The Swiss Air Force reached its numerical peak during the Cold War but, following the collapse of the Berlin wall and a new era in east-west relations, it began a gradual reduction in size. In 1990 more than 300 aircraft (including helicopters) were owned by the Air Force. Today, this number is just slightly above 100.

The main changes were:

• the withdrawl of the Hawker Hunter and the Mirage III fighters
• the introduction of the McDonnel Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
• the withdrawl of the DeHavilland Vampire and also of their successor the BAe Hawk as jet trainer
• the withdrawl of the Pilatus P-3 as basic trainer
• the withdrawl of the Alouette II and of the Alouette III helicopter
• the introduction of the third batch of Super Puma helicopters (now named "Cougar")
• the introduction of the Falcon 50 for VVIP transport
• the integration of the STAC (Service de Transport Aerien de la Confederation)
• the reduction in number of the Pilatus PC-7 basic training aircraf