The Swiss Army mobilised 5,000 soldiers this week in exercise “PILUM 22”, which took two years to prepare. The exercise ranges across the cantons of Bern, Solothurn, Aargau, Lucerne and Zurich.

Four mechanised battalions, a logistics battalion, a mountain infantry troop, an electronic warfare group and a Special Forces Command detachment are undertaking the week-long training, which ends Tuesday.

The army wants to evaluate its capacity to defend the country and its inhabitants in case of armed conflict, including on the ground, in what is the institution’s biggest military exercise in 33 years.

With the troop ensemble exercise, the army will check the interaction of the various components of a mechanized brigade. "PILUM 22" will provide lessons on the current situation of the land forces and how they should evolve in the future.

"PILUM 22" was designed on the basis of the "Future of Land Forces" report approved in May 2019 by the Federal Council of Switzerland.