Military of Slovenia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Slovenian Army Slovenska vojska |
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| Founded | 1991 |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Dr. Danilo Tűrk |
| Minister of Defense | Karl Erjavec |
| Chief of staff | Albin Gutman |
| Military age | 18 |
| Available for military service |
496,929, age 17 (voluntary) (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service |
405,593, age 17 (voluntary) (2005 est.) |
| Active personnel | 9,000 ranked 124th |
| Reserve personnel | 7,350 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | € 550million (FY 2007) [2] |
| Percent of GDP | 1.8% (2007) |
The Military of Slovenia consists of the Slovenian Armed Forces (also Slovenian Army; officially Slovene Slovenska vojska; SAF/SV). The SAF are the armed forces of Slovenia. As of 2003 it is organized as a fully professional standing army. The Commander-in-Chief of the SAF is the President of the Republic of Slovenia (Danilo Türk), while operational command is in the domain of the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (Albin Gutman).
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[edit] History
The current Slovenian Armed Forces are descended from the Territorial Defense of the Republic Slovenia (Teritorialna obramba Republike Slovenije; TORS), which formed in 1968 as the paramilitary organization in former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. The main objectives of this organization were to support the Yugoslav National Army (JLA) and to conduct guerrilla operations in the event of an invasion.
When Slovenia declared independence in the midst of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991, the TORS and the Slovenian police formed the majority of forces engaging the Yugoslav People's Army during the Ten-Day War. And the Slovenian Armed Forces were formally established in 1993 as part of the reorganization of the TORS.
[edit] Current Status
A major reorganization of the Slovenian Armed Forces is currently underway, with the goal of changing it from a territorial defense force into a deployable force primarily aimed at peacekeeping. After 1993, the Slovenian Armed Forces had relied on mandatory military service, with conscripts receiving 6-7 months of training. In 2003, the Slovenian Government abolished conscription and as of July 2004, the Slovenian Armed Forces had been almost completely reorganised into a professional army now based on volunteers. Currently there are approximately 9,000 active troops and approximately 7,300 in reserve, reduced from 55,000 personnel during conscription. Slovenian Army now consists of three brigades, the 1st, 72nd and Brigade of air protection and aviation. The Slovenian Army consists of infantry, air force and naval unit which are subordinate to it.
[edit] NATO Membership
As part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia was never a member of the Warsaw Pact. Today, the foreign policy priority of NATO membership drives Slovenia's defense reorganization. Once many countries lifted the arms embargo on Slovenia in 1996, the country embarked on a military procurement program to bolster its status as a NATO candidate and to aid its transformation into a mobile force. Active in the SFOR deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia is also a charter member of Partnership for Peace and a regular participant in PfP exercises. The United States provides bilateral military assistance to Slovenia, including through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, the State Partnership Program (aligned with Colorado), and the EUCOM Joint Contact Team Program.
Slovenia formally joined NATO in March 2004.[1] The transition of her armed forces from a primarily conscript-based territorial defense organization to a professional force structure have the ultimate goal of creating NATO-interoperable combat units able to operate on an even par with units from other NATO armies. Implementation of interoperability objectives as determined by the Planning and Review Process (PARP) and the Individual Partnership Program (IPP) as part of Slovenia's PfP participation proceeds. Slovenia's elite units already train with and are integrated into international units including NATO members--for example as part of SFOR and on Cyprus. Its elite mountain troops will be assigned to the Multinational Land Force peacekeeping battalion with Italy, Hungary, and Croatia. Slovenia hosted its first PfP exercise in 1998--"Cooperative Adventure Exchange"--a multinational disaster-preparedness command post exercise involving almost 6,000 troops from 19 NATO and PfP member nations.
Slovenian soldiers are a part of international forces serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan[3] and Iraq. They have also served in Cyprus and the Golan Heights as a part of UNFICYP and UNDOF respectively.
[edit] Organization
The Slovenian Armed Forces are organized as single-branch armed forces with the army as their primary component. The naval force, air force and the un-integrated paramilitary air/land/intelligence contingent are a fierce force to recon with. The personnel is divided into three categories:
- professional soldiers (full-time soldiers)
- contract reserve soldiers (serve up to 30 days per year)
- voluntary recruits (basic training)
- special paramilitary contingent Sokoli (in service of Republic of Slovenia)
[edit] Commands and units
- General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces (Generalštab Slovenske vojske)
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- Verification Centre of the Slovenian Armed Forces (Verifikacijski center Slovenske vojske)
- Forces Command of the Slovenian Armed Forces (Poveljstvo sil Slovenske vojske)
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- 5th Reconnaissance & Intelligence Battalion
- 11th Signals Battalion
- 17th Military Police Battalion
- 430th Naval Detachment
- Unit for Special Operations (ESD)
- 1st Brigade
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- 10th Motorized Battalion
- 20th Motorized Battalion
- 74th Motorized Battalion
- 670th Command-Logistics Battalion
- 72nd Brigade
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- 45th Armoured Battalion
- 132nd Mountain Battalion
- 460th Artillery Battalion
- 14th Engineer Battalion
- 18th NBC-Defence Battalion
- Air Defence and Aviation Brigade
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- 9th Air Defence Battalion
- 15th Helicopter Battalion
- 16th Air Control Battalion
- 107th Flight Base
- Flight school
- Support Command
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- 157th Logistics Battalion
- Medical Unit
- Military Territorial Commands
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- 23rd Military Territorial Command
- 24th Military Territorial Command
- 25th Military Territorial Command
- 32nd Military Territorial Command
- 37th Military Territorial Command
- 38th Military Territorial Command
[edit] Weapons and equipment
[edit] Infantry
[edit] Small Arms
- FN F2000 assault rifle (standard)
- Beretta M 92 handgun
- Sig Sauer P226 handgun
- MP-5 submachine gun
- M249 PARA machine gun
- FN MAG machine gun
- FN Ultima Ratio Commando I sniper rifle
- FN PGM .338 LM sniper rifle
- FN PGM Hecate II sniper rifle
[edit] Antitank weapons
- Spike
- RGW 90 RPG
- 9M111 Fagot (reserve status)
- 9K11 Maljutka ATGM (reserve status)
[edit] Anti-Aircraft Weapons
[edit] Artillery
- 18x M-71 towed 155/45 mm howitzer
- 36x MN 9 120 mm mortar
- 16x M2A1 105 mm howitzer (reserve status)
- 30x M48B1 76 mm gun (reserve status)
- 4x M-63 Plamen 128 mm MRLS (reserve status)
- 8× 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm (reserve status)
[edit] Tanks and IFVs
- 54x M-84 MBT (will be replaced)
- 30x M-55 S MBT (stored)
- 52x M-80A IFV (will soon be withdrawn from service)
- 85x Valuk IFV
- 135x Patria AMV (have been ordered)
- 10x Otokar Cobra (have been ordered)
[edit] Air Force
[edit] Airplanes
- 9x Pilatus PC-9M Hudournik[4]
- 2x Pilatus PC-9[5]
- 2x Pilatus PC-6 Porter[6]
- 1x Let L-410 Turbolet[7]
- 2x Zlin Z-143[8]
- 8x Zlin Z 242[9]
[edit] Helicopters
[edit] Naval Force
[edit] Other Vehicles
- 29x AM General HMMWV M1114
- 12x BOV 3 (reserve status)
- 28x BOV M (reserve status)
[edit] International Cooperation
As Slovenia is part of NATO and the European Union, the Slovenian Armed Forces participate in many (military) aspects of both organizations.
| Current Mission | Country | Organization | Nr. of personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALTHEA | EUFOR | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35 |
| Joint Enterprise | NATO | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2 |
| Joint Enterprise | NATO | Kosovo | 400 |
| CENTCOM | NATO | USA | 2 |
| UNTSO | United Nations | Syria | 2 |
| ISAF | NATO | Afghanistan | 66 |
| NATO | Iraq | 2 |
| Former Mission | Operation | Country | Organization | Nr. of personnel | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALBA | Operation Sunrise | Albania | OSCE | 21 | May-July 1997 |
| UNFICYP | / | Cyprus | United Nations | 29 | September 1997-June 2001 |
| ALBA | Operation Allied Harbour | Albania | NATO | 26 | May-July 1999 |
| UNMIK | / | Kosovo | United Nations | 1 | October 1999-December 2001 |
| OHR | / | Bosnia and Herzegovina | United Nations | 1 | July 2001-January 2003 |
| ? | Operation Concordia | Republic of Macedonia | European Union | 1 | March 2003 |
| MLF | Operation Joint Guardian | Kosovo | NATO | 11 | November 2003-May 2004 |
| / | Nato support to Pakistan | Pakistan | NATO | 2 | November 2005-January 2006 |
| International military exercises | Country | Organization | Nr. of personnel | Time |
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| Cooperative Nugget 1997 | Fort Polk, USA | Partnership for Peace/NATO | 1997 | |
| Cooperative Adventure Exchange '98 | Slovenia | NATO | 1998 | |
| Cooperative Key 2002 | 2002 | |||
| Cunning Wassel 2002 | 2002 | |||
| Clever Ferret 2003 | 2003 | |||
| Elite 2003 | 2003 |
[edit] Military rank insignias
| Generals/Generali | ||
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| General | Generalpodpolkovnik | Generalmajor |
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| Brigadir | Polkovnik | Podpolkovnik | Major | Stotnik | Nadporočnik | Poročnik |
| NCO's/Podčastniki | |||||||
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| Višji štabni praporščak | Štabni praporščak | Višji praporščak | Praporščak | Višji štabni vodnik | Štabni vodnik | Višji vodnik | Vodnik |
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| Naddesetnik | Desetnik | Poddesetnik | Vojak |
[edit] Data
Military branches: Slovenian Army (includes Air and Naval Forces)
Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 525,031 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 417,726 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 14,958 (2000 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $335 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (FY99)
[edit] Gallery
 Slovenian Soldier |
 Slovenian MAN Army Truck |
 TN90 155/45 mm howitzer |
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 Slovenian Armoured Vehicles |
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 Slovenian Convoy in Kosovo KFOR Mission |
 Slovenian Soldier Patrolling in Afghanistan ISAF Mission |
 T-55 ARV version |
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[edit] References
- ^ 3
- ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Slovenia
- ^ The Slovenia Times - Daily News
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
- ^ Slovenian military aviation OrBat
[edit] External links
- Official page (Slovene)
- Slovenian Ministry of Defence official site (English)
- Slovenian Air Force
- Slovenian Armed Forces/Slovenska vojska
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