SIG Sauer P320: New pistol for the Swiss Armed Forces from domestic production
Bern, 04.12.2025 — The Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse has completed the evaluation for a new service pistol and selected a type. The model SIG Sauer P320 has been selected as the new pistol. The manufacturer has assured that production will be set up in Switzerland. This complies with the Armament Policy Strategy of the Federal Council to retain and set up security-relevant industrial capabilities in Switzerland.
Procurement of a new service pistol as part of the project 9mm Pistol CH A NG (Swiss Armed Forces New Generation) as the successor model to the Pistol 75 aims to equip the Swiss Armed Forces with a modern and reliable weapon system which will be available in the long term.
From the pre-evaluation to the shortlist
Based on military requirements, armasuisse invited several bidders to submit their documents. An expert team of specialists from armasuisse and the Armed Forces then assessed five potential candidates as part of the pre-evaluation process. Pistols from three manufacturers were selected for the subsequent in-depth examination in 2024: Glock G45 Gen 5, Heckler & Koch SFP9 and SIG Sauer P320.
Evaluation of the shortlist
All three weapons were subjected to intensive and comprehensive technical testing, a field trial and the review of logistical aspects. Special attention was paid to the safe handling of the pistols. The tests showed that only the Glock G45 met all the mandatory criteria and was classified as suitable for use by the troops.
However, an overall arms policy and economic assessment revealed substantial advantages of the model SIG Sauer P320 in relevant areas. In addition, the cost-benefit analysis showed that although the evaluated weapon systems are almost equal in terms of overall benefit, they differ considerably with regard to the overall costs.
SIG Sauer P320 as best solution
The economic assessment of all weapon systems clearly showed that the SIG Sauer P320 would generate the lowest overall costs over the planned useful life of 30 years. The life cycle costs identified by the evaluation report demonstrate clear cost leadership compared with the two competing systems.
SIG Sauer has guaranteed that it will relocate essential elements of production to Switzerland and thus develop and consolidate the location Switzerland.
The SIG Sauer P320 is in use in large numbers in domestic and foreign armies, governmental and police authorities and is a tried-and-tested weapon system. As part of technical testing, a ecognizedd and ecognized test protocol was used and the SIG Sauer P320 complied with all security-relevant aspects in the tests.
The potential improvements identified with the SIG Sauer P320, that led to non-compliance with a technical requirement and to non-classification as suitable for use by the troops, were subjected to an in-depth analysis.
This analysis showed that these were requalifiable adjustments attributable to aspects that can be resolved constructively, such as ergonomics and robustness of components.
The technical rectifications lie within realistic parameters and have been bindingly guaranteed by SIG Sauer. As part of the setup of production in Switzerland, the potential improvements identified will be implemented and requalified. With these measures, the P320 is deemed ready for procurement in the Materiel Ordinance.
The compliance with requirements will be checked by means of a further qualification and is a precondition for the procurement contract.
Requirements and procurement
The requirements of the Swiss Armed Forces regarding a new service pistol is for 140,000 weapons. The first lot of 50,000 models is to be requested for procurement with Armed Forces Dispatch 26. A mid-range double-digit million amount is set for the procurement according to the current budget. In addition to the service pistols, further operational material such as additional magazines or holsters as well as training material such as documentation and non-shootable “dummy” pistols is planned.
Procurement is consistent with the Armament Policy Strategy
The Armament Policy Strategy resolved by the Federal Council of 25 June 2025 places strong emphasis on increasing the national security of supply, protecting critical supply chains, maintaining and developing security-relevant industrial capabilities as well as on the technological autonomy of Switzerland. SIG Sauer fulfils these goals to a large extent, as the company plans an almost complete domestic production of the P320, thus enabling a stable, geopolitically independent production and supply line.
SIG P320 to replace Pistol 75
The new SIG Sauer P320 is to replace the previous standard pistol of the Swiss Armed Forces. The SIG P220 (Pistol 75) was introduced around 50 years ago and since then has been used in large numbers.
