Austrian Armed Forces: Land Forces, Air Forces, Cyber Forces, Special Forces (2021)
Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
registration requirement at age 17, the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory military service (6 months), or optionally, alternative civil/community service (9 months); males 18 to 50 years old in the militia or inactive reserve are subject to compulsory service; in a January 2012 referendum, a majority of Austrians voted in favor of retaining the system of compulsory military service (with the option of alternative/non-military service) instead of switching to a professional army system (2015)
18-30 years of age generally for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; every Swiss male has to serve at least 245 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by six 19-day intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
0.7% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.7% of GDP (2019)
0.7% of GDP (2018)
0.8% of GDP (2017)
0.7% of GDP (2016)
0.7% of GDP (2019)
0.7% of GDP (2018)
0.7% of GDP (2017)
0.7% of GDP (2016)
0.7% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the Austrian Armed Forces have approximately 23,000 total active duty personnel (13,000 Land Forces; 2,500 Air Force; 7,500 other, support forces) (2021)
the Swiss Armed Forces maintain a full-time professional cadre of about 4,000 personnel along with approximately 20,000 conscripts brought in annually for 18-23 weeks of training; approximately 120,000 reserve forces (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the Austrian military's inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons systems from European countries and the US; since 2010, Germany and Italy are the leading suppliers of armaments to Austria; the Austrian defense industry produces a range of equipment and partners with other countries (2020)
the Swiss Armed Forces inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons systems; the US is the leading supplier of military armaments to Switzerland since 2010; the Swiss defense industry produces a range of military land vehicles (2020)
