Albanian Joint Forces Command

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The Albanian Joint Forces Command, consists in the branch of the Albanian military charged with protecting the territorial integrity of Albania. The Command has under the proper structure the Rapid Reaction Brigade, the Commando Regiment, the Albanian Air Brigade, the Albanian Navy Brigade and the Area Support Brigade.

1 History
2 Basic History
3 Developments
4 Weapons
5 Manpower and equipment
6 Structure
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

Albania requested a Defense Assessment from the USA in coordination with NATO (Allied Command Transformation) and NATO Headquarter Tirana, early in 2006 in order to ensure that previous reform efforts were proceeding well and to provide for course corrections if needed. Conclusions of this work encouraged both Ministry of Defence and General Staff of AAF to continue refining force structure and reducing the size of the Armed Forces by reducing staffs and removing obsolete units making the resultant force more capable and affordable.

A major element of this restructure process was the development of a Joint Forces Command. This streamlined the command and the control of operational units, by contributing more effectively to NATO led Peace Support Operations.

Another key element of this restructuring was the consolidation of almost all units under three major commands; the Joint Forces Command, the Albanian Training and Doctrine Command, and the Albanian Logistic Support Command, thus enhancing supervision of subordinate units and reducing the span of control of the General Staff.

[edit] Basic History

In 1999, (based on the old structure The Albanian Land Forces were the main Albanian Armed Forces battle component), the AAF were in alert due to a possible military confrontation with Yugoslavia over the Serbian province of Kosovo. Previous preparations during the 90's, included the purchase of the Chinese antitank missile HJ-8, and the antiaircraft HN-5, an improved version of the Russian SA-7. During the 1998-1999 Kosovo War part of the Albanian Armed Forces were deployed along the Albanian-Yugoslavian border.

[edit] Developments

The Albanian Land Forces used to field 373 Type 59 Main Battle Tanks and 130 M113 Armoured Personal Carriers. Most of the Cold War-era equipment from the Soviet Union and China has been scrapped or put in storage: i.e all of the World War II era T-34/76, T-34/85, PT-76, BRDM-1, T-54 and most part of Type 59 tanks have been scrapped. With the new structure, the Albanian Armed Forces will not have any more a Tank capability. Although the Tank Battalion has been deactivated, 50 Type 59 tanks have been stored based on the Strategic reserve concept. Antitank weaponry, also combined with Helo capability will be the priority. Approximately 130 M113 APC's were donated to the Rapid Reaction Brigade by Italy as part of a military aid package. Note - The second hand APC's donated by Italy were considered by the AAF as highly expensive to maintain and to use. The Albanian Ministry of Defence is looking forward for the acquisition of a new APC in order to achieve the standards required for the troops training. As Albania is on its way to become a member of NATO, further modernization efforts, as well as more scrappings of obsolete hardware^[1], are underway to achieve the necessary compatibility with NATO equipment standards.

[edit] Weapons

Makarov PM (Pistol 9 x 18 mm)
TT-33 (Pistol 7.62 x 25 mm)
Beretta 92 (Pistol 9 x 19 mm)
HK P8 (Pistol 9 x 19 Parabellum)
HK MP7 (Submachine gun 4.6 x 30 mm)
MP-5 (Maschine Pistol 9 x 19 mm)
AK-47, AKS, Model 56 (Assault Rifle 7.62 x 39 mm)
HK G36 (G36K e G36C, Assault Rifle 5.56 x 45 NATO)
HK-416 (Assault Rifle 5.56 x 45 NATO)
RPG-7 or chinese Type 69 RPG (Light Antitank Grenade Launcher)
Dragunov SVT (Sniper Rifle 7.62 x 54 mm)
HK417 (Sniper/Marksman Rifle 5.56 x 45 NATO)
60 mm, 82 mm Type-67 Mortar
RPK (AK-47 - Heavy Barrel/40 Rounds/Bipod 7.62 x 39 mm)
DP-27, RP-46 (Light Machine Gun 7.62 x 54 mm)
PK, PKM, PKSMN, (GPMG 7.62 x 54 mm)
DShKM (Heavy Machine Gun 12.7 x 109 mm)
KPVT (Heavy Machine Gun/Air Defence 14.5 x 115 mm)
Type 65 (Antiaircraft gun 37 mm self-propelled)
Antitank HJ-8 Missile
Antiaircraft HN-5 MANPAD
Type 66 Howitzer 152 mm Artillery

[edit] Manpower and equipment

As of 2005, the Land Forces Command had:^[2]

16,000 + active personnel and 35,000 reserves:^[3].

On 2010 the Joint Forces Command authorized personnel strength will be approximately 8,200. (With the new structure, the 5 Reserve Brigades have been deactivated)