Armasuisse Armasuisse is a federal agency of the Swiss Confederation . It is the procurement organization for armaments of Switzerland and is affiliated with the Federal Department of Defence , Civil Protection and Sport . Armasuisse employs around 750 people . It is responsible for research , development , evaluation , procurement , maintenance and liquidation of materials and construction of the Swiss Army . The budget was 217 million Swiss francs in 2006 . Chief of Armasuisse is Ulrich Appenzeller . The Armasuisse group covers many skills as a provider with a broad field of activity . This ranges from the evaluation , procurement , maintenance and liquidation of materials and systems for the Comprehensive Real Estate Management in VBS to ensuring scientific and technical services . Main clients and partners is the army . History . As a forerunner of the Armasuisse it was the War Technical Department , which was subordinated to the army top until the so - called Mirage Affair of 1964 took place . In the Mid - 1960s , it was named as a group for military services ( GRD ) a separate organizational unit , on a par with ( among others ) the group of general staff services . Since that time , the chief executive of the GRD is called Chief of Armament and is equivalent to the rank of a corps commander . In 1994 it has been renamed to Armor Group ( GR ) . In 2001 , the Federal Office of Topography of the group armor was assumed . Finally , in 2003 , the group was divided into RUAG armor ( with all maintenance and production operations of GR ) and armasuisse ( procurement and related technical and scientific bodies ) . Organization . The Armasuisse was divided by mid - 2008 in six areas of competence : The Federal structure was replaced by a competence structure in the fall of 2008 , see below management . The procurement consists of the areas of competence management and intelligence systems , land systems , aerospace systems , purchasing and cooperation . It is responsible for the active participation in the planning process of the customer , strategic procurement and sales management , the operational implementation of evaluation , acquisition , sale , disposal and the support of the use and maintenance phases . The main partner is the Defence sector , represented in particular by the Planning Staff of the Army and Armed Forces Logistics . The planning staff is responsible for the defense planning , formulated as the customer needs of the army and sets out the requirements . Armasuisse takes in the procurement procedure to implement the requirements of the purchaser from the army and administration . Science and Technology . The competence of science and technology of the VBS offers its technical and scientific achievements in four product categories : technology services for the Army systems ( eg , testing , analysis ) , risk analysis and safety concepts , quality management , and technology and research management . These include the technology monitoring , the implementation of research projects as well as national and international networking with universities , research , industry and multilateral research and development projects . S & T has a unique underground shooting channel . Services in the areas of ballistics , explosives diagnostics , electromagnetic compatibility , electronics and optronics are also available to private customers . Real Estate Management . The VBS has approximately 26 , 000 hectares and 26 , 000 objects and is one of the largest property owners in Switzerland . The area of competence of real estate Armasuisse , the real estate management of VBS ; perceives the representative of the owner and offers its services in two product groups : core and disposable inventory . The core component consists of the property , which requires the Army in the future to fulfill their tasks . Here achievements in the fields provided new construction and renovation , rental and operation . The disposable inventory includes buildings , which no longer needs by the VBS . Here , the recovery is sought ( sale , rental to others , dismantling ) . Federal Office of Topography ( swisstopo ) . The Federal Office of Topography ( Swisstopo ) as the competence + + of the Federal provides spatial reference data and derived products are of high quality ; introduces the basic geodetic and cadastral survey data as the basis in the national spatial data infrastructure and operates the coordination center for geographic information and geographic information systems . The National Spatial Data Infrastructure is established so that the digital data of various suppliers and users can be coordinated better and their economic benefit is increased further . Aircraft . From the group for armor Services ( GRD ) the flight tests branch Emmen became the aviatic part of Armasuisse . The Pilatus PC - 6 and PC - 12 wear this emblem that shows a fictional experimental aircraft before Mount Pilatus . The Armasuisse regularly conducts test flights for the Swiss Air Force . The test pilots of Armasuisse are also professional military pilots which are mostly used in military as militia pilots or pilots in the squadrons . All aircraft of the Air Force may be used by the Armasuisse . For the F / A - 18 , the F / A - 18C with the military registration J - 5001 is normally used for flights by the Armasuisse ( eg certification of the new version of the AIM - 9 missiles ) , but this airplane is also used for the professional military pilots for normal use in the Air Force uses . In addition , the Armasuisse has 3 of their very own aircraft which the Air Force also has access to if required : A Pilatus PC - 6 Porter with has a cockpit that is a more modern version than the PC - 6T of the Air Force . This machine is used as liaison aircraft , registered as civil HB - FCF . The Pilatus PC - 12 with the civil registration HB - FOG is used for transport and travel together with tasks to calibrate the FLORAKO radar system , the calibration of the Multifunctional Information Distribution System ( MIDS ) Link 16 and the aircraft radio survey . The Diamond DA42 Centaur OPA with the military Immmatrikulation R - 711 can be flown as a manned aircraft or as unmanned UAV . It is to develope methods for the mixed military operations of UAVs and manned military aircraft in a common mission and the integration of unmanned aircraft in civil aviation . In addition , this airplane can be used for liaison flights . Armasuisse also uses an Aurora ( a modification of a Diamond DA42MPP which can be flown both manned as well as unmanned ) . CEO Ulrich Appenzeller , Chief of Armament