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Military


Swiss Navy

Even if landlocked, Switzerland does have a small navy of sorts. Lakes Konstanz and Leman (Geneva) form international frontiers, and their navies consist of a few patrol craft. Switzerland also has a major Rhine commercial fleet, which military patrol craft in time of war. Both the navy and air force are branches of the army (like the infantry and artillery). Switzerland has its navy sailing on the various lakes like Constance (Bodensee), Leman (or Geneva but people outside of Geneva dislike this spelling), Brienz, Thun, 4 Cantons (Vierwaldstaettersee), Zug, Neuchatel, Biel/Bienne or Morat (Murten) to name a few. The Swiss "navy" consists of ten patrol boats on two lakes that form international borders (Constance and Leman). Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano form international borders with Italy. The shipping company for Lake Marriore is Italian and they seem to fly only the Italian flag. The shipping company for Lake Lugano is located in Switzerland and the square flag is flown there.

Patrouillenboot P-80 Patrouillenboot P-16

Whether in the air, on land or on water - the Swiss Army covers each of these elements. The knowledge about reconnaissance, protection and defense is concentrated on and around the element of water in the only company capable of doing so: Motorboat Company 10, which reports directly to the commanding officer of the Genie / Rescue / ABC teaching association.

Large parts of the Swiss border are bodies of water or run through bodies of water. In addition, almost all of the larger cities are located on bodies of water and they hold large events at regular intervals that have always required protection of the water. To support the civil blue light organizations, the company is very often called up for subsidiary missions.

Inland Switzerland not only has an army and an air force, but also a motorboat company. It consists of eleven "patrol boats 80" and 126 men. According to the Army's Master Plan 14, the fleet should already be abolished. Drones and five boats from the border guard were supposed to take over their duties. According to the new army message for 2016, the Swiss Navy should now continue to live and even be increased - thanks to funds that were released due to the Gripen No Vote.

«The replacement of the patrol boats 80 was shown in the master plan 14 as necessary, but not financially viable. The rejection of the Gripen freed up funds. This enabled other projects to be brought forward, such as new mortars and patrol boats, ”says VBS spokesman Renato Kalbermatten. 14 boats of the type "Watercat 1250 Patrol" are now to be acquired. Cost point: 49 million francs.

In order to do justice to these orders, the army has 14 Patrouillenboot P16 patrol boats with the motor boat company. The tasks that the company fulfills are:

  • Protection of border sections on waters;
  • Weather-independent monitoring of lakes and rivers;
  • Support of border guards and civilian police organizations in the context of subsidiary security missions. Limited military units and civilians can be transported;
  • General support for army troops in tasks on and on the water.

The motorboat company 10 monitored the border on Lake Lugano and Lake Geneva and Lake Constance with 11 Patrol Boat 80. The Patrouillenboot P-80 was made unsinkable with foam and is protected against total loss when it is full. The boat P-80 was built in Switzerland. In November 2013, Armasuisse invited the boat builders' association to an appointment on April 8, 2014. At the same time, managing director David Clavadetscher was presented with three projects of possible patrol boats to be procured abroad. During the conversation, it became clear that no Swiss shipyard could provide a comparable patrol boat for test drives. There is also a lack of experience in the field of integration of weapon systems. The armament of the more than 30-year-old patrol boat 80 is in no way comparable to the remote-controlled, stabilized weapon station.

If equipment such as machine guns and thermal imaging cameras had to be carried separately in the previous boat, the P 80, they are now integrated in the boat. This means that everything can be controlled from the protected cabin. Mattle: "The P 16 may not have many new functions, but it is very modern." In contrast to the fighter jet, the purchase of 14 new boats, which cost 49 million Swiss francs, was clear. Only the manufacturer had initially given us something to talk about: Because no shipyard in Switzerland could provide a model for test drives, the order was placed with the Finnish marine Alutech Oy Ab - with the condition that some of the boats were built in Switzerland could be. Six units were assembled in Finland and fully equipped in Switzerland. Shiptec AG in Lucerne assembled eight boats on the basis of a delivered shell.

The Swiss Navy is deployed in the areas of surveillance, intelligence gathering, patrol activities and rescuing people, and of course it should also fend off enemy attacks on the waterway. In recent years, it has been used repeatedly at major events, such as the G-7 summit in Evian (F) and the Frankofonie summit in Montreux VD.