fields of competence, which Dr Markus Höpflinger briefly described. In addition to the fields of competence, a further main focus was on specific projects with unmanned aircraft and ground vehicles, which illustrated the duration of the development process from the requirement notification to the first demonstrator and enabled a fascinating insight into current research activities and projects. In conclusion, the research programme director underscored, in a brief summary, the future disruptive significance of robotics in the air, on the ground, and in the water. However, upcoming technological trends and developments such as autonomous weapons systems, swarming and humanoid robots at the same time also always present a threat and should not be underestimated, emphasised Dr Markus Höpflinger.
In the subsequent presentation, Dr Markus Christen from the University of Zurich provided insights into the ongoing cooperation with armasuisse Science and Technology. In the cooperation, the topic area of autonomous systems was examined from the perspectives of social science, psychological and legal aspects. Through literature, surveys and experimental studies, researchers are examining questions on trust and responsibility in the area of autonomous systems. Prof. Dr David Floreano from EPFL then presented his research activities around the topic of autonomous drone swarms and drone swarms that interact with humans. His research interest concerns finding out how humans can control a drone swarm in real time and obtain information.
As the final item on the programme, Kai Holtmann, Managing Director of the Taskforce Drones, gave those present a brief introduction to the project Taskforce Drones. The project was launched in 2024 in view of the exponential technological development and the increasing significance of drones in modern conflict. The focus is on strengthening the Security-relevant Technology and Industry Base (STIB), while involving industry and academia, and building skills in the area of (attack) drones and their production. In the process, the Taskforce Drones pursues two clear goals – to deliver drones and additional drone expertise quickly to the Swiss Armed Forces and to manufacture drones in Switzerland where possible, or to minimise dependencies on international supply chains. To this end, the Taskforce Drones is working with the four focus topics “improvised attack drone”, “carrier platform”, “swarming” and “Swiss multi-use drone”.
Space is a must have
In his introduction to the research reporting “Space”, research programme director Dr Peter Erni underlined the increasing importance of outer space for military applications. Switzerland has a special opportunity in the increasing commercialisation of astronautics, also called New Space. Once primarily financed by public funds, astronautics has developed today into a commercial business. This opens up the possibility of building up operational skills in various segments. For example, in satellite-based reconnaissance or communications.
After the introduction to the research programme “Space”, three speakers presented their work concerning ELINT with space-based sensors in the first topic block of the afternoon. First of all, Jonathan Magnin, a doctoral student at EPFL, presented his initial findings from his thesis to those present. It deals with the geolocalisation of transmitters on the ground via an individual satellite. Following on from this, Mathias Burkhalter from Beyond Gravity reported from the field on how ELINT load capacities can be integrated and operated on satellites. The last presentation of the topic block was given by Jean-Pierre Heurteau from the company APCO Technologies. He demonstrated how a SAR satellite can be extended with a secondary ELINT load capacity.
Bastien Gorret from ClearSpace then opened the second topic block on the operational picture of outer space or Space Situational Awareness (SSA) with space-based sensors. The determination of orbital data with ground-based sensors is more efficient. However, satellite-based Space Situational Awareness sensors offer various advantages in imaging procedures. In the following presentation, Roger Spinner from s2a Systems spoke about Space Situational Awareness with ground-based sensors. The focus here was on optical daily observations and the resulting consequences for the sensor network. The final statements of the day came in the form of a comprehensive review of satellite communications (SATCOM) from Dr Raphael Rolny of armasuisse Science and Technology and Marcel Häberli from Eraneos. The two presenters explained the opportunities and challenges of SATCOM to those present.
Conclusion and outlook
At this point, armasuisse Science and Technology took the opportunity to thank all the speakers on behalf of all participants as well as for the lively interest and valuable, open, exchange of ideas.