Military power of Switzerland & USA
Switzerland vs USA
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Switzerland is a country located in Central Europe with an area of 41,285 km2 (land boundries: 1,770 km and costline 0 km (landlocked)). The capital of Switzerland is Bern. The number of inhabitants is 8,570,146.
Switzerland has long maintained a policy of military neutrality, but does periodically participate in EU, NATO, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Swiss law excludes participation in combat operations for peace enforcement, and Swiss units will only participate in operations under the mandate of the UN or OSCE. The Swiss Armed Forces inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons systems. The United States is the leading supplier of military armaments.
More about Switzerland militaryUSA is a country located in North America with an area of 9,857,306 km2 (land boundries: 12,002 km and costline 19,924 km). The capital of USA is Washington. The number of inhabitants is 331,449,281.
The United States is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems. The United States is the world's leading arms exporter.
More about USA militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 CH |  US | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 5.3 billion $ | 816 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 0.7% | 3.3% |
Manpower
| CH | US | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 140,000 | 1,358,500 |
| Reserve personnel: | 80,000 | 799,500 |
| Available for military: | 1,852,580 | 73,270,043 |
Land Forces
| CH | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 224 | 6,612 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 1,808 | 41,237 | |
| Total artillery: | 176 | 4,243 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 176 | 1,498 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 0 | 1,366 |
Air Forces
| CH | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 178 | 12,930 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 27 | 461 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 25 | 2,417 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 0 | 566 | |
| Helicopters: | 57 | 4,741 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 0 | 334 |
Navy
| CH | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 0 | 460 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 0 | 20 | |
| Destroyers: | 0 | 94 | |
| Frigates: | 0 | 0 | |
| Corvettes: | 0 | 22 | |
| Submarines: | 0 | 69 |
☢ Nuclear weapons
Switzerland
Does not have nuclear weapons.
USA
The first country to develop and to military use nuclear warheads in the world. Everything started from the Manhattan project, a research that had one particular goal in focus – to develop and produce the first nuclear weapon. Americans were the first to wield such powerful weapon. Everything started in 1941, which is date of the beginning of Manhattan project. Since the end of the Second World War, United States became the leading country when it comes to possessing nuclear warheads and it lasted approximately to 1980s. We should also bear in mind that United States are also the only nation that ever used nuclear weapon in military conflict.
In 1960, the amount of warheads stored by Americans exceeded 30,000. However, it is worth to note that throughout the entire period of the so-called Cold War, USA managed to build approximately 70,000 nuclear warheads, what is more than all other countries with access to nuclear weapons combined. From the first test that happened in 1945 to this day, the USA conducted 1054 tests of atomic bombs. Still, as a result of introduced restrictions on the amount of warheads one state can possess, the current number has dropped to 6500 warheads. Noteworthy is also the fact that out of this number, United States deployed only 1600.
Military service
Switzerland
19-26 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; every Swiss male has to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years.
USA
18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines); DoD is eliminating prohibitions restricting women from assignments in units smaller than brigades or near combat units.