Swiss soldiers to train on foreign soil for first time in 20 years

Switzerland plans a rare exercise involving army boots on foreign soil. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Swiss soldiers are scheduled to train in urban warfare in Austria as early as next year, army chief Thomas Süssli told Swiss public broadcaster Radio SRF. 

The Federal Council and the Army would like to intensify cooperation with NATO and partner countries. Now the plans are becoming concrete: for the first time since 2003, the army wants to hold an exercise with Swiss ground troops abroad. 

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“If you want to defend, you have to train for it,” Süssli told SRF. “We need a place where you can conduct combined arms combat at battalion level or higher.” At Swiss weapons ranges it is not possible to train combat in built-up areas on this scale. However, such training facilities are available abroad. 

The Swiss Army has already trained together with German and Austrian soldiers at the Allentsteig military training area in Lower Austria in the mid-1990s. Now the army wants to train again in Allentsteig in 2025. This with a battalion size of around 1,000 soldiers. The corresponding planning is underway, confirms Süssli. 

According to current law, the Swiss Army is not allowed to require its soldiers to take repeat courses abroad. With the 1,000 soldiers for the exercise in Austria, the army is dependent on volunteers. According to Süssli, the corresponding call to the troops will be made soon. 

In a current report to parliament, the Federal Council advocates that larger training areas like those abroad be created in Switzerland. According to the army chief, the infantry needs an area of one to two kilometres in order to be able to train combat in built-up areas.  

Süssli mentions the expansion of existing weapons ranges as an option. “Another possibility would be to build such a facility in a mountain valley.” 

As research by Radio SRF showed this week, the army will lack a total of over a billion francs in the next few years to meet bills for armaments purchases that have already been made.  

When asked how the construction of such a training facility would be financed, Süssli said: As a first step, the army is investing CHF13 billion to rebuild Switzerland’s defense capability. “There is also a part intended for training. In the end it’s a question of prioritisation.”

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