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In 1955, Austria declared her Everlasting Neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. The main purpose of the Austrian military since then has been the protection of Austria's neutrality.
With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military has been increasingly
used to safeguard Austrian borders against illegal immigrants.
Austria's support of the US-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War, as well as Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 are seen as a weakening of Austria's neutrality, and possibly the first steps to joining a (future) European military alliance.
Recently, Austria has spent considerable amounts of money modernizing its military arsenal. Leopard 2 main battle tanks, ULAN and Pandur infantry fighting vehicles, C-130 Hercules transport planes, UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, and Eurofighter Typhoon multi-purpse combat aircraft have been (or are being) purchased.
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Military branches: Land Forces (KdoLdSK), Air Forces (KdoLuSK)
Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
- males age 15-49: 2,066,467 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
- males age 15-49: 1,699,384 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
- males: 48,981 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.497 billion (FY01/02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.8% (FY01/02)
Reference
Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2003.
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