Austrian Armed Forces

Austrian Armed Forces
Bundesheer
Roundel of the Austrian Air Force.svg
Logo of the Bundesheer
Founded November 8, 1918
Current form May 15, 1955
Service branches Land Forces
Air Forces
Headquarters Vienna
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief President Heinz Fischer
Minister of Defence Norbert Darabos
Chief of staff General Edmund Entacher
Manpower
Military age 18
Conscription 6 months
Available for
military service		 1,914,800 males, age 16-49,
1,870,134 females, age 16-49
Fit for
military service		 1,550,441 males, age 16-49,
1,515,365 females, age 16-49
Reaching military
age annually		 48,967 males,
46,633 females
Active personnel 35,000
Reserve personnel 72,000
Expenditures
Percent of GDP 0.9% (2005)
Industry
Domestic suppliers Steyr Mannlicher
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
Glock
Foreign suppliers  France
 Germany
 Italy
 United States
Related articles
History Military history of Austria
Austro-Hungarian Army

The Österreichisches Bundesheer (German for "Federal Army of Austria", officially referred to as the Austrian Armed Forces in English), is the name for the military of the Republic of Austria.

The main branches are the Land Forces (Kommando Landstreitkräfte; KdoLaSK), Air Forces (Kommando Luftstreitkräfte; KdoLuSK), Mission Support (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU), International Missions (Kommando Internationale Einsätze; KdoIE), Command Support (Kommando Führungsunterstützung; KdoFüU) and Special Forces (Kommando Spezialeinsatzkräfte; KdoSEK).[1]

Austria, a landlocked country, today has has no navy; in the period 1958 to 2006 however its army operated a naval squadron of patrol boats on the River Danube.

Contents

History

Between 1918 and 1921, the Austrian semi-regular army was called Volkswehr ("People's Defence"), and fought against Yugoslavian army units occupying parts of Carinthia. It has been known as "Bundesheer" since then, except when Austria was a part of Nazi Germany (1938–1945; see Anschluss). The Austrian Army did develop a defense plan in 1938 against Germany, but politics prevented it from being implemented.

In 1955, Austria declared its Everlasting Neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. The Austrian Military's main purpose since then has been the protection of Austria's neutrality.

With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military have increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. The war in the neighbouring Balkans resulted in the lifting of the restrictions on the range of weaponry of the Austrian military that had been imposed by a 1955 international treaty.

Mission

The main constitutional tasks of today's Austrian military are:

Equipment

See also: List of former equipment of the Austrian Army

The Austrian military has a wide variety of equipment. Recently, Austria has spent considerable amounts of money modernizing its military arsenal. Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Ulan and Pandur infantry fighting vehicles, C-130 Hercules transport planes, S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopters, and Eurofighter Typhoon multi-purpose combat aircraft have been purchased, along with new helicopters to replace the inadequate ones used after the 1999 Galtür Avalanche.

Austria's current equipment includes:

Austrian soldiers deployed with the Steyr AUG.

Infantry weapons

Only used by Special Forces:

P 80

Steyr TMP

Steyr AUG A1

MG 74

Browning M2 (üsMG M2)

Steyr SSG 69

Steyr HS .50

PAR 66/79

Vehicles

Austrian Guard Company on parade, July 14th 2007, Champs Elysées, Paris.

A Leopard 2A4 of the Bundesheer

Ulan during the Austrian National Day

Austrian Pandur I

Iveco LMV

M109 howitzer

A Dingo 2 of the Austrian Army

Austrian Pinzgauer during a military exercise

A s-LKW by ÖAF

Air defence systems

Aircraft

Soldiers celebrating the Austrian National Day 2006.

Eurofighter Typhoon

Lockheed Martin Hercules C.Mk 1P '8T-CB' of 'Flight Regiment 3'

Austrian Saab 105

Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer '3H-FG' of the 'Flight School' in 'Viper' livery and COIN-configuration

Sikorsky S-70A-42 Black Hawk '6M-BH' of 'Flight Regiment 1'

A Bell OH-58 Kiowa

Austrian Bell 212

Structure

Structure of the Austrian Army.

International operations

The Austrian "Erbsentarnmuster", produced between 1957 to 1978.

Currently (August 10, 2009) there are Bundesheer forces in:

Traditions

Some of the traditions of the old Austro-Hungarian Army continue to be carried on in Bundesheer. For example, the most famous regiment in the Bundesheer is the "Hoch und Deutschmeister Regiment", now known as Jägerregiment Wien based in "Maria Theresien Kaserne", named after Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Also nearly every other regiment of the Bundesheer carries on traditions of the famous Austro-Hungarian regiments like "Kaiserjäger", "Rainer", etc.

Austrian commando frogmen

Former Austrian Patrol boat on the Danube river

Austria's combat frogmen are part of the commando group of the Austrian Armed Forces—the Jagdkommando. The commando group is available for special operations in multinational operations, and for operational clearing-up in remote reconnaissance employments and in military protection of individuals abroad.

They use the Dräger LAR-V oxygen rebreather, which weighs 11 kg and has a 1.5 liter oxygen cylinder and allows a dive 3 hours long.

Beyond that they have special tasks within the range of combat frogmen, the paratroops, and personal guards.

Conditions for training as a frogman Courses covered by frogman training Further courses
  • Fitness
  • Jumping into water from a 10m high tower
  • 300 m swimming in clothes
  • 30 minutes continuous swimming
  • 2400 m run under 10 minutes
  • 5000 m run under 24 minutes
  • 8 km march with pack and weapon
  • 24 km march with 10 kg pack & weapon in 3½ hours
  • 30 m abseiling down a tight diagonal rope
  • Extended swimming training
  • Amphibious course
  • Boarding training (boarding and controlling vessels)
  • Basic diving course
  • Combat frogman basic course
  • Tactical combat diving course
  • Underwater explosives training
  • Pioneer diver course
  • Ice diving course
  • Deep diving course
  • Helmet diving course
  • Fort defence course
  • Army diving trainer course

Naval Squadron (1958-2006)

In 1958 the patrol boat RPC Oberst Brecht was commissioned as a naval squadron of the Army to patrol the Danube in protection of the country's neutrality. The larger vessel RPB Niederösterreich was also commissioned 12 years later. The squadron comprised two officers and thirty men. The company which built the vessels closed in 1994. With the fall of Communism and the inability to maintain and repair the vessels, the squadron was disbanded in 2006.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Die Führungsstruktur des Österreichischen Bundesheeres" (in German). Österreichs Bundesheer. Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung und Sport. 2009. http://www.bmlv.gv.at/organisation/gliederung/gliederung.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  2. ↑ Eger (2006)

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