Equipment of the Swiss Armed Forces

This is a list of weapons, vehicles and aircraft used by the Swiss Armed Forces at present or in the past.

Small arms

The Stgw 90 standard service rifle fitted with an underslung 40 mm GL 5040 grenade launcher.

8.6mm Scharfschützengewehr 04 sniper rifle

PGM Hecate II heavy sniper rifle

LMG 05, FN Minimi

Weapons marked in bold are considered personal equipment of the soldier, who is responsible for their well-functioning and must keep them at home until the end of the military service (unless living near an external border of Switzerland).^[1] Between brackets is the number of such weapons in personal equipment as of 31 January 2009.^[2] Swiss Army knives are also issued, but are not considered weapons.

Individual weapons

• Sturmgewehr 90 assault rifle (200,000)
• Sturmgewehr 57 battle rifle (2,000)
• Pistole 75 semi-automatic pistol (30,000)
• Pistole 49 semi-automatic pistol (1,000)
• Pistole 03 semi-automatic pistol (Military Police)
• Glock semi-automatic pistol (Swiss Grenadiers, ARD 10, FSK-17)
• FN Minimi
• Heckler & Koch MP5 submachinegun
• Brügger & Thomet MP9 machine pistol
• Tuma MTE 224 VA machine pistol
• Remington 870 multipurpose shotgun (known as Mehrzweckgewehr 91)
• Sako TRG-42 8.6 mm anti-personnel sniper rifle (Scharfschützengewehr 04)
• PGM Hecate II 12.7 mm anti-materiel heavy sniper rifle (Präzisionsgewehr 04)

Crew served weapons

• MG51 machine gun
• MG 710 machine gun / MG55 (still stocked, but neither trained on nor used in rep courses; same as MG3)

Other weapons

• Gewehraufsatz 97 40mm grenade launcher (mounted under "Sturmgewehr 90" assault rifle for grenadiers and fusiliers)
• HG 85 hand grenade
• Panzerfaust 3 shoulder-launched recoilless anti-tank weapon
• M47 Dragon anti-tank guided rocket (being phased out without replacement due to cost-intensive maintenance)

Vehicles

Tanks

Image	Name	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Entered service	WFU	Notes
	Renault FT	France	Light Tank	II	5	1921	1944
	Vickers Carden Loyd	United Kingdom	Tank	I, 33, 34, 35	8	1931	1948
	Landsverk 60	Sweden	Tank		1	1936	?	Test
	Panzer39	Czechoslovakia	Tank	LTL-H	24	1939	1950
	Renault R35	France	Light Tank		12	1940	?	Test
	Nahkampfkanone 1	Switzerland	Tankhunter		1	1944	1947	Test
	Nahkampfkanone 2 Gustav	Switzerland	Tankhunter		1	1946	1947	Test
	Cruiser tank	United Kingdom	Tank	RAM Mk.II	2	1947	1968	Test
	Panzerjäger G 13	Germany	Tankhunter	G13	158	1947	1973
	AMX-13	France	Light Tank		200	1954	1980
	M47 Patton	United States	Medium Tank	M Pz M47	2	1952	1954	Test
	Panzer 55 Centurion	United Kingdom	Tank	PZ55 Mk3	100	1955	1991
			Tank	Pz55 Mk5	100	1955	1991	From South Africa
			Tank	Pz57 Mk7	100	1957	1991
Tank	Pz67 Mk12	12	1975	1991	From Canada
	Entpannungspanzer56	United Kingdom	Recoverytank	Entp Pz 56	30	1956	1991	19 sold 1991 to Sweden.
	brückenpanzer 55 Centurion	United Kingdom	Bridgelayer	Brü Pz	2	1963	1966	Test
	Panzer 58	Switzerland	Medium tank	MPz 58	12	1958	1964
	Panzer 61	Switzerland	Medium tank	Pz61	150	1964	1994
	Panzer 68	Switzerland	Tank	Pz68 1Serie	170	1971	1999	all upgradet to AA3.
			Tank	Pz68AA2	50	1974	2003
			Tank	Pz68/75	170	1978	2003
			Tank	Pz68 AA5	220	1988	1999
Tank	Pz68/88	195	1993	2003
	Entpannungspanzer 65	Switzerland	recovery	Entp Pz65	69	1970	2008
	Brückenpanzer 68	Switzerland	Bridgelayer	Brü Pz68	30	1974	2005
	Panzerkanone 68	Switzerland	Self prop howitze	Pz Kan 68	4	1972	1975	Test
	Fliegerabwehrpanzer 68	Switzerland	AAA	B22L	2	1979	1980	Test
	Zielfahrzeug 68	Switzerland	training Target		10	1974	2007
	Mowag Shark	Switzerland	misc		3	1981	1981	Test:APC, Tank, AAA, Anti Tank
	Mowag PiranhaIIIC 10x10	Switzerland	misc	IIC 10x10	1	1994	1994	Test
	M109 howitzer Panzerhaubitze 66	United States	Howitze	M109 KAWEST	577	1974
	Leopard 2 Panzer87, Pz87 WE	Germany	Tank	A4	380	1987		Reduced to 224, 134 Upgrade to Pz87WE.
	Leopard 2 Driving trainer	Germany	trainer		3	1988	2002
	Leopard Büffel	Germany	recovery	BPz3	25	2004
	Leopard Kodiak	Germany  Switzerland	Pionier	SKodiak	12	2010

Light armored vehicles

Image	Name	Origin	Notes
	Universal Carrier	United Kingdom	Was in use
	MOWAG Scorpion	Switzerland	Tested
	Mowag Pirat	Switzerland	Test,lost against M113
	Saurer Tartaruga	Switzerland	Test,lost against M113
	M113	United States	In use
	M548	United States	In use
	Mowag armored dummy	Switzerland	Was in use
	Mowag Puma	Switzerland	Tested
	Mowag Shark	Switzerland	Tested
	Mowag Piranha 8x8	Switzerland	500 in service
	Mowag Piranha 6x6	Switzerland	100 in service
	Mowag Piranha 10x10	Switzerland	Tested
	Mowag Eagle	Switzerland	300 in service
	DURO III	Switzerland	290 in service
	DURO GMTF	Switzerland	230 in service
	Mowag Trojan	Switzerland	After delay of order production cancelled
	CV9030CH	Sweden	200 in service

Source: Swiss Armed Forces: Land forces weapon systems (p. 12)^[3]

Aircraft

References

1. "Ordonnance concernant l'équipement personnel des militaires" (in French). Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
2. "Persönliche Ausrüstung-Waffen" (in German). Logistic Base of the Army. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
3. "The basic organisation of the Swiss Armed Forces" (PDF). Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports. Retrieved 12 July 2009.

• Betriebsanleitung Entpannungspanzer 65 (1972) K + W (Hrsg.): Entpannungspanzer 65 Betriebsanleitung. Nur für den dienstlichen Gebrauch. Auflage von 1972. K + W (Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätten) - Thun(Entpannungspanzer 65 Operating Instructions. Only for official use. Edition of 1972. K + W (Swiss design workshops) - Thun)
• Book Urs Heller: Die Panzer der schweizer Armee von 1920 bis 2008
• Military Museum Full AG Switzerland