If Switzerland displays its neutrality, this does not prevent the country from having an army and even from wanting to strengthen its military capabilities to protect its territory.
In June, the country's air forces will carry out a somewhat special military exercise.
In the canton of Vaud (Switzerland), a section of the A1 motorway will be closed to allow the air forces to check their defense system by taking off and landing F/A-18 type combat aircraft on this axis.
Due to its size, the country faces a strategic problem.
In addition to the sites of Dübendorf, Alpnach and Locarno, intended for the transport of military personnel, the air forces currently have only three bases from which combat aircraft can take off: Payerne, Emmen and Meiringen.
A simulated French attack in 2013
“Air force assets are thus concentrated on a limited number of sites, which makes them vulnerable to long-range weapon systems,” explains the army, adding: “The protection of airspace constitutes, in this deteriorating security context in Europe, a key element of defense capacity.
The air forces must also have the possibility of engaging their assets from other sites, or even, depending on the circumstances.
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For several years, the air forces have been training to distribute troops and equipment throughout the country in a very short time.
They had already carried out comparable tests in the 1970s and 1980s with Hunter and F5-Tiger type combat aircraft on sections of highway located in the Plateau region.
Regularly, the general staff in Switzerland overflows with imagination for its military exercises.
In 2012, the Swiss army had imagined, in its military exercise, a Europe plunged into chaos by the fall of the euro and a massive influx of refugees into the small Swiss Confederation.
This simulation went around the world, causing talk even in the American press.
The following year, the army simulated for its armored brigades in French-speaking Switzerland nothing less than a French attack against the Confederation.