Serbian Armed Forces

Serbian Armed Forces
Bojcka Србије
Vojska Srbije
Emblem of the Serbian Armed Forces
Founded 1838
Current form 2006
Service branches
Headquarters Belgrade, Serbia
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief President Aleksandar Vučić
Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin
Chief of the General Staff Lt. General Milan Mojsilović
Manpower
Military age 18 years of age for voluntary military service
Fit for
military service		 3,573,091[1] males, age 16-49 (2010 est.),
3,537,415 females, age 16-49 (2010 est.)
Reaching military
age annually		 43,945 males (2010 est.),
41,080 females (2010 est.)
Active personnel 28,000 (2010)[2]
Reserve personnel 120,000
Deployed personnel 336[3]
Expenditures
Budget $703 million (2018)[4]
Percent of GDP 1.39% (2017)[5]
Industry
Domestic suppliers Yugoimport SDPR
Zastava Arms
Prvi Partizan
Sloboda Čačak
Krušik Valjevo
Milan Blagojević - Namenska
Utva Pančevo
Fabrika automobila Priboj
Zastava Trucks
Others
Annual exports $569 million (2017)[6]
Related articles
History Military history of Serbia
Ranks Military ranks of Serbia

The Serbian Armed Forces (Serbian: Војска Србије / Vojska Srbije) are the armed forces of Serbia. The armed forces consist of the Army, Air Force and Air Defence, Training Command and Guard.

The highest authority in the Armed Forces as well as in defense system of the country, in-charge for use and preparation of the Armed Forces in peace and war is the General Staff. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is the President of the Republic. The Serbian Armed Forces are a professional and volunteer based military. Serbia exercises civilian control of the military through the Ministry of Defence.

History

The 1804 Serbian Revolution, started with the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman occupation of Serbia. The victories in the battles of Ivankovac, Mišar, Deligrad and Belgrade, led to the establishment of the Principality of Serbia in 1817. The subsequent Second Serbian Uprising led to full independence and recognition of the Kingdom of Serbia and weakened the Ottoman dominance in the Balkans. In 1885, the Serbo-Bulgarian War broke out following the Bulgarian unification which was subsequently lost by Serbia. In 1912, the First Balkan War erupted between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria). The victories in the Battle of Kumanovo, Battle of Prilep, Battle of Monastir, Battle of Adrianople, Siege of Scutari resulted in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and its expulsion from the Balkans. Shortly after, the Second Balkan War broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with the division of territory, declared war against its former allies, Serbia and Greece. Following a string of defeats, Bulgaria requested an armistice and signed the Treaty of Bucharest, formally ending the war.

Serbia's independence and growing influence threatened neighboring Austria-Hungary which led to the Bosnian crisis of 1908–09. Consequently, since 1901, all Serbian males between the ages of 21 to 46 were liable for general mobilization.[7] Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia under the pretense that Serbia was responsible for the assassination, marking the beginning of the First World War. Serbia repelled three consecutive invasions by Austria, securing the first major victories of the war for the Allies, but was eventually overwhelmed by the combined forces of the Central Powers and forced to retreat through Albania to the Greek island of Corfu.

Organisation

The Serbian Armed Forces are commanded by the General Staff corp of senior officers. The general staff is led by the Chief of the General Staff. The chief of the general staff is appointed by the President who is the Commander-in-Chief. The current Chief of the General Staff is General Ljubiša Diković.

The armed forces are formally a part of the Ministry of Defence. The current Minister of Defence is Aleksandar Vulin.[8]

Unofficial reports on 14 Sept 2018 indicate that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is planning to promote Major General Milan Mojsilovic, currently Assistant Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin, to the Chief of General Staff position. The same report indicates that the heads of all other military services, including the Special Forces brigade, will be changed.[9]

Service branches

The armed forces consist of the following service branches:

Serbian Army

The Serbian Army (including a River Flotilla on the Danube) is the land-based component of the armed forces consisting of: infantry, armoured, artillery, engineering, and special forces units.

Serbian Air Force and Air Defence

The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence is the aviation and anti-aircraft defence based component of the armed forces consisting of: aviation, anti-aircraft, surveillance and reconnaissance units.

Serbian Training Command

The Serbian Training Command was established on 23 April 2007, by merging parts of Operation Forces, Land Force and Air Force units. The Training Command is primary responsible for providing soldiers, non-commissioned officer and officers of SAF, as well the members of foreign armies basic and military specialist training.

Serbian Guard

The Serbian Guard is an honor guard unit of the Armed Forces of Serbia. The Guard is directly subordinated to the Chief of General Staff Office and performs duty of ceremonial guard during peacetime as well as strategic combat duties during wartime. Also it is responsible for safeguarding the facilities of vital importance for the defence system.

Units directly subordinated to the General Staff

As General Staff comprises various sections there are specific units that directly subordinate to the Staff such as,

Equipment

The comprehensive list of equipment is given in Equipment of the Serbian Armed Forces. It includes most of equipment in use and plans for modernization.

Reserve

The reserve force is composed of an active reserve and passive reserve. The active reserve force numbers 2,000 members,[10] while the passive reserve totals about 1.7 million citizens with past military training or experience.[10]

Peacekeeping

The Serbian Armed Forces actively take part in several multinational peacekeeping missions.[3]

Country Mission Number of personnel
Cyprus Cyprus UNFICYP 1 staff officer, 2 observers, 6 non-commissioned officers and 37 infantry
Central African Republic Central African Republic MINUSCA 3 staff officers, 2 observers, 68 medical infantry
Central African Republic Central African Republic EUTM RCA 7 medical infantry
Democratic Republic of the Congo DR Congo MONUC 2 staff officers, 2 doctors and 4 technicians
Lebanon Lebanon UNIFIL 8 staff officers, 5 national support element and 164 infantry
Liberia Liberia UNMIL 1 officer as military observers
Mali Mali EUTM Mali 3 medical infantry
Middle East UNTSO 1 officer
Somalia Somalia EUTM Somalia Medical Corps team including 1 staff officer, 1 doctor and 3 medical technicians
Somalia Somalia EUNAVFOR 4 OHQ staff officers, 1 OHQ non-commissioned officer, 2 FHQ staff officers and 12 members of AVPD

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The World Factbook".
  2. ↑ "Sa 28.000 vojnika Vojska Srbije među najbrojnijim u regionu". blic.rs (in Serbian). Tanjug. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Министарство одбране Републике Србије - Актуелне мултинационалне операције".
  4. ↑ https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2017&mm=11&dd=29&nav_id=102923
  5. ↑ https://tangosix.rs/2016/15/12/budzet-pod-lupom-finansiranje-vojske-srbije-u-2017-godini-dolaze-li-bolji-dani/
  6. ↑ https://www.blic.rs/vesti/drustvo/vulin-odbrambena-industrija-srbije-je-nas-strateski-interes/n2lfj5w
  7. ↑ "Serbian Army in WWI". Archived from the original on 2009-03-23.
  8. ↑ "Министарство одбране Републике Србије - Министар одбране".
  9. ↑ "Vucic to replace military brass, including army chief - English - on B92.net". B92.net. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  10. 1 2 "Iz stroja pravo na posao" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.