Around a thousand WK soldiers receive marching orders to Austria
Keystone-SDA
Around a thousand members of the Swiss armed forces will head to Austria in April for a refresher course. They will join their Austrian and German counterparts at the Allentsteig military training area in April.
The Swiss Armed Forces are testing their “Future of Ground Forces” concept with an overseas troop exercise called “TRIAS” from April 14 to May 9, according to a statement from the defence ministry on Thursday. This kind of exercise is not possible on Swiss soil due to high levels of urbanisation and lack of suitable large open spaces.
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At the heart of “TRIAS 25” is the Mechanised Battalion 14 from the Army’s Mechanised Brigade 11. The battalion will be reinforced by forces and specialists from all parts of the army in order to ensure the autonomous functioning of the unit, according to the statement.
In addition to the team, various types of vehicles, including the Leopard battle tank, and several tonnes of equipment will be transported to Austria by rail. The Allentsteig military training area is located in the province of Lower Austria, around one hundred kilometers northwest of Vienna.
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According to the defence ministry, the military exercise will be carried out in mixed teams together with Austrian and German soldiers and coordinated simulation technology. The cooperation within the framework of the established partnership between Germany, Austria and Switzerland (umbrella) strengthens the Swiss Armed Forces’ ability to cooperate. Deployment abroad is voluntary, the defence ministry emphasised.
The aim of this special refresher course is to review the “Future of the Ground Forces” concept from 2019 in a practical manner and to gain experience for further development. The aim is to realign the various categories of forces on the ground in cooperation with forces in the air, in electromagnetic space and in information space in order to be able to counter escalation in all situations.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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