Editing Swiss Armed Forces (section)

===Military and civil defence===

After World War II, Switzerland began building homes with 40&nbsp;cm-thick concrete ceilings that might survive [[firebombing]] of the type that destroyed [[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II|Hamburg]] and [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|Dresden]]. In the 1960s, construction began on [[fallout shelter|radiation and blast shelters]] that could survive one to three [[bar (unit)|bar]]s (100–300&nbsp;kPa) of pressure from a nuclear explosion.<ref name="mcphee19831107">{{cite news | url=http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1983-11-07#folio=054 | title=La Place de la Concorde Suisse-II | magazine=The New Yorker | date=7 November 1983 | access-date=22 July 2013 | author=McPhee, John | pages=55 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109094217/http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1983-11-07#folio=054 | archive-date=9 November 2013 | url-status=live}}</ref> Building codes require blast shelters, which are said to be able to accommodate 114% of the Swiss population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bunkers for all |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Bunkers_for_all.html?siteSect=201&sid=10906783&rss=true&ty=st |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912192853/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Bunkers_for_all.html?siteSect=201&sid=10906783&rss=true&ty=st |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 September 2012 |date=3 July 2009 |publisher=[[swissinfo]] |access-date=13 July 2009}}</ref> Small towns have large underground parking garages that can serve as sealed community shelters.{{r|mcphee19831107}} There are also hospitals and command centres in such shelters, aimed at keeping the country running in case of emergencies. Every family or rental agency has to pay a replacement tax to support these shelters, or alternatively own a personal shelter in their place of residence;<ref>Imogen Foulkes. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6347519.stm Swiss still braced for nuclear war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213071207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6347519.stm |date=13 February 2007}}. BBC News, 10 February 2007.</ref> many private shelters serve as [[wine cellar]]s and closets.{{r|mcphee19831107}}

[[File:Turmkanone-1-fuchsegg.jpg|thumb|Camouflaged cannons and fortifications near [[Furka Pass]] in the Gotthard region]]
Thousands of tunnels, highways, railroads, and bridges are built with [[tank trap]]s and primed with [[demolition]] [[Explosive material|charges]] to be used against invading forces; often, the civilian engineer who designed the bridge also plans the demolition as a military officer. Hidden guns are aimed to prevent enemy forces from attempting to rebuild.{{r|mcphee19831031}} Permanent fortifications were established in the [[Swiss Alps|Alps]], as bases from which to retake the fertile valleys after a potential invasion. They include underground air bases that are adjacent to normal runways; the aircraft, crew and supporting material are housed in the caverns.

However, a significant part of these fortifications was dismantled between the 1980s and during the "Army 95" reformation. The most important fortifications are located at [[Fortress Saint-Maurice|Saint-Maurice]], [[St. Gotthard Pass|Gotthard Pass]] area and [[Sargans]]. The fortification on the west side of the [[Rhône]] at Saint-Maurice has not been used by the army since the beginning of the 1990s. The east side (Savatan) is still in use.

During the Cold War the military expected that any invasion would likely come from the northeast, as the Soviet Union associated the country with NATO despite its stated neutrality.{{r|mcphee19831031}} The Swiss government thought that the aim of an invasion would be to control the economically important transport routes through the [[Swiss Alps]], namely the [[St. Gotthard Pass|Gotthard]], the [[Simplon Pass|Simplon]] and [[Great St. Bernard]] passes, because Switzerland does not possess any significant natural resources.