DON’T MISS
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Expat Info
Swiss news & articles
Switzerland looks to revive its once-secret bunker network
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

Switzerland looks to revive its once-secret bunker network

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:



Related Stories

Switzerland moves to ban the corporal punishment of childrenSwitzerland moves to ban the corporal punishment of children
February 2025 in Switzerland: 11 important things expats need to knowFebruary 2025 in Switzerland: 11 important things expats need to know
Emergency text alerts to be introduced in SwitzerlandEmergency text alerts to be introduced in Switzerland
Traffic noise rules and fines to be tightened in SwitzerlandTraffic noise rules and fines to be tightened in Switzerland
Forgeries and fraud: Signature Scandal rocks Swiss democracyForgeries and fraud: Signature Scandal rocks Swiss democracy
September 2024: 9 changes expats in Switzerland need to know aboutSeptember 2024: 9 changes expats in Switzerland need to know about
50.000 francs offered for ideas to get unexploded ammo out of Swiss lakes50.000 francs offered for ideas to get unexploded ammo out of Swiss lakes
Emergency alerts in Switzerland could be sent via text under new plansEmergency alerts in Switzerland could be sent via text under new plans
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usSitemap
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
May 14, 2025
Jan de Boer

Editor at IamExpat Media

Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016. While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more

Just three years after they were destined to be demolished, the Swiss Army are now moving to reactivate a vast network of bunkers. The fortifications, once known as Switzerland’s “secret weapon”, could soon be pressed back into service to help defend the country against armed attack.

Swiss Army hopes to reactivate its "secret weapon"

In an interview with SRF, outgoing Swiss Army head Thomas Süssli confirmed that the military was looking to reactivate a network of specially armed bunkers. There are over 100 of these facilities across the cantons, situated on the country’s borders with France, Germany, Austria and Italy. Emplacements also exist in the country’s spine, from Zurich to Bellinzona and Fribourg down to Matingny.

Unlike the more well-known series of fortifications and the nuclear bunkers we have at home, these bunkers are designed to be deadly and extremely hard to spot, hence why they were once called Switzerland’s secret weapon. Under what appears to be a regular manhole cover is, in fact, a sizable bunker with a mortar capable of firing eight kilometres in all directions.

Switzerland begins to U-turn on scrapping Cold War defences

These facilities were built between the beginning of the Second World War and 2003, as the government pursued the so-called National Redoubt strategy. The thinking went that if Switzerland were invaded by the Axis or later the Soviet Union, the army would retreat to a series of bunkers and fortifications in the mountains, and do everything it could to slow the enemy’s advance until help arrived from overseas or victory was won. This is also why cross-border bridges were rigged to explode until 2014.

However, in 2018, parliament decided to decommission, demolish and sell off these 100 mortar fortresses, at a cost of 1 billion francs. Then Defence Minister Ueli Maurer explained at the time that the National Redoubt was at an “end”, as Switzerland faced no enemies.

Now, following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the global instability caused by US President Donald Trump, this assertion is not as solid as it once was. Following the invasion in 2022, the demolition campaign was put on hold.

Now, Süssli said that he hoped to put a majority of the old bunkers back into operation. "A very large portion [of them are] in very good condition and could be repaired in a short time with parliamentary approval," he noted. The bunkers themselves would be used as troop accommodation and ammunition storage, but would be reactivated as bunkers in the event of crisis and war.

Swiss lawmakers divided on how best to protect the country

The plan was praised by Swiss People’s Party State Councillor Werner Salzmann, who told SRF that the current combat being seen in Ukraine is akin to the trench warfare of the First World War. "When I think of trench warfare in the Rhine Valley, we would probably be happy to have these fortresses, mortars, and weapon systems," he noted.

Others are not so sure, with Social Democratic National Councillor Priska Seiler Graf calling the idea of fortresses “retro nostalgia”. "The disadvantage is that they are stationary and can be destroyed immediately with targeted ammunition," she noted, adding that with the military expected to see staff shortages in future, it would be unwise to train and assign troops to outmoded defences like bunkers.

In response, Süssli explained that the facilities are well protected, noting that "it would take a direct hit on the facility to destroy it". As to a lack of troops, he argued that infantry and mechanised units are already trained to use mobile mortars, so they could be trained to use the bunkered versions as well.

By Jan de Boer