Military of the Czech Republic
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Military of the Czech Republic | |
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Military Manpower
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Military age | 18 years of age |
Availability | Males age 15-49: 2,414,728 (2005 est.) |
Fit for military service | Males age 15-49: 1,996,631 (2005 est.) |
Reaching military age annually | Males: 66,583 (2005 est.) |
Active troops | 57,050 |
Military Expenditures
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Amount | $2.17 billion (2004) |
Percent of GDP | 1.81% (2005) |
The Czech Armed Forces (Czech: Armáda České republiky) consists of Land and Air Forces and of specialized support units. Being a member of NATO since March 12, 1999, the Czech Republic completes a major overhaul of the extensive Czechoslovak armed forces which until 1989 formed one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Czech forces have been gradually downsized from 200,000 to 35,000 and at the same time modernized and reoriented toward defensive posture. In year 2004 the army transformed into fully professional organization and compulsory military service has been ended.
Contents |
[edit] Structure of the Czech Armed Forces
Structure of the Czech Armed Forces consis of three parts:
- General Staff of Czech Armed Forces (Praha)
- Joint Forces (Olomouc)
- Support and Training Forces (Stará Boleslav)
[edit] Equipment
Equipment size at January 1 2007:[1]
- 181x T-72 MBT (30 being upgraded to T72M4 , 478T72 in reserve)
- 257x BMP-1 IFV
- 76x BPzV-1
- 174x BMP-2 IFV
- 29x OT-90 (scraped - getting replaced by PatriaAPC's)
- 43x OT-64
- 168x DANA 152mm SPH
- 84x M1982 towed mortar 120 mm
- 8x Self propelled mortar 120 mm
- 60x RM-70 122 mm MLRS
- 3x ARTHUR Ground Radar Units.
- 14x JAS-39 Gripen
- 71x L-159
- 38x Mi-24
[edit] Recent operations
The Czech Republic is a member of the UN and OSCE and has contributed to numerous peacekeeping operations, including IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.
Current deployments (as of 2005):
- Kosovo: NATO Operation "Joint Enterprise" (KFOR) - 500 soldiers
- Iraq: Coalition Operation of Multinational Forces - 96 soldiers
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: European Union Operation (ALTHEA) - 65 soldiers
- Afghanistan: NATO Operation (ISAF) - 17 soldiers in Kabul and 83 soldiers in Faizabad
Infantry weapons include: Sa 58 assault rifle, Universal machine gun vz. 59, Sa vz 61 (Škorpion) machine pistol, Dragunov Sniper Rifle (SVD), CZ 700 sniper rifle, CZ 75 pistol, CZ 97B pistol, CZ 100 pistol, RPG-7V anti-tank grenade launcher, FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile, and Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun
[edit] Uniforms
Military band Olomouc in different types of uniforms:
Military band Olomouc |
[edit] External links
- (English) Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic
- (Czech) Information Center about NATO
- (English) Czech Air Force-unofficial site
- (Czech) A Czech army commercial on Google Video
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