The Armed Forces telecommunications (TC A) key project aims to modernise the Swiss Armed Forces’ communications infrastructure. By 2035, it is intended to replace the telecommunications equipment in the Armed Forces’ system network. Six procurement phases are planned for TC A, with a total investment and personnel expenditure of around CHF 1,920 million. As of 30 June 2025, total costs of around CHF 543.8 million had been incurred.
TC A includes, among other things, the active sub-projects “Mobile Communications Replacement” (EmK)and “Integrated Military Telecommunications System Replacement” (Ersa IMFS). In the EmK project, quality problems and delivery difficulties have led to new planning and potentially higher costs, provided that the current quantity structure is maintained. At the same time, the drafting of the procurement contract for the Ersa IMFS project has been delayed. Due to the delays and additional costs, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined whether the contracts and the associated steering instruments were appropriately designed. The contract volume with the supplier Elbit amounts to CHF 377 million including VAT, while the awarded contract sum with RUAG MRO Holding AG (RUAG MRO) for Ersa IMFS amounts to around CHF 81.1 million; the framework agreement for Ersa IMFS was ultimately concluded with a defined cost ceiling of CHF 78.5 million.
The audit showed that the steering instruments for the contracts in the PMC project have been improved. However, challenges with the supplier remain, resulting in fundamental uncertainties regarding performance, deadlines and costs. The upcoming acceptance tests should provide clarity in this regard and form the basis for the next steps. In the Ersa IMFS project, armasuisse and the Cyber Command are continuing to work on finalising the procurement contract. The outstanding issues relating to the transition to an agile approach and collaboration with RUAG MRO need to be clarified as a matter of urgency. If it is not possible to stabilise relations in the long term, further delays and additional costs cannot be ruled out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","audit_category":[38,177],"audit_type":[51],"class_list":["post-43094","audit","type-audit","status-publish","hentry","audit_category-defence-and-armed-forces","audit_category-it-projects","audit_type-audit"],"acf":{"audit_lang":null,"audit_numbers":[{"audit_number":"25132"}],"audit_office":[22339],"audit_office_text":"","audit_date":"20260225","bgo":false,"keywords":"","audit_office_local":"Defence G"},"yoast_head":"\n