Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine
Coat of Arms of the Armed Forces of BiH
Service branches	Ground Forces Air Force and Aircraft Defence
Headquarters	Sarajevo
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Presidency
Minister of Defense	Marina Pendeš[1]
Chairman of the Joint Staff and Commander	Maj. Gen.Senad Mašović [1]
Manpower
Military age	18 years of age
Conscription	Abolished in 2006
Available for military service	1,190,445 males, age 18–49 (2014 est.), 1,140,888 females, age 18–49 (2014 est.)
Fit for military service	991,569 males, age 18–49 (2014 est.), 951,780 females, age 18–49 (2014 est.)
Reaching military age annually	50,870 males (2014 est.), 65,789 females (2014 est.)
Active personnel	9,200[1]
Reserve personnel	4,600[1]
Deployed personnel	Afghanistan – 55  Mali - 2  Central African Republic - 2  Democratic Republic of the Congo – 5
Expenditures
Budget	around €150 million
Percent of GDP	0.41% (2018.)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	"Zrak" d. d. Sarajevo PD "Igman" Konjic Ginex d.d. Goražde "Orao" AD Bijeljina UNIS Promex Sarajevo BNT Travnik "Binas" d. d. Bugojno Fabrika specijalnih vozila TRZ Hadžići Vitezit
Foreign suppliers	United States  Russia  Turkey  China  Italy  Germany  Romania  Croatia
Related articles
History	Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian Serb Army History of the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Patriotic League Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina
Ranks	Military ranks and insignia of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian Ground Forces
Bosnian Ground Forces Emblem
Active	2006-present
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Branch	Army
Role	Ground defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Size	12,806
Garrison/HQ	Sarajevo
Motto(s)	"Perspektiva" ("Perspective")[1]
Commanders
Notable commanders	Brigadir Emir Kliko Brigadir Zdravko Rezo Radovan Jović

5th Infantry

6th Infantry

4th Infantry

Tactical Support

Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina brigades

The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (OSBiH; Serbo-Croat-Bosnian: Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine/Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине, ОСБИХ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH Armed forces were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serbs' Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).

The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Chain of command

In accordance with the BiH Constitution (Article 5.5a), BiH Law of defense and BiH Law of service the supreme civilian commander of the Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina is the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The collective Presidency directs the Ministry of defense BiH and the Armed Forces. Former Bosnia and Herzegovina ministers of defense include H.E. Nikola Radovanović, H.E. Selmo Cikotić and H.E. Muhamed Ibrahimović. The current Minister of defense BiH is H.E. Marina Pendeš. Former Chiefs of Joint Staff AF BiH include LGEN Sifet Podžić, Lieutenant General Miladin Milojčić and Lieutenant General Anto Jeleč. The current BiH Chief of Joint Staff is Major General Senad Mašović. Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective on and from 1 January 2006.^[2]

Defence law

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas: the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Government Institutions, Entity Jurisdictions and Structure, Budget and Financing, Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Declaration, natural disasters, conflict of interests and professionalism, Oath to Bosnia-Herzegovina, flags, anthem and military insignia, and transitional and end orders.

History

The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period: the Bosnian (dominantly Bosniak with numbers of Serbs and Croats) Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, and the Croat Defence Council.

The Army of the Republic of Bosnia And Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was formally created, there existed Territorial Defence, an official military force of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a number of paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic League, and civil defense groups, as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals. The army was formed under poor circumstances, with a very low number of tanks, APCs and no military aviation assets. The army was divided into Corps, each Corp was stationed in a territory. The first commander was Sefer Halilović.

The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992. Before the VRS was formally created, there were a number of paramilitary groups such as the Srpska Dobrovoljačka Garda, Beli Orlovi, as well as some Russian, Greek and other volunteers. The army was equipped with ex-JNA inventory. It had about 200 tanks, mostly T-55s and 85 M-84s, and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces. The Air Defense of VRS has shot down several aircraft, like F-16, Mirage 2000, F-18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG-21. The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FRY.

The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War. It was first organized military force to with the aim to control the Croat populated areas, created on 8 April 1992. They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defense tasks to organized, uniformed, and well-equipped brigade-sized formations that nevertheless employed part-time soldiers. As time went on, the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more "professional", but it was not until early 1994, that the HVO began to form the so-called guards brigades, mobile units manned by full-time professional soldiers.

In 1995–96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning on December 21, 1995 to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force or SFOR. The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12,000 and then to 7,000. SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller, European Union-led European Union Force, EUFOR Althea. As of 2004, EUFOR Althea numbered around 7,000 troops.

The Dayton Peace Agreement left the country with three armies under two commands: the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat armies within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing their recent adversaries the Army of the Republika Srpska. These three forces together had around 419,000 personnel in regulars and reserves.^[3] This force size and orientation was totally at odds with the international peacemakers' vision. Slow reductions did take place. By 2004, the two warring factions had reduced their forces to 12,000 regulars and 240,000 reserves but had made virtually no progress in integrating the two into one new force, though the basis of a state defence ministry had been put in place via the Standing Committee on Military Matters (SCMM). Conscription for periods of around four months continued, the costs of which were weighing down both entities.

The restructuring of the three armies into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina represents part of a wider process of 'thickening' the central state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[4] In order to mitigate some of the potential controversy around restructuring, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) made use of evidence of malpractice in Republika Srpska military institutions. Firstly, from 2002 onwards, OHR utilised a scandal around the provision of parts and assistance to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo (the so-called Orao affair) to support the cause for bringing governance of the armies under the level of central institutions.^[5] Following this, in 2004, the process was accelerated,^[6] drawing its justification from new evidence of material and other forms of support flowing from Republika Srpska armed forces to ICTY indictee Ratko Mladić. OHR condemned the ‘systematic connivance of high-ranking members of the RS military’ and noted that measures to tackle such systematic deficiencies were under consideration.^[7] This was quickly followed by the expansion of the mandate for a Defence Reform Commission, which ultimately resulted in the consolidation of three armed forces into one, governed at the level of the central state.^[8]

As the joint AFBiH began to develop, troops began to be sent abroad. Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines, in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq. The unit was first deployed to Fallujah, then Talil Air Base, and is now located at Camp Echo. In December 2006, the Bosnian government formerly extended its mandate through June 2007. Bosnia and Herzegovina is planning to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008, their mission will be to protect/guard Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Structure

ISAF Bosnian troops display their national flag.

ISAF Bosnian troops line up, awaiting for the general march of the Lt. Anto Jeleč.

The Military units are commanded by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff in Sarajevo. There are two major commands under the Joint Staff: Operational Command and Support Command.

There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the war in BiH. These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each. Headquarters of Regiments have no operational authority. On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the regimental headquarters have the following tasks: to manage the regimental museum, monitor financial fund Regiment, prepare, investigate and cherish the history of the regiment, the regiment publish newsletters, maintain cultural and historical heritage, give guidance on holding special ceremonies, give guidance on customs, dress and deportment Regiment, conduct officer, NCO and military clubs. Each regiments three battalions divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army.

Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Name	Headquarters	Information	Chief
Operational Command[9]	Sarajevo	The main command center of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.	Senad Mašović

OrBat Operational Command

Uniform and Insignia

Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded army. MARPAT was designated as the future uniform of AFBiH.

Insignia is found on military hats or berets, on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all Soldiers of the Armed Forces. All, except for generals, wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge. Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords.All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All members of the three regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder. There are other insignias, brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia. The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name "Armed Forces of BiH" is worn on the right part of the chest.

Weapons

Ground troops of AFBiH during an excessive training course in October 2018.

Small arms

A M16A4 similar to this one is used by Bosnia and Herzegovina

Name	Origin	Type	Variant	Notes
M16 [11]	United States	Assault rifle	M16A4, M16A1
AR-15[12]	United States	Assault rifle	SP1, A3
M4 carbine[11]	United States	Assault rifle	M4A1, M4A2[12]
FN SCAR	Belgium	Assault rifle
Heckler & Koch G36[11]	Germany	Assault rifle	G36[12]
HK33[11]	Germany	Assault rifle	HK33KA3, SG/1, A2, HK13[12]
HK G3[11]	Germany	Assault rifle	G3KA4A1, G3A1, G3A3[12]
AK-47[11]	Russia	Assault rifle	AK-103, AK-12, RPK-74
Zastava M-70[11]	Yugoslavia	Assault rifle	M-70AB3, M-70A, M-70B1N, M-70AB2N, M-70A1[12]
Zastava M72[11]	Yugoslavia	Assault rifle	M72B1, M72[12]
FN FAL[11]	Belgium	Assault rifle	M964A1 MD3, M964, M964A1[12]
T-91[11]	Republic of China	Assault rifle	T-91[12]
Bizon SMG[11]	Russia	Submachine gun	2-01, 2-06, 2-07[12]
MP5[11]	Germany	Submachine gun	M5, MP5A5, MP5KA1, MP5SFA2, MP5SFA3[12]
Škorpion vz. 61[11]	Yugoslavia	Submachine gun

Machine guns

A machine gunner with the AFBiH, lays down suppressing fire while on an ambush Situational Training Exercise During Immediate Response 2012.

Name	Origin	Type	Variant	Notes
M60[11]	United States	General-purpose machine gun	M60E3, M60E4, M60E6[12]
M2 Browning[12]	United States	Heavy machine gun	M2HB, M2HB-QCB
M240[11]	United States	General-purpose machine gun
Zastava M84[11]	Yugoslavia	General-purpose machine gun	M84, M86[12]
Ultimax 100[11]	Singapore	Light machine gun	Mark 3/3A, Mark 2[12]
M249[11]	United States	Light machine gun	M249 PIP
DShK[11]	Soviet Union	Heavy machine gun	DŠK, DŠKM, Type 54 [12]
NSV[11]	Soviet Union	Heavy machine gun

Armor

A M77 similar to this one is used by Bosnia and Herzegovina

A Bosnian M113, modern IF-2 version.

Name	Origin	Type	In service	Notes
Armored fighting vehicle
M-84	Yugoslavia	Main battle tank	71[11]
AMX-30S	France	Main battle tank	50[12]	50 units donated by the UAE in 1997. 36 in service, others in storage for spare parts.
M60A3	United States	Main battle tank	45[12]	1996, US aid program – training included.
T-54/55	Soviet Union	Main battle tank	142 T-55,12 T-54[11][13]	10 of them are second hand from Turkey.
Type 92	China	Anti-armor vehicle	10[12]
AML 60/90	France	Armored car	10[12]
Humvee	United States	Light Armored Car	69[11][14]
AMX-10P	France	Infantry fighting vehicle	25[11][15]
BVP M-80A	Yugoslavia	Infantry fighting vehicle	103[11]
M113	United States	APC	80[12][15]	Aid from US[12]
BOV 3/30/VP /M	Yugoslavia	APC	3 (BOV 3)[11] 49 (30)[11] 39 (VP)[11] 8 (M)[11]
BTR-50PK	Soviet Union	APC	2[15]
BTR-70	Soviet Union	APC	3[11]
Artillery
D-30/D-30J	Soviet Union	Howitzer	258[11]	12 of these are second hand from Egypt [12]
D-20/M84 NORA	Soviet Union	Gun-Howitzer	13 (D-20)[11] 15 (M84)[11]	12 of these are second hand from Egypt [12]
M-46/M-82	Soviet Union	Field gun	61 (M-46)[11] 13 (M-82)[11]	12 of these are second hand from Egypt [12]
M2A1	United States	Howitzer	24[11]
M-56	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Howitzer	101[11]
M114A1/114A2	United States	Howitzer	126[12]	1997, US aid program – training included[12]
M1	United States	Field gun	78[11]
T-12/MT-12	Soviet Union	Anti-tank gun	42 (T-12)[11] 70 (MT-12)[11]
L118 light gun	United Kingdom	Field gun	36[11]
Self-Propelled Artillery
2S1 Gvozdika	Soviet Union	Self-propelled howitzer	24[11]
ZSU-57-2	Soviet Union	Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun	33[11]
MLRS
Type 63	China	Multiple Rocket Launcher	28[11]
BM-21 Grad	Soviet Union	Multiple rocket launcher	1 (BM-21)[11] 36 (APR-40)[11]
M-63 Plamen	Yugoslavia	Multiple rocket launcher	23[11]
M-77 Oganj	Yugoslavia	Multiple rocket launcher	20[11]
M91		Multiple rocket launcher	35[11]

Air Force

The Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Brigade of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed when elements of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Air Force were merged in 2006. The status of the Air Force in the last couple of years, has merged a great success. While saying so, it includes aircraft repairs, funds for professional and proper cooperation with the Ground Forces, as well as to the citizens of the country. The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina is in great interest of buying new aircraft's, that include mostly helicopters and perhaps even fighter jets.^[16]

Aircraft

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Helicopters
Mil Mi-8	Russia	utility / transport	Mi-8/17	6[17]
Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma	France	transport / attack			12 on order
Bell UH-1	United States	utility	UH-1H	5[17]
Aérospatiale Gazelle	France	utility	SA341/42	9[17]

A Bell UH-1 used by the Air force of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

Further reading

• Jim Dorschner, 'Endgame in Bosnia,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 18 April 2007, p. 24–29

External links

• Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• MILITARY INDUSTRY – Bosnia and Herzegovina
• European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina – EUFOR (in English)
• OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (in English)
• NATO Headquarters Sarajevo Security Sector Reform information