The Swiss Armed Forces (German: Schweizer Armee; French: Armée suisse; Italian: Esercito svizzero; Romansh: Armada svizra; lit.

Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are conscripts or volunteers aged 19 to 34 (in some cases up to 50).

Because of Switzerland's long history of neutrality, the Swiss Armed Forces have not been involved in foreign wars since the early 19th century, but do participate in international peacekeeping missions.

Paragraph 18 declared the "obligation" of every Swiss citizen to serve in the federal army if conscripted (Wehrpflicht), setting its size at 3% of the population plus a reserve of one and one half that number, amounting to a total force of some 80,000.

[citation needed] Prior to the revised constitution, Jews in Switzerland were excluded from the army, with various exceptions and special conditions through the years.

From 1852 onwards, Jews served in the army like other Swiss citizens, and the constitution of 1874 removed all remaining discriminatory measures.

[8][9] A major manoeuvre commanded in 1912 by Ulrich Wille, a reputed Germanophile, convinced visiting European heads of state, in particular Kaiser Wilhelm II, of the efficacy and determination of Swiss defences.

This incident long damaged the army's reputation, leading to persistent calls for its abolition among left-wing politicians.

Article 58.1 of the 1999 constitution repeats that the army is "in principle" organized as a militia, implicitly allowing a small number of professional soldiers.

[17] As of 1 March 2017, the Swiss Armed Forces consist of 120,496 people on active duty (in Switzerland called Angehöriger der Armee, shortly AdA, engl.

[19] After the completion of NCO training, individuals are promoted to sergeant and integrated into platoons at recruit schools as squad leaders (Gruppenchefs, Chefs de Groupe, Capogruppi).

Officer candidates complete a 15-week course to prepare them for their role as platoon leaders (Zugführer, Chef de section, Caposezione), which traditionally culminates in a march covering 100 kilometres (62 mi) in 24 hours.

[21] Switzerland has mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens, who are conscripted when they reach the age of majority,[22] though women may volunteer for any position.

[26] Conscripts found to be sufficiently unfit for regular military service, but not for exemption, take part in civil protection, where they may be called on to assist the police, fire or health departments, as well as natural disaster relief and crowd control during demonstrations or events with large attendance.

[27] Almost 20% of all conscripts were found unfit for military or civilian service in 2008; the rate is generally higher in urban cantons such as Zurich and Geneva than in rural ones.

In times of crisis or war, the Federal Assembly elects a full General (OF-9) as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (Oberbefehlshaber der Armee).

The rank is distinct and particular, as it is associated exclusively with wartime fighting or a national crisis due to war among Switzerland's neighbouring countries.

Previously, the Swiss Air Force did not maintain 24/7 operational readiness status in peacetime, owing to the limited budget and staff available.

The Swiss Air Force worked on extending the operational times in 2016, aiming to be maintaining readiness for two armed jet fighters round-the-clock by 2020.

[38][39] The difficulty of defending Swiss airspace is illustrated by the mountainous character and the small size of the country; the maximum extension of Switzerland is 348 km, a distance that can be flown in a little over 20 minutes by commercial aircraft.

The Onyx system was launched in 2000 in order to monitor both civil and military communications, such as telephone, fax or Internet traffic carried by satellite.

The Swiss government did not officially confirm the existence of the report, but started a judiciary procedure for leakage of secret documents against the newspaper on 9 January 2006.

[41] The maritime branch of the Army maintains a flotilla of military patrol boats to secure several sizeable lakes that span Switzerland's borders.

These boats were upgraded in 1964, notably receiving radars, radios, and modern armament and were kept in service into the 1980s, the last being decommissioned in late 1983.

After World War II, Switzerland began building homes with 40 cm-thick concrete ceilings that might survive firebombing of the type that destroyed Hamburg and Dresden.

In the 1960s they began constructing radiation and blast shelters that could survive one to three bars (100–300 kPa) of pressure from a nuclear explosion.

They include underground air bases that are adjacent to normal runways; the aircraft, crew and supporting material are housed in the caverns.

During the Cold War the military expected that any invasion would likely come from the northeast, as the Soviet Union associated the country with NATO despite its stated neutrality.

[49] Switzerland is part of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), which was created to monitor the armistice between North and South Korea.

Since the responsibilities of the NNSC have been much reduced over the past few years, only five people are still part of the Swiss delegation, which is located near the Korean DMZ.