In case of nuclear war, the Swiss have bunkers capable of fitting 100% of the country’s population.
In case of war, highways can be converted into landing-and-takeoff runways by quickly removing the grade separations.
Swiss army pilots never go to supersonic speeds during training. Because Switzerland is so small, it’s impossible not to violate the border of another country while flying so fast.
They now have an agreement with France that allows them to fly into France and back in order to go supersonic.
If the Swiss want to block off the country, they can do it with very few soldiers, because the tunnels and many highways have steel tubes that can be raised at the touch of a button to block access. Trees that were planted long ago, in the event of invasion, would be cut to land across roadways, making roads impassable.
Also, in the event of war, the country can be rendered impassable by armoured vehicles in less than one hour. All bridges have bomb boxes, and all direction and distance signs (e.g., Geneva 50 km that way) can be dropped from sign posts with a central switch. Some mountains contain massive military bases and foothills are hollowed out for hangars and tank bunkers.
Marshall Eubanks says he was driving in Switzerland once, years ago, and saw a fighter jet taxi out of a mountainside and take off. His understanding is that these underground airforce bases are now used for storing records and other valuables.
From a former Swiss air force pilot having been in the first formation of four Venoms doing a first landing on a Swiss highway in 1970: Marshall Eubanks’ observation is a little too optimistic, but not far off. Some wishful thinking over the top in the text but basically in the right direction. And supersonic flying took place outside Swiss airspace, and still does. BTW: Flying airliners into the then Soviet Union was interesting in that the inefficiency of that system was blatantly obvious when using their civilian airspace management… And seeing Chinese ‘underground facilities’ to protect the population in… Read more »