Yugoslav People's Army

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Yugoslav People's Army

Components
SFR Yugoslav Ground force
SFR Yugoslav Air Force
SFR Yugoslav Navy
Territorial Defense
Civil Protection (ONO I DSZ)
Ranks of the Yugoslav People's Army
Ranks and insignia
History
History of Yugoslav People's Army

The Yugoslav People's Army (YPA) (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslovenska narodna armija or Jugoslavenska narodna armija; Serbian and Macedonian: Југословенска народна армија—JHA; Macedonian and Serbian Latin forms: Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and Bosnian: Jugoslavenska narodna armija—JNA; Slovene: Jugoslovanska ljudska armada—JLA) was the military force of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Contents

[edit] Origins

The origins of JNA can be found in the Yugoslav Partisan units of World War II. As a part of the antifascist People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ), a predecessor of JNA, was formed on December 22, 1941 in the town of Rudo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the liberation of the country from the Axis Powers occupation, that date was officially celebrated as the Day of the Army in the SFR Yugoslavia. In March of 1945, the NOVJ was renamed the Yugoslav Army (Jugoslovenska Armija) and finally on its 10th anniversary on December 22, 1951, received the adjective People's (i.e. Narodna).[1]

[edit] Organization

JNA plaque
JNA plaque

Once considered the fourth largest army in the world, JNA consisted of the ground forces, air force and navy. They were organized in four military regions. The regions were further divided into districts that were responsible for administrative tasks such as draft registration, mobilization and construction and maintenance of military facilities. The regions were: Belgrade (responsible for eastern Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zagreb (Slovenia and northern Croatia), Skopje (Republic of Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro) and Split Naval Region. Of the JNA's 180,000 soldiers, more than 100,000 were conscripts.

In 1990 the army had nearly completed a major overhaul of its basic force structure. It eliminated its old divisional infantry organization and established the brigade as the largest operational unit. The army converted ten of twelve infantry divisions into twenty-nine tank, mechanized, and mountain infantry brigades with integral artillery, air defense, and anti-tank regiments. One airborne brigade was organized before 1990. The shift to brigade-level organization provided greater operational flexibility, maneuverability, and tactical initiative, and it reduced the possibility that large army units would be destroyed in setpiece engagements with an aggressor. The change created many senior field command positions that would develop relatively young and talented officers. The brigade structure also was more appropriate at a time of declining manpower.

[edit] Infrastructure and equipment

SOKO G-2 Galeb, first Yugoslav made jet aircraft.
SOKO G-2 Galeb, first Yugoslav made jet aircraft.

The arms industry took up the majority of Yugoslavia's heavy industries. With annual exports of $3 billion, it was twice as large as the second largest Yugoslav industry, tourism. It had modern infrastructure with underground air-bases and control centres in several mountains. The biggest and best known was the Bihać underground Integrated Radar Control and Surveillance Centre and Air Base also known as "Željava" in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Several companies in Yugoslavia produced airplanes and specifically combat aircraft, most notably Soko of Mostar, with the Soko J-22 Orao being the best known, as well as Utva in Serbia. Regarding ground combat, Yugoslav military-industrial complex produced tanks (most notably, the modern M-84), armored vehicles (BOV-M, BOV-1 M-83, M-80), various artillery pieces (mortars, MLRS, howitzers etc.), anti-aircraft weapons, as well as various types of infantry weapons and other equipment.

[edit] Ground forces

The ground forces led in personnel. It had about 140,000 active-duty soldiers (including 90,000 conscripts) and could mobilize over a million trained reservists in wartime. Reserve forces were organized along republics' lines into Territorial Defence Forces and in wartime they were to be subordinate to JNA Supreme Command as an integral part of defence system. Territorial Defence (reserve force) was made up of former conscripts and they were occasionally called up for war exercises.

The ground forces were infantry, armour, artillery, and air defence, as well as signal, engineering and chemical defence corps.

[edit] Tank brigades

Yugoslav tank brigades comprised two or three battalions. They operated about 1000 Soviet T-54s and T-55s,70 Soviet T-72s, around 450 Yugoslav M-84s, and some United States-made M-47 tanks. The army's tanks were in many respects its most obsolete forces. The T-54/-55 was a frontline model during the 1960s. Domestic production of the M-84 (an improved version of the Soviet T-72 built under license in Yugoslavia) was providing the army with a late 1970s and 1980s model. The army also had a reserve of old T-34/85 and Sherman tanks from WWII.

The Yugoslav army had over 400 M-80 armored combat vehicles, 500 M-80A IFVs and 300 M-60P armored personnel carriers produced domestically. The infantry also operated more than 200 Soviet-made BTR-152, BTR-40, and BTR-50 armored personnel carriers (APCs), which had been purchased in the 1960s and 1970s. It had 100 M-3A1 half-tracked personnel carriers produced by the United States and a small number of new Romanian TAB-72 (a variant of the BTR-60) armored personnel carriers. Armored reconnaissance vehicles included a few older Soviet BTR-40s, newer BRDM-2 and BTR-60 models, and domestic BOV and M-8 vehicles.

[edit] Equipment

JNA T-72M1 MBT. Yugoslavia only bought 70 T-72s.

T-55 tanks were the main tanks in the JNA.

BRDM-2 during a military parade.

BOV-VP was the primary vehicle of the JNA military police.

M-60P APC.

M-80A was the only IFV in the JNA.

BRDM-2 and two PT-76 light tanks.

FAP 2026

[edit] Artillery regiments

Yugoslav artillery regiments were well equipped with Soviet, U.S. and domestic systems. Soviet artillery in these units consisted of approximately 1,000 towed 122 mm howitzers, 130 mm guns, 152 mm gun/howitzers, and 155 mm howitzers. There were about 700 older United States 105 mm and 155 mm towed guns and domestically produced models such as the M-65 in the artillery regiments. Towed pieces were very important for operations in the country's mountainous terrain.

Artillery units operated Soviet 100 mm and 122 mm and Yugoslav-produced 105 mm M-7 self-propelled guns. Those units had over 6,000 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, including a self-propelled 82 mm mortar mounted on an M-60PB variant of the standard armored personnel carrier.

Yugoslav artillery units operated several battlefield missile systems including 160 128 mm YMRL-32 and M-63 multiple-rocket launchers. The arsenal included four launchers for Soviet FROG-7 surface-to-surface missiles. First fielded in 1967, the unguided FROG-7 had a range of 100 kilometers.

[edit] Equipment

JNA M-77 Oganj MLRS

The M-87 "Orkan" MLRS of the Yugoslav People's Army.

JNA soldiers with a M84 "NORA A" 152mm Field Gun-Howitzer.

M-77 of the Yugoslav People's Army firing.

[edit] Anti-tank regiments

Yugoslav anti-tank regiments had towed anti-tank guns, recoilless rifles, and Soviet anti-tank guided missiles. Antitank guns included 75 mm, 90 mm, and 100 mm models. They were Soviet produced with the exception of the 90 mm M-63B2, which was manufactured domestically.

The recoilless rifles were manufactured domestically and included 57 mm, 82 mm, and 105 mm models. Two self-propelled 82 mm recoilless rifles could be mounted on an M-60PB armored personnel carrier.

Anti-tank guided missiles were the Soviet AT-1 (NATO: Snapper) and AT-3 (NATO: Sagger). They were used in both anti-tank and infantry units, but because of their early vintage, effectiveness against advanced armor was uncertain. The four wheeled BOV-1 armored reconnaissance vehicle could be equipped with six AT-3 launchers to serve as a highly mobile anti-tank platform.

[edit] Air defense

Larger Yugoslav army units had considerable tactical air defense assets, designed to defend major troop concentrations against enemy air strikes. The ground forces had four surface-to-air missile regiments and eleven antiaircraft artillery regiments. The former operated large numbers of Soviet SA-6, SA-7, SA-9, SA-13, SA-14, SA-16 missiles. Short-range systems also were employed in infantry units.

Yugoslav antiaircraft artillery regiments operated over 5,000 guns. Self-propelled gun systems included the Soviet-made 57 mm dual ZSU-57-2 gun systems and the domestically produced triple 20 mm BOV-3s and dual 30 mm BOV-30s. Large numbers of towed antiaircraft guns of many calibers were in the inventory. Of both domestic and foreign origin, they included pieces purchased from the United States, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, and Sweden.

BOV 3s on parade.

ZSU-57-2 on military exercise on sea coast.

ZSU-57-2's on parade.

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Coastal artillery

The coastal artillery batteries had both surface-to-surface missiles and guns. They operated the Soviet-designed SS-C-3 and a truck-mounted, Yugoslav-produced Brom antiship missile. The latter was essentially a Yugoslav variant of the Soviet SS-N-2. Coastal guns included over 400 85 mm, 88 mm, 122 mm, 130 mm, and 152 mm artillery pieces obtained from the Soviet Union, the United States, captured and refurbished WW2 German and Italian pieces, and Yugoslav manufacturers.

[edit] Air Force

Main article: SFR Yugoslav Air Force
Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo (Yugoslav Air Force) Pilots on pre-flight planning.
Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo (Yugoslav Air Force) Pilots on pre-flight planning.
The MiG-29s were the newest aircraft in the Yugoslav Air Force.
The MiG-29s were the newest aircraft in the Yugoslav Air Force.
The MiG-21s were the main fighters in Yugoslav Air Force.
The MiG-21s were the main fighters in Yugoslav Air Force.

The Yugoslav Air Force had about 32,000 including 4,000 conscripts and operated over 700 aircraft and 200 helicopters. It was responsible for transport, reconnaissance, and rotary-wing aircraft as well as the national air defense system. The primary air force missions were to contest enemy efforts to establish air superiority over Yugoslavia and to support the defensive operations of the ground forces and navy. Most aircraft were produced in Yugoslavia but missiles were produced domestically or supplied by the Soviet Union.

The Yugoslav Air Force had twelve squadrons of domestically produced ground attack fighters. The ground attack squadrons provided close air support to ground force operations. They were equipped with 165 new Orao-2, Super Galeb and J-21 Jastreb, and older P-2 Kraguj fighters. Many ground attack fighters were armed with AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles purchased from the United States. Others were armed with Soviet AS-7 and AS-9 missiles. The air force also had about ninety armed Mi-8 helicopter gunships to provide added mobility and fire support for small ground units. A large number of reconnaissance aircraft were available to support ground forces operations. Four squadrons of seventy Galeb, Jastreb, and Orao-1 fighters were configured for reconnaissance missions.

The Yugoslav Air Force had nine squadrons of 130 Soviet-made MiG-21 interceptors for air defense. First produced in the late 1950s, the MiG-21 was largely obsolete in 1990 and represented a potential weakness in Yugoslavia's air defense. The MiG-21s were armed with Soviet AA-2 (NATO: Atol) air-to-air missiles of a similar vintage and some more modern AA-8 (NATO: Aphid) missiles as well as twin 23 mm cannons. One Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer also was developing a new domestic multirole fighter to replace the MiG-21.

In 1987, Yugoslavia acquired 16 MiG-29 interceptors. It had two squadrons with over thirty Soviet-made Yak-40, Antonov An-12, and Antonov An-26 transport aircraft. It had seven helicopter transport squadrons with Soviet Mi-8 and domestic Partisan helicopters (French Aérospatiale Gazelle built under licence). They were supposed to retire the MiG-21s they had and replace them with the "Novi Avion", which was something like the Rafale, but because of the break-up, it wouldn't be built for a test flight and be added to the Air Force.

The Yugoslav Air Force conducted a large pilot training program with almost 200 Galeb, Super Galeb, and UTVA-75/-76 aircraft. The propeller-driven UTVA trainers had underwing pylons capable of carrying light weapons loads. A new UTVA Lasta trainer was under development in 1990. After practicing instrument and night flying, gunnery, bombing, rocket firing, and aerial maneuvers in the Lasta, student pilots progressed to the Super Galeb. Twenty Partisan helicopters were used for pilot training.

One of the most impressive structures operated by the JNA Air Force was the underground Željava air base near the town of Bihac in Bosnia. The structure was made to withstand a nuclear explosion and was destroyed by the JNA in 1992 to prevent it's capture. Željava vas base of 117th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which has compose of 124th and 125th fighter squadrons equipped with MiG-21Bis fighters and 352th rece squadron equipped with MiG-21R aircraft.

The Air and Air Defence forces were headquartered at Zemun and had fighter and bomber aircraft, helicopters, and air defence artillery units at air bases throughout the former Yugoslavia: Batajnica (Belgrade), Niš, Slatina (Priština), Golubovci (Titograd), Skopski Petrovec, Sarajevo, Mostar,Željava (Bihać), Pleso (Zagreb), Divulje (Split), Pula, Zemunik (Zadar), Cerklje ob Krki and many other smaller air bases.

[edit] Navy

Main article: SFR Yugoslav Navy

Minor surface combatants operated by the Yugoslav Navy included nearly eighty frigates, corvettes, submarines, minesweepers, and missile, torpedo, and patrol boats in the Adriatic Fleet. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split (now part of Croatia).

The Partisans had operated many small boats in raids harassing Italian convoys in the Adriatic Sea during World War II. After the war, the navy operated numerous German and Italian submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and tank-landing craft captured during the war or received as war reparations. The United States provided eight torpedo boats in the late 1940s, but most of those units were soon obsolete. The navy was upgraded in the 1960s when it acquired ten Osa-I class missile boats and four Shershen-class torpedo boats from the Soviet Union. The Soviets granted a license to build eleven additional Shershen units in Yugoslav shipyards developed for this purpose.

In 1980 and 1982, the Yugoslav navy took delivery of two Soviet Koni class frigates. In 1988 it completed two additional units under license. The Koni frigates were armed with four Soviet SS-N-2B surface-to-surface missile launchers, twin SA-N-4 (NATO: SA-8 Gecko) surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine rocket launchers.

The Yugoslav navy developed its own submarine-building capability during the 1960s. In 1990, the main combat units of the submarine service were three Heroj-class patrol submarines armed with 533 mm torpedoes. Two smaller Sava-class units entered service in the late 1970s. Two Sutjeska-class submarines had been relegated mainly to training missions by 1990. At that time the navy had apparently shifted to construction of versatile midget submarines. Four Una-class midgets and four Mala-class swimmer delivery vehicles were in service in the late 1980s. They were built for use by underwater demolition teams and special forces. The Una-class boats carried five crewmen, eight combat swimmers, four Mala vehicles, and limpet mines. The Mala vehicles in turn carried two swimmers and 250 kilograms of mines.

The Yugoslav navy operated ten Osa I-class and six Rade Koncar-class missile boats. The Osa I boats were armed with four SS-N-2A surface-to-surface missile launchers. In 1990, domestic Kobra boats were scheduled to begin replacing the Osa I boats. The Kobra was to be armed with four SS-N-2C launchers or eight Swedish RBS15 anti-ship missile launchers. Armed with two SS-N-2B launchers, the Koncar-class boats were modeled after the Swedish Spica class. The navy's fifteen Topcider-class torpedo boats included four former Soviet Shershen-class and eleven Yugoslav built units.

The Yugoslav navy's mine warfare and countermeasures capabilities were considered adequate in 1990. It operated four Vukov Klanac-class coastal minehunters built on a French design, four British Hamclass inshore minesweepers, and six 117-class inshore minesweepers built in domestic shipyards. Larger numbers of older and less capable minesweepers were mainly used in riverine operations. Other older units were used as dedicated minelayers. The navy used amphibious landing craft in support of army operations in the area of the Danube, Sava, and Drava rivers. They included both tank and assault landing craft. In 1990, there were four 501-class, ten 211-class, and twenty-five 601-class landing craft in service. Most of them were also capable of laying mines in rivers and coastal areas.

The Yugoslav Navy had 10,000 sailors (4,400 conscripts, 900 marines). This was essentially a coastal defense force with the mission of preventing enemy amphibious landings along the country's rugged 4,000-kilometer shoreline or coastal islands, and contesting an enemy blockade or control of the strategic Strait of Otranto. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split. The naval region was divided into three smaller naval districts and a riverine flotilla with major naval bases located at Split, [[Sibenik], Pula, Ploce and Kotor on the Adriatic sea, and Novi Sad on the river Danube. The strategic islands of Vis and Lastovo were heavily fortified and unauthorised entry was denied. The fleet was organized into missile, torpedo, and patrol boat brigades, a submarine division, and minesweeper flotillas. The naval order of battle included four frigates, three corvettes, five patrol submarines, fifty-eight missile, torpedo, and patrol boats, and twenty-eight minesweepers. One antisubmarine warfare helicopter squadron was based at Divulje on the Adriatic sea coast for coastal operations. It employed Soviet Ka-25, Ka-28, and Mi-8 helicopters, and domestic Partisan helicopters. Some air force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons supported naval operations.

[edit] Doctrine

The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) had a unique operational military doctrine for a conventional military force. Yugoslavia based its defence doctrine upon the total war concept of the "Total National Defence" (Serbian: Opštenarodna odbrana; Croatian: Općenarodna obrana; Slovenian: Splošna ljudska obramba; Macedonian: Општонародна одбрана; abbr.: latin: ONO, cyrilic: ОНО), which drew upon Yugoslavia's rich partisan history during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War in the Second World War. The Total National Defence gave the JNA the role of defending borders against aggressors with the intention of delaying an invader long enough for Territorial Defence Forces to enter the field and start wearing the invader down with partisan tactics. The entire Yugoslav population under this concept was to be engaged in armed resistance, armaments production, and civil defence. The concept of Total National Defence was believed by the Yugoslav planners to be the best method by which a smaller nation could properly defend itself against a much stronger invader.

[edit] Dissolution

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Column of JNA T-55 tanks in Slovenia.
Column of JNA T-55 tanks in Slovenia.
JNA tanks in Slovenia, 1991.
JNA tanks in Slovenia, 1991.

During the early stages of the Yugoslav wars, and in general during the breakup of Yugoslavia, there was a great sense of confusion and concern as to the role that would be played by the Yugoslav People's Army.

Due to the fact that roughly 80% of the JNA's upper leadership was ethnically Serbian[citation needed], when war broke out in Croatia in 1991 (Croatian War of Independence), the Croatians increasingly treated the JNA as a hostile force. During the Battle of Vukovar, the JNA's diverse ethnic composition of lower fighting units with no real stake or interest in the war in Croatia led to instances of desertion and confusion in the area. This was primarily caused by a lack of understanding as to where they stood with both the Croatian defence forces and the Serbian paramilitary units who were promoting a purely Serbian agenda in Eastern Slavonia.

The morale in parts of the JNA became very low as the war intensified. On September 29, 1991, the navy admiral Vladimir Barović committed suicide while stationed at the Vis naval base, leaving a suicide letter which stated that he could not reconcile his feeling of honor as a Montenegrin with the aggression of JNA against Croatia.[citation needed] At the beginning of war in Croatia, JNA targeted civilians[2], killing three children near auto-camp Grabovac at Plitvice Lakes.

By the end of 1991, when both Slovenia and Croatia had practically seceded, JNA was crippled as a joint army of the SFRY, and was deprived of its basic fundamentals as a fighting force.

Further complications arose when Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia declared their independence and an already unpopular war caused conscription levels in Serbia to drop to only 13% of what was required to maintain a functioning army. Many in Macedonia or Bosnia and Herzegovina felt that the war was none of their concern and that their people should not have anything to do with the conflicts developing in the region. By mid-1992, war spread to Bosnia (War in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and it was clear that JNA was representative of the Serbs alone.

Serbia and Montenegro now being the sole union, replacing SFR Yugoslavia with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, for legality reasons decided that it was best to wash their hands of the conflicts which were occurring in nearby nations. The decision was made to abolish the JNA.

In May 1992, the United Nations Security Council confirmed independence of the new republics and accepted them into the UN. In accordance, the Yugoslav Army was asked to withdraw from Bosnia (as it was now deemed a hostile armed intervention in another sovereign state) or face sanctions. On May 12, 1992, JNA units were split between the FR Yugoslavia army and the Army of Republika Srpska (mostly in accordance with geographical location or place of origin), along with the majority of officer staff. In reality, this meant that many units changed nothing except their names and markings.

Some ex-JNA troops and commanders found their way to the Army of Republika Srpska Krajina while many loyalist Serbian paramilitaries remained operational in Bosnia, usually supporters of nationalist and radical parties in Serbia proper.

After the satellite army forces were officially formed and JNA was officially dissolved, the Army of FR Yugoslavia was re-formed with the new democratic intentions overshadowing the old socialistic fundamentals of the Yugoslav People's Army. Although, the changes to the Yugoslav Army (now Army of Serbia) were very slow and modernization did not begin until near the war's end. [3] The calcification of Army cadre helped keep Slobodan Milošević in power, but when eventually the October 5th overthrow happened, the army did not intervene.

In the end, Serbia and Montenegro inherited most of Yugoslavia's military arsenal, though some of its infrastructure was destroyed or left behind in other Yugoslav republics. Croatians captured some of the arsenal in the Battle of the Barracks, but much of it was extracted. The complete navy was moved to Montenegro.

[edit] Exemplary Soldier

JNA Exemplary Soldier Plaque

If a JNA recruit completes basic training with distinction, he will earn the Exemplary Soldier plaque. This means that the soldier has shown that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty. The plaque's text is addressed to soldier's parents and sent to them upon completion of training. It lists that the recruit has excellent understanding of basic military training, military doctrine and politics. The plaque also states that the recruit has shown excellent commitment to brotherhood and unity and has shown honor in defending the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[edit] Modern militaries from territories of former Yugoslavia

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ p.202, Trifunovska
  2. ^ [1] Masacre at Grabovac, Plitvice Lakes, article from Glas Koncila
  3. ^ Bosnian Institute News: The JNA: a broken army

[edit] Sources

  • Trifunovska, Snezana, Yugoslavia Through Documents: From Its Creation to Its Dissolution, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1994 ISBN 0792326709