Introduction
How is the Military in Switzerland and how does it work to maintain Sucity and fight terrorism? In terms of Military and security forces, we have the Swiss Armed Forces (aka Swiss Army or Schweizer Armee); Army (aka Land Forces), Swiss Air Force (2025).
In Switzerland, the Swiss military is responsible for territorial defense, limited support to international disaster response and peacekeeping, and providing support to civil authorities when their resources are not sufficient to ward off threats to internal security or provide sufficient relief during disasters; Switzerland has long maintained a policy of military neutrality but does periodically participate in EU, NATO, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and UN military and peacekeeping operations; however, Swiss units will only participate in operations under the mandate of the UN or OSCE; Switzerland joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1996; it has contributed to the NATO-led force in Kosovo (KFOR) since 1999 (2025)
Security and military information of Switzerland
Military and security service personnel strengths approximately 145,000 Swiss Armed Forces (2024)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically produced and imported European and US weapons systems; the Swiss defense industry produces a range of military land vehicles (2025)
Military service age and obligation every Swiss man 18-30 is obligated to serve in the military or the alternative civilian service; women can serve on a voluntary basis; required military service is 245 days, including 18-21 weeks of basic training generally between the ages of 19-25, followed by six three-week recalls for refresher training over the following nine years; the system offers opportunities for conscripts to train as non-commissioned and commissioned officers in the militia with longer service commitments (2026). note: alternative civilian service is up to 370 days or 1.5x as many days as military service
Military deployments 200 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2025).
Military expenditures
Military Expenditures 2024 0.7% of GDP (2024 est.)
Military Expenditures 2023 0.7% of GDP (2023 est.)
Military Expenditures 2022 0.7% of GDP (2022 est.)
Military Expenditures 2021 0.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
Military Expenditures 2020 0.7% of GDP (2020 est.)
Terrorism
In Switzerland, the different Terrorist group(s) inlcude: Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)
All Important Facts about Switzerland

Want to know more about Switzerland? Check all different factbooks for Switzerland below.

Switzerland is found in Western Europe