Albanian Land Force

Albanian Land Force
Forca Tokësore
Active 2000–present
Country  Albania
Allegiance Republic of Albania
Type Army
Role National Defense
Size 80,500 (2015) [1]
Motto(s) Fatherland, Honour, And Duty
Commanders
President of Albania Ilir Meta
Minister of Defense Mimi Kodheli
Chief of the Albanian General Staff Major General Jeronim Bazo
Commander of the Land Forces Brigadier General Nazmi Cahani
Insignia
Identification symbol

The Albanian Land Force (Albanian: Forca Tokësore të Republikës së Shqipërisë) is a branch of the Albanian Armed Forces.

Mission

Its main mission is the defense of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Albania, participation in humanitarian, combat, non-combat and peace support operations.[2]

History

A British Royal Marine posing with an Albanian Commando (right), both showing their shoulder patches

Land Force is a priority unit in the structure of the Armed Forces. Land Force was established on August 29, 2000, and included military units with traditions and rich multi-year activity, spread across the territory of the Republic of Albania. In 2000 the Land Force included five infantry divisions with 55 brigades and 300 battalions deployed in 167 different regions of the country. During its continuous reform, the Land Force underwent new changes. In 2006 the Land Force was dissolved and the Joint Force Command was established. In the context of the ongoing transformation of the Armed Forces, based on the concept of an army small in number, operational and professional, on the 9th of December 2009 was re-established the Land Force on the basis of Rapid Reaction Brigade and Commando Regiment.

Based on the constitutional mission, the Land Force was involved in a process of profound transformation according to Western military concepts, and with the transition of the entire force from a conscript military service into a professional army its operational level has increased. The structures of Land Force have been engaged in Peace Support Operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Chad and currently in Herat and Kandahar, Afghanistan. Land Force has the major share in peacekeeping operations in the framework of NATO, UN and EU. The Land Force is managed by young qualified leaders educated in military schools of NATO countries, as in the United States, Italy, Turkey, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, etc., based on cooperation projects with these countries.

Land Force is engaged in civil emergency operations to help the community in cases of natural disasters, such as floods, blocked roads and aid distribution in cases of heavy snowfalls, fire suppression operations, etc.

Since its establishment, the Land Force is led by experienced commanders. From 2000-06 it was headed by Maj. Gen. Kostaq Karoli; from 2006-08 it was led by Brig. Gen. Shpëtim Spahiu; from 2008-August 2012 by Brig. Gen. Viktor Berdo. From August 2012 to November 2013 it has been commanded by Maj. Gen. Zyber Dushku. Since 11 November 2013, Maj. Gen. Jeronim Bazo is Chief of Staff.

Structure

Organizational divisions of the land force include:

Command and Staff

Staff Support Company

Training Centre

“Zall-Herr” Garrison

1st Infantry Battalion

2nd Infantry Battalion

3rd Infantry Battalion

Commando Battalion

Special Operations Battalion

Combat Support Battalion.[2]

Specific tasks

Equipment

Firearms

Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles and Carbines

In 2014, Minister of Defense Kodheli announced that Albania would transition from the Kalashnikov family of rifles to the M4 family, in part because of the association of the Kalashnikov with terrorism.[3]

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
M4 carbine 5.56×45mm  United States The Colt M4, alongside the Beretta ARX 160, will be the standard weapon of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania replacing the different models of AK[4]
AKM 7.62×39mm  Albania Phased out in favor of the M4 and the Beretta ARX 160.[4]
ASH-78 Tip-1 7.62×39mm  Albania Phased out in favor of the M4 and the Beretta ARX 160.[4]
Beretta ARX-160 5.56×45mm  Italy Used by Albanian special forces (BFS), RENEA and Military Police. To become standard issue with 5.000 units delivered in 2017.[5]

Pistol and Submachine guns

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
Beretta Px4 Storm 9×19mm  Italy Standard issue[6]
P8 Pistol 9×19mm  Germany Limited use in the B.O.S.[7]
P12 Pistol .45 ACP  Germany Limited use in the B.O.S.[7]
Beretta 92 9×19mm  Italy In use with the B.O.S.[8]
HK MP5 9×19mm  Germany Standard SMG in the B.O.S[9]
HK MP7 HK 4.6×30mm  Germany Limited use in the B.O.S. Mostly used by the RENEA, the Albanian police[7][9]
HK UMP .45 ACP  Germany Limited use in the B.O.S.[9]

Sniper Rifles

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
Sako TRG .308 Winchester  Finland Used by the Army, RENEA and B.O.S[10]
Barrett M99 .50 BMG  United States Used by B.O.S and RENEA[11]

Machine Guns

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
Heckler & Koch MG4 5.56×45 NATO  Germany The Commando Battalion was the first unit seen to use it in an exercise hel in late December 2015.It was also seen used by 2nd Infantry Battalion during exercises it participated in Poland. It will be used as a squad machinegun of the army[12]
DSHKM 12.7×108mm  Albania/ China DSHKM is used as Close AA gun also on APCs, MBTs, transport vehicles and some times on patrol boats.[13]
RPD machine gun  Albania/ Soviet Union Phased out in favor of the H&K MG4/MG5

Anti Tank weapons and MANPADS

ImageCaliberOriginNote
Soviet RPG-7 and Chinese Type 69 40 mm  Soviet Union/ China Soviet and Chinese version is still used in the army[13]
Strela-2 72 mm  China/ Soviet Union
HJ-8 120 mm China Last seen in 2007 parade[14]

Mortar

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
82mm 82mm  Albania 259
M-120 120mm  Israel 550
M-43 160mm  Russia 100

Armoured Vehicles

[15]

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
Land Rover Defender Armoured Vehicle  United Kingdom 127
Mercedes-Benz G Class
Armoured Vehicle  Germany 150
Iveco VM 90
Armoured vehicle  Italy 250
Iveco LMV
Armoured Vehicle  Italy 23[16]
HUMVEE
Armoured Vehicle  United States 77 will be received this year as part of 250 which will be procured from Excess Defense Article
MRAP
Armoured Vehicle  United States 50
Nexter Aravis
Armoured Vehicle  France 5 [17]
M113
Armoured Vehicle  United States 130[18]
YW-531
Armoured Vehicle  China 103[19]

Tanks

ModelImageCaliberOriginNote
Type-59

Main Battle Tank  China 721+ delivered by China and used by Albanian government alongside 75 Soviet T-54 & 300+ T-55 tanks. Today most are retired and some in storage.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.gazeta-shqip.com/lajme/2015/09/12/sulmet-nga-terrorizmi-shqiperia-do-te-bleje-raketa-ne-nje-rreze-70-km/
  2. 1 2 "Land Force". Albanian Armed Forces. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Speech of Minister Kodheli held in the Parliament session of September 25, 2014". Albanian Ministry of Defence. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Forcat e Armatosura shqiptare 6 vjet në NATO" (in Albanian). Albanian Armed Forces. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Albanian Armed Forces newspaper". AAF Newspaper.
  6. ↑ "Trajnohen nga specialistët amerikanë, instruktorët e parë të pushkës M-4 dhe pistoletës Beretta PX Storm në FT" (in Albanian). Albanian Armed Forces. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "hk in albania". Youtube.com. 2007-12-26. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ Janq Designs. "Special Operations.Com". Special Operations.Com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  9. 1 2 3 http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/by-country.asp?Country=Albania
  10. ↑ Eric R. Poole (April 2010). "Sako TRG-42 The quest for cold-bore accuracy stops here.". Gunsandammo.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ . Lajmi.net http://lajmi.net/ushtria-shqiptare-zbarkon-ne-mes-te-tiranes-foto/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. 1 2 3 Jones, Richard D.; Ness, Leland S., eds. (January 27, 2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 (35th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  14. ↑ "NORINCO HJ-8 (Hongjian-8) (Red Arrow-8) Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) (1985)". 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ "Albanian military buys new equipment for air and land forces".
  17. ↑ "Albanian army was trained during two weeks with the armoured vehicle Nexer Aravis". 29 November 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  18. ↑ http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/US/M113_APC.php
  19. ↑ http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php
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