A novel torsional RF MEMS capacitive switch design on silicon substrate is presented. The optimized switch topology such as reduction in up-state capacitance results in insertion loss better than -0.1 dB till 20 GHz. Off to on state capacitance ratio is also improved by 18 fold and isolation is better than -43 dB at 9.5 GHz. The achieved on state return loss is -38 dB as compared to -21 dB at 9.5 GHz. An optimized reduction in contact area and use of floating metal layer increases the switching speed from 56 to 46 μsec. It also increases the switch reliability by alleviating the stiction. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.