Croatian army. Croatian Army: the strongest in the Balkans
The collapse of Yugoslavia began with the open separatism of Slovenia and Croatia. At the same time, the first one left easily, the second one gained independence at great cost. Slovenia did not actually participate in the civil war, so there was no particular need to strengthen its armed forces. They received a small part of the JNA's equipment, and Ljubljana did not lay claim to more.
Country of the land fleet
Slovenia has been a NATO member since 2004, the interest of its leadership in rearmament dropped to zero. New equipment is not being acquired, so the aircraft represent an increasingly symbolic value.
In Slovenia, there is no division into army, air force and navy, which is typical for the vast majority of countries. The Air Force and Navy are so small that there is no point in making them separate types; they are structural units of the ground forces, which in turn are identical to the Armed Forces as a whole. They include the 1st (Ljubljana), 72nd (Maribor) and transport brigades, special forces group, reconnaissance, communications, logistics, military police battalions, 15th air wing (Air Force), 430th naval division (Navy) . In service:
— 19 M-84 tanks (Yugoslav version of T-72),
- 10 Turkish Cobra armored vehicles,
- 13 Yugoslav M-80A infantry fighting vehicles,
- 85 armored personnel carriers "Valuk" (Austrian "Pandur"),
- 30 armored personnel carriers "Svarun" (Finnish AMV).
Yugoslav BMP M-80A
Artillery represented by 18 Israeli M-845 (TN-90) howitzers and 56 MN-9 (K-6) mortars of the same origin. There are 12 self-propelled ATGMs “Malyutka” and “Fagot” each on the chassis of the Yugoslav BOV-3 armored personnel carrier and 10 portable launchers ATGM “Fagot”.
Air defense includes 12 air defense systems (6 French Rolands and Soviet Strela-1 each), 126 Russian MANPADS (4 Igla-1, 122 Igla), 60 ZSU (12 Yugoslav BOV-3, 24 Czechoslovak M-53 /59, 24 Soviet ZSU-57-2). Apart from MANPADS and, possibly, the Roland air defense system, all these weapons are not combat-ready.
Aviation Slovenia does not have combat aircraft, only transport (1 Czech L-410, 2 Swiss PC-6, 1 American Falcon-2000) and training (9 Swiss PC-9M, 8 Czech Z-242 and 2 Z-143). Helicopters - multi-purpose (1 Bell-212, 9 Bell-412) and transport helicopters (4 AS532AL, 6 Bell-206, 1 each AW-109E and EC135).
Naval Division consists of two patrol boats - the Israeli Super Dvora type and the Russian project 10412.
Troops about two tanks
Croatian Army was born during a long bloody confrontation with the Serbs during the collapse of Yugoslavia. For Zagreb, this war ended in the fall of 1995, when its armed forces completely captured the Serbian Krajina. In 2009, Croatia entered the third wave of NATO expansion. But the aircraft are still equipped almost exclusively with Soviet, Yugoslav and domestic equipment, a significant part of which has already exhausted its service life. And the main supplier of the new one is not NATO, but neutral Finland.
Tank M-84 (Yugoslav version of T-72)
The ground forces include armored and motorized infantry brigades, as well as regiments - infantry, artillery, air defense, engineering, transport, communications, intelligence and military police.
Tank park consists of 74 M-84s, of which two have been upgraded to the M-84D level, the rest have stalled due to lack of funds. Two more M-95 tanks of our own design, but based on the same T-72/M-84.
In service 10 Italian BRM LMV, 104 Yugoslav BMP M-80 and about 500 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles (up to 18 old Soviet BTR-50, 54 Yugoslav BOV-VP and 36 BOV-M, up to 72 LOV-1OP, 126 newest Finnish AMV, 212 American , using MRAP technology - 30 MaxxPro, 162 Oshkosh, 20 RG-33).
Artillery: there are 9 Soviet self-propelled guns 2S1 and 15 of the latest German PzH-2000, 12 M48 mountain guns, 89 American M-2A1 and their Yugoslav counterparts M-56H1, 54 Soviet D-30, modernized in Croatia itself, 18 Argentine L-33. All mortars of our own and Yugoslav production: 69 M57, 69 M96, 43 M-75. MLRS - 24 each of Romanian APR-40 and their own towed RAK-12 (a variant of the Yugoslav M-63).
There are about 800 ATGMs - 461 Soviet “Malyutka” (of which 43 are self-propelled on the M-83 armored personnel carrier), 119 “Fagotov”, 42 “Konkursa” (24 on the M-80 BMP chassis), 54 “Metis”, up to 100 French “ Milanov."
Military air defense predominantly Soviet-made: 9 Strela-10 air defense systems on the AMV chassis, 221 MANPADS (141 Strela-2, 80 Igla), as well as 62 Yugoslav ZSUs on the BOV-3 armored personnel carrier chassis and 189 anti-aircraft guns (177 Yugoslav M -55, 12 Swedish L/70).
Air Force include two air bases - the 91st (Pleso) and the 93rd (Zemunik). It is armed with 13 old Soviet MiG-21s (9 MiG-21bis, 4 combat training MiG-21UM) and 6 American AT-802AF counter-guerrilla attack aircraft. There are 9 transport aircraft in service (1 CL-604 and 6 CL-415, 1 American RA-31 and Cessna-210 each) and up to 22 training aircraft (17 Swiss PC-9M and 5 Czech Z-242L). Multi-purpose and transport helicopters: 13–14 Mi-8, 10 Mi-17, 11 American Bell-206B and 1 AB-212. 3 American Hughes-369s are in storage.
Navy include the minesweeper "Korčula", 5 missile (1 "Končar", 2 "Helsinki", 2 "Korol", all armed with Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles), 5 landing (2 "Cetina", 2 "Type-11" , 1 "Type-22") and 4 patrol boats "Mirna" (in the coast guard). Except for Helsinki, all the rest are locally built. Coastal defense consists of three RBS-15K anti-ship missile batteries and 21 artillery batteries.
The Balkans remain an extremely turbulent and unstable region, so the potential of the armed forces of Slovenia and Croatia may, under certain circumstances, prove to be insufficient. And NATO membership will not help at all.
Although the Yugoslav wars began in Slovenia, the main focus of the war between 1991 and 1995 was Croatia, the land on which more than one generation of nationalists grew up ().
Death of Yugoslavia. Croatian youth burn the Yugoslav flag amid cries of "Sieg Heil".
By the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia, Croatia was the second largest republic of the federal state. 4,784,300 people lived on its territory. The lion's share of the republic's inhabitants were Croats (78.09% of the population), there were significantly fewer Serbs (12.15% of the total population), the rest of the inhabitants of Croatia were representatives of other ethnic groups. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Serbian and Croatian enclaves were mixed, which incredibly complicated the state “divorce” and subsequently led to the formation of another source of tension in the Serbian Krajina.
Croatia had historical ties to Austria and had little experience of existing as an independent nation-state. The Croatian language was similar to Serbian, but the Croats, unlike the Serbs, used the Latin alphabet for writing and professed a different Christian doctrine - Catholicism. As a result, centrifugal forces were strong within the republic, interested in the collapse of the SFRY and Croatia’s exit from the federal state.
Of course, the bloody Croatian-Serbian conflict could have been avoided if the Croatian leadership had granted autonomy to the Serbian enclaves and respected the language and customs of their “brothers in the federation.” Unfortunately, the leadership of the new Croatia consisted entirely of stubborn nationalists who took an irreconcilable position towards the Serbs, which led to a monstrous four-year massacre.
We have resolved the Serbian question; there will be no more than 12% Serbs or 9% Yugoslavs, as it was. And 3%, however many there are, will no longer threaten the Croatian state.
From Franjo Tudjman’s speech at the opening of the military school “Ban Josip Jelacic” in Zagreb on December 14, 1998.
Before starting an overview of the Serbo-Croatian conflict, it makes sense to take a closer look at the armed forces of the newly formed state.
THE CROATIAN ARMY AT THE FIRST STAGE OF THE WAR (1990-1991).
In fact, the army of independent Croatia was born on September 9, 1990. On this day, President Tudjman appointed a new Minister of Defense of the Republic - the former commander of the 5th Army of the JNA Martin Spegel. Spegel understood that in the very near future the Yugoslav army could become an enemy of the new European state. For this reason, the Croatian Minister of Defense turned to the East German and Bulgarian authorities for military assistance. Less than two months had passed since the Bulgarians handed over 10,000 AK-47s to the Croats. The Germans equipped Spegel's men with heavy hand weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
Alija Siljak. One of the leaders of the Croatian HOS.
In April 1991, a group of Croatian fighters managed to take control of a tank factory in the city of Slavonski Brod and captured several assembled M-84 tanks there. Later, in the summer and autumn of 1991, during the capture of the JNA barracks, the Croats managed to get their hands on: 40 152-mm howitzers, 37 122-mm howitzers, 42 105-mm howitzers, 40 155-mm howitzers, 12 MLRS, 300 82-mm mortars and 120 mm, 180 ZIS-3 and B-1 guns, 110 100 mm anti-tank guns, 36 self-propelled guns, 174 ATGMs, 2000 grenade launchers, 190 M-84, T-55, PT-76 and even T-34 tanks -85, 179 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 180 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 24 M-53/59 "Prague" ZSU, 10 ZSU-57-2 ZSU, 20 anti-aircraft guns, 200,000 small arms, 18,600 tons of ammunition, 1,630 tons of fuel. With such weapons reserves, the Croats were able to resist the Yugoslav army for several months in the autumn and winter of 1991-1992.
By April 12, 1991, the Croatian authorities consolidated all police forces into the National Guard Corps (Zbor Narodne Garde) (the fighters of these units were often called “Zengovtsy”). On May 15, the first national infantry brigade was formed, and 13 days later (May 28, 1991) a military parade was held on the streets of Zagreb, in which 4 A-class (active) infantry brigades took part. On May 30, a Special Guards Battalion appeared in Howarthia, the purpose of which was to ensure the security of the top officials of the state. Additional R-class (reserve) Guards brigades were formed throughout the summer of 1991. Their target was maintenance warehouses controlled by the federal government.
Throughout the summer of 1991, the Croatian government closely monitored the Slovenian crisis and prepared the republic for a full-scale JNA invasion. By August 1991, the Croatian Army included 4 A-class brigades and 15 R-class brigades. On September 20, the Croatian authorities carried out the next stage of army reform. The Croatian Armed Forces (Hrvatska Vojska) were created, and the republican territory was divided into 6 operational zones (1 to 6). General Anton Tus (former commander of the Yugoslav Air Force) became the Commander-in-Chief of the Croatian Army, since Spegelj became a victim of a serious conflict with Tudjman and was “promoted” to the position of inspector general of the Croatian Army. In mid-autumn, numerous deserters joined the newly formed army, leaving the ranks of the JNA forever.
The first real battle between Croatian nationalists and the Yugoslav army took place in Borovoe Selo on May 1, 1991. The focus of attention of the warring parties was the national flag of the SFRY, hung on the wall of the local administration. The armed Croats tried to get to the city center in cars and armored personnel carriers, but ran into fierce resistance from the Serbs, drove into a pre-prepared ambush and lost 12 people killed and their commander Stjepan Bošnjak. Several dozen people were captured, including citizens of Romania and Albania, as well as a visiting figure from the USSR. The Croats were saved from complete defeat by units of the JNA, who separated the participants in the shootout “on opposite sides of the ring.” However, the Serbs have no doubt that the Croats will repeat their visit very soon. In fact, the conflict for Borovo Selo became the prologue to the full-scale Serbo-Croatian War, which will be the subject of the next part of our story.
Yugoslav equipment captured in the barracks by the Zengovites.
At the time of the outbreak of hostilities between Croatia and the SFRY, the administrative structure of the Croatian Army was as follows: each operational zone was under the control of 0-2 A class brigades; on the territory of the zone there were 5-16 R class brigades, 0-11 separate guards battalions and a zonal headquarters (it included 1-2 artillery battalions, 1-2 air defense battalions, 1 engineering battalion and one military police battalion). The 3rd zone, which ensured the security of Zagreb, was protected by twice as many troops as any other zone (the precautions turned out to be unnecessary, since the JNA never attacked the Croatian capital). Zones 1 and 6 (Slavonia and Dalmatia, respectively) were saturated with heavy weapons, since they were the ones who were supposed to hold back the onslaught of Yugoslav troops.
By winter, the war in Croatia had reached its climax. Both sides of the conflict made full use of heavy equipment and artillery. Civilians died in the thousands, and horrifying rumors began to leak into the Western and Russian press about torture and concentration camps being formed on both sides of the front. The Yugoslav army experienced all the delights of urban tank battle (Vukovar), while the Croats suffered terrible losses during attacks against fortified Serbian positions. Actually, neither side of the conflict really knew how to fight. No one had modern combat experience, and the experience of World War II was exclusively partisan, unsuitable for siege warfare, in which artillery and tanks were actively used. Croatian and Serbian generals had to experiment directly on the battlefield, which led to an unjustified increase in losses.
In December 1991, the Croatian Army consisted of 230,000 personnel (including 180,000 Croats), both men and women, organized into 60 A and R class brigades. Moreover, 3,000 Croatian military personnel were former JNA officers. The 1st (Tigers), 2nd (Lightning), 3rd (Martens) and 4th brigades (Spiders) were formed from professional military personnel. These brigades included rapid response units. The remaining 56 brigades were formed from reservists and volunteers of various levels of training. In addition to this, the Croatian army included 19 separate infantry battalions, 8 artillery battalions, 11 air defense units, 7 engineer battalions and 7 military police battalions. A separate “Zrinsky” battalion of sabotage operations was attached to the Ministry of Defense. On January 20, 1992, another brigade, 98, was formed from the judicial police personnel.
According to the charter, the Croatian Brigade was supposed to consist of 1,800 people, but in conditions of continuous fighting its strength fluctuated between 500 and 2,500 people. Additional fighters were volunteers, mercenaries, or people driven by a sense of revenge.
At the first stage of the war, the Croatian army did not have serious experience in combat operations and often suffered heavy losses from clumsy blows “to the forehead” of the enemy position. For example, during the battle for the JNA barracks in Mirkovci (September 21, 1991), the Croats attempted to storm a fortified Serbian position with a detachment consisting of a thousand people. Naturally, a frontal attack on a position reinforced by ZSU, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and heavy machine guns could only end in defeat and heavy losses in the attacking troops.
Despite the lack of experience, the Croatian commanders did not suffer from the shortcomings characteristic of the Yugoslav command: they did not shy away from battle (“saving” the lives of their soldiers) and certainly did not surrender their weapons to a potential enemy (the JNA commanders left at least 1/3 of them to the Croatian military all stockpiles of weapons located on Croatian territory.
Soldiers of the Guards Brigade "Grom".
Formation of reservist brigades (R - class) by month (1991):
June 1991: 100, 101, 105-110, 112-114
July 1991: 111
August 1991: 103,104
September 1991: 99
October 1991: 115, 117-119, 123, 125-134, 137-138, 145, 148-150, 153, 204
November 1991: 102, 116, 120-122, 124, 135, 136, 139-141, 143-144, 151-154
December 1991: 142, 156
Guards brigades of the Croatian Army:
1st Guards Mechanized Brigade "Tigers" (1990-2008)
2nd Guards Mechanized Brigade "Grom"(1991-2008) (in some sources for some reason it is called “Lightning”).
3rd Guards Brigade "Kunitsa" (1991-2003)
4th Guards Motorized Brigade "Spiders" (1991-2008)
5th Guards Brigade "Falcons" (1992-2008)
7th Guards Brigade "Puma" (1992-2003)
9th Guards Brigade "Wolves", originally 6th (1992-2008)
Structure of brigades and battalions of the National Guard:
The motorized brigade of the National Guard included a headquarters consisting of an engineer and police company, as well as a reconnaissance, counterterrorism, communications and commando platoon. In addition to this, it included 1-4 infantry battalions,
plus mixed artillery, tank or air defense battalions.
The National Guard infantry battalion included a headquarters that included a signal company and a security company, as well as an engineer, artillery, and logistics platoon plus a support platoon. In addition, the battalion included 1-4 platoons of regular or volunteer infantry.
The Croatian National Guard company included 80+ personnel (1-4 platoons) and a supply platoon, each platoon had 1-4 squads of 12 people
The mixed artillery battalion (division) included one 105 mm howitzer and two 120 mm field guns.
The tank battalion consisted of one mechanized and two tank companies (two platoons each). A motorized brigade, as a rule, included 4 infantry and 1 artillery battalions, as well as various additional units, the composition of which depended on the tasks performed by the brigade.
Vukovar Tower. Symbol of the civil war.
CROATIAN ARMY AT THE SECOND STAGE OF THE WAR (1992-1995)
In 1992, the situation on the Croatian front changed somewhat. The Serbian offensive fizzled out. In addition to this, a second “Muslim” front was opened against the Serbian army in Bosnia. The short-term truce established between the Serbs and Croats in the second half of 1992 was interrupted in January 1993. The new stage of the war continued for another two years, with the Croats fighting not only on their own land, but also on the territory of Bosnia (which did not stop them, with this, to fight together with the Serbs against Muslims in a separate Croatian-Bosnian conflict).
By mid-1995 (that is, by the time Operation Storm began), the Croatian army was a cohesive fighting force, hardened by 4 years of combat and capable of achieving its goals, despite fierce enemy resistance. Some researchers generally believe that in the mid-90s the Croats had the most combat-ready army on the European continent.
After further disagreements with Tudjman, on January 22, 1992, General Anton Tus left his post. The new leader of the Croatian Army was General Janko Bobetko, who resigned on July 15, 1995 and handed over command to General Zvonimir Cervenko.
After the start of the truce (1992), the Croats formed 12 brigades: 2 in the 1st operational zone (157 and 160), 5 in the 3rd operational zone (98, 161 later 57, 162, 165, 175), 1 in 5 -th operational zone (155) and 4 in the 6th operational zone (158, 164, 159, 163). The number of personnel was reduced. In March 1992, 20,000 people were demobilized, in May-June another 100,000 soldiers and, finally, in November another 40,000 military personnel were discharged from military service.
A Croatian policeman waits out an artillery "raid". Late autumn 1991.
(c) Jean Claude Coutausse.
Taking advantage of the knowledge of American instructors, the Croats reduced the size of the army to 105,000 regulars and 100,000 reservists. Most of the independent battalions became “guards”. The military personnel of the former Territorial battalions joined the so-called Croatian Home Guard (Domobranstvo).
The Domobrannstvo included 43 regiments and 34 brigades, including 15 new regiments (1, 4-5, 7-8, 11, 13-17, 20, 21, 24, 52), 5 regiments were formed from brigades , at the same time their numbering changed (129 in 3, 141 in 6, 135 in 9, 124 in 10, 162 in 12), 23 regiments were formed on the basis of brigades without changing the serial number (107-110, 116, 118, 121, 125, 126, 132-134, 136-138, 140, 142, 143, 154-157, 163), 30 brigades remained as part of the forces protecting operational zones (99-106, 112, 114-115, 119, 122, 128, 130-131, 144, 145, 148-151, 153, 158-160, 164-165, 175, 204). Four brigades were abolished (98, 117, 120, 127), three brigades became mechanized brigades (11, 113, 123), one brigade became a separate mechanized battalion (139). The 161st brigade was renamed the 57th brigade. The number of artillery battalions was increased from 8 to 10 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10-12, 14, 16, 19). The “defense” included two anti-tank battalions (3, 5) and two anti-tank brigades (15, 16), four air defense brigades (201-204), two engineering battalions (32, 34) and one engineering brigade (33), one signal regiment (40) and six signal companies (251-256).
4 infantry brigades, formed in 1991, were transformed into Guards Motorized Brigades in December 1992. Their number was increased to 7. On December 23, 1992, the Croatian government disbanded 19 separate infantry battalions and formed 5 separate guards battalions (numbers 80-84) from their fighters.
The defense of any of the six Operational Zones of Croatia in 1992-1995 was to be ensured by the following forces: 0-2 Guards motorized brigades, 2-15 motorized brigades or Home Guard regiments, 0-3 separate guards battalions together with a headquarters unit (0-3 artillery battalions, 0-2 anti-tank battalions, 0-1 air defense brigade, 0-1 engineering brigade or battalion, as well as a reconnaissance company and a military police battalion). The actual composition of the defensive units depended on the current situation on the front line, as well as on the number of reserves available to the Croats. In February 1993, the system of Operational Zones was abolished and was replaced by a system of Corps Districts.
Soldiers of the Serbian army in the battle for Vukovar.
During the conflict with the Serbs, the Croatian army fought mainly a positional war. The focal points of the confrontation were Croatian cities besieged by the Serbian army, or Serbian cities besieged by Croatian units. The region of the most intense fighting was Slavonia, on whose territory numerous Croatian units fought, reinforced by police units, special forces battalions and HSP fighters (the Croatian Party on the right - the direct heirs of the Ustasha).
In the early stages of the war, Croatian special units suffered heavy losses. Their fighters did not have uniform training and often entered into battle without a clear plan of action. Losses were especially heavy on enemy territory. Unable to overcome the “front line,” the Croats fell into the “sack” and were destroyed by the advancing Serbian forces using tanks or heavy equipment.
Croatian special units demonstrated greater effectiveness during operations on their territory. Their attacks on enemy mechanized columns were also effective (the tactics of destroying the first and last vehicle followed by destroying the center of the column were used). At the first stage of the war, such attacks occurred so often that the Serbian tankers called this period the Corn War (the Croats loved to use thickets of flowering corn for ambushes).
Realizing the weakness of their own special forces, the Croats seriously began training fighters using Western military specialists. By the end of the war, the special forces of the Croatian army were able to conduct successful military raids deep behind enemy lines.
Croatian Air Force, Navy and Militia
As was written above, the backbone of the Yugoslav Navy consisted of immigrants from Croatia. The Croatian Navy was created on September 12, 1991. The fleet numbered 1,000 people under the command of Admiral Sveto Letitsa. By May 1995, the fleet personnel was increased to 1,850 people. The Croats had 2 missile boats, a torpedo boat, a minelayer, a submarine and a ship designed to support commando operations. The Marine unit consisted of 53 companies, several Home Guard battalions, a coastal artillery battery, 51 communications battalions and 74 military police battalions.
The Croatian Air Force was created in January 1992. Colonel Tomo Madic formed the backbone of the Air Force, recruiting 150 professional pilots, mechanics and air defense specialists, from among whom 3 air squadrons and three separate aviation platoons were formed. Croatian pilots flew mainly on military equipment captured from the JNA, as well as on civilian aircraft that they “inherited” from the previous Yugoslav owners.
Croatian fighter in West German winter uniform.
The Croatian Territorial Defense Forces represented another branch of the armed forces at the disposal of the Croatian government. Tudjman's men seized control of the local TO forces on November 8, 1990. By the time the Serbian-Croatian conflict began, the number of Croatian military personnel was 240,000. During the active phase of the war, these people joined the ranks of the Zengovites or fought as part of separate units of the Territorial Defense, which operated on the front line until 1995.
The People's Defense Forces (Narodna zastita - NZ), formed on 5 April 1991, consisted of 100,000 volunteer fighters whose mission included the protection of private property, strategic enterprises and convoys, as well as the collection of data on the movements of enemy troops. All units of the People's Defense were disbanded in March-April 1992.
CROATIA POLICE
In May 1990, the Croatian Militia numbered 16,000 people (the militia was renamed the Police on November 8, 1990). Initially, the police were subordinate to the Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova - MUP). There were 119 police secretariats on Croatian territory (17 in Zagreb, the rest in other Croatian territories). At least 60% of Croatian police officers were Serbs.
On August 17, 1990, Croatian police attempted to disarm Serbian police officers operating on Croatian territory. In response, Serbian militia general Milan Martić began distributing weapons to the Serbs, which led to a crisis in the Serbian Krajina with the subsequent separation of this territory from the newly formed Croatian state. After the collapse of Croatia into two hostile territories (Croatia and the Serbian Krajina), the Croatian militia was completely drained of blood; new fighters had to be taught everything from the very beginning.
JNA soldiers suddenly attacked a Croatian police station. A photographer who was inside recorded the commotion going on in the building.
(c) Jean Claude Coutausse.
The first 1,800 people trained by the Croats under the new program joined the Special Forces Unit on September 12, 1990 (in December of the same year, this unit was renamed the Lutsk Counter-Terrorism Unit).
In 1991, tension between the Serbian and Croatian militias reached its climax, and automatic weapons were used. On March 2, 1991, in Pakrac (Western Slavonia), the Croatian position captured the Security Service building, which was guarded by the Serbs. JNA units came to the aid of the Serbs, against whom the Croats used armored personnel carriers. In Plitvice, Croatian police recaptured the local police building from the Serbs, and then entered into battle with Serbian police forces. The massacre lasted two days.
In the summer of 1991, such shootouts became an internal matter for the police/militia, since JNA fighters had to treat both sides of the conflict equally. By the end of the year, the situation changed and the Yugoslav army began to enter the battle on the side of the Serbian police.
In January 1991, the Croatian police force consisted of 55,260 personnel (21,360 regular police officers, 22,900 reservists and 11,000 special police units). In May 1991, a Special Police Brigade was created from three territorial police battalions, capable of conducting combat operations against Serbian troops (later, regular A-class brigades were created on the basis of such brigades). In June 1991, the police administrative structure was divided into 19 police departments. The total number of fighters was reduced to 40,000 people (regulars and reservists) plus 4,000 fighters in special police units. On December 26, 1992, the police was reorganized again, its administrative structure increased to 20 district departments.
During the fighting, companies and battalions of military police were used not only to restore order in Croat-controlled territories, but also to break through enemy defense lines. Often, police units served as fire brigades, which plugged “holes” in problem areas of the front. It is worth noting that the morale of the Croatian police, on average, was higher than that of regular units, which affected the performance of combat missions in the face of active enemy opposition.
HOS fighters. "Black Legion"
CROATIAN MILITARY UNITS
The first paramilitary unit of the Croatian nationalists were the combat units of the HSP, led by the far-right nationalist Dobroslav Paraga. The ideological predecessors of the HSP were the Ustasha of the Second World War. It is not surprising that the battle flags and uniforms of the HSP fighters were replete with Ustashe symbols. The total strength of the Novo Ustasha combat wing was 10,000 people, which included 300 fighters of the resurrected “Black Legion” (under the command of Alija Sidzak). HOS fighters won the respect of the regular units of the Croatian army for the fanatical tenacity shown during the battle for Dubrovnik and Vukovar.
In November 1991, Tudjman arrested Paraga, the combat wing of the HOS was disbanded, and its fighters were included in the 109th and 114th brigades of the National Guard.
Dobroslav Prague throws up his hands.
CROATIAN ARMED FORCES. 1991
1. Vojnik, unit “Marko Kovac”, Territorial Defense Forces, Čakovec, September 1991.
Croatian TO fighters wore Yugoslav uniforms and insignia until the end of 1990. In 1991, Croats finally abandoned the “titivka” hats and began wearing classic mountain caps. This fighter wears Croatian national symbols on his cap and armband (the Croatian national symbol is the Spanish Sahonvica shield, decorated with a red and white checkerboard pattern. In the upper left corner of the shield there is a red square. Above the shield you can see the emblems of the five historical Croatian regions - Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia).
The fighter is wearing a jacket and trousers of the Yugoslav armed forces, model 1975. On the arm is a makeshift bandage, hastily made in one of the Croatian sewing workshops (at the early stage of the conflict, some Croats used not a bandage, but a paper token with a national symbol). The fighter does not have insignia, since at the beginning of 1991 the Croats did not apply them, trying to confuse the enemy. The Croatian fighter is armed with a Gorenje MGV-176 submachine gun, which was requisitioned from a nearby maintenance warehouse.
2. Policeman from the special forces unit, special forces unit “Rakitje”, Plitvice, March 1991.
Like their “colleagues” from the Yugoslav police and the police of the Serbian region, the Croatian police actively used “tiger camouflage”. This fighter is wearing the American M82 winter uniform, which was distributed among the first 1800 Croatian national police officers. On the shooter's left shoulder you can see a green police patch with the inscription "POLICIJA" in Croatian. This new chevron replaces the old dark blue "MILICIJA" chevron, the Cyrillic version of which has been used by personnel of the Federal Yugoslav Security Forces, as well as militia units of Serbia, Montenegro and Vojvodina since 1978.
On the policeman's cap you can see an emblem in the form of a chess shield with golden rays (sample from 1990). In March 1991, the gilded emblem was replaced by a new version of the shield with silver rays and a golden wreath. The fighter does not have any insignia, which is typical for the initial period of the war. In the hands of a policeman is a SAR-80 assault rifle, brought to Croatia under the guise of humanitarian aid.
3.Policeman 1st class, Dubrovnik Police Department, November 1991.
This policeman is wearing a Croatian uniform from 1986 with shoulder straps. In 1991, in all Dubrovnik police units, the red star was replaced with the national chess symbol. As the number of national Croatian police rapidly increased, there were not enough uniforms for all fighters. To solve this problem, the Croatian military purchased several thousand sets of Slovenian uniforms for the police. The new police uniform consisted of a jacket with four pockets, trousers with two side pockets and two Velcro pockets, a beret, a belt and Yugoslav officer boots.
On the fighter’s left shoulder was a gray chevron “MILICIJA” (white letters). Another shield-shaped patch appeared in July 1991, with an additional pocket underneath it.
The chess symbol on the beret was introduced into Croatian police units in the early summer of 1990. In August, the symbol was abandoned so as not to irritate the police from the Serbian region. However, in the fall the chess shield was returned to the national police.
The policeman shown in the image wears a 1991 style cockade (golden wreath, silver rays) on his beret. Ordinary police officers tried not to wear insignia, but senior constables had unofficial shoulder straps (two yellow chevrons on a blue background).
1.Officer of the 106th Brigade, National Guard, Osijek, September 1991.
Many Zengovites wore JNA ’77 uniforms, Slovenian police gray uniforms, or 1982 American army camouflage. In 1991, Croatian sewing workshops began sewing their own uniforms, tailored according to the American model ("tiger camouflage" or protective "police colors" were used as camouflage). Since many Zengov units were commanded by professional police officers, the insignia of the Yugoslav militia (later Croatian police) could be seen on the uniforms of individual fighters. The rank and file did not have insignia from October 1991.
This officer is wearing a 1991 style Zenga cap with the national Croatian cockade (some officers used police or Zenga cockades). On the officer's right left shoulder you can see the Zengov emblem in the form of crossed assault rifles. At the top of the emblem is the text ZNG RH (Zbor narodne garde Republike Hrvatske).
2. Vojnik, 129th Brigade of the Croatian Army, Karlovac, December 1991.
During the heavy autumn battles of 1991, the Croats purchased several thousand sets of military equipment from the former warehouses of the GDR: helmets of the 56/76 model and winter uniforms of the 90 model in “rain camouflage”. The Croats cut off the shoulder straps from the German uniform and fitted the shoulder emblem with the national chessboard.
In the fall of 1991, only representatives of the highest command staff wore insignia. When insignia appeared among privates (this happened in the second half of 1992), the German uniform was no longer in use. Instead, the Croats began to wear the British uniform of the ’84 model and the West German uniform of the ’90 model. As for helmets, the American M1 helmets, the Swiss M49/62 helmets (a variant of the British AT mk.II helmet), the British AT mk.IV helmets, the Polish version of the Soviet SSh40, the Yugoslav model 59/85 helmet and even the Slovenian MPC- 1.
3. HOS officer, Vukovar, October 1991.
HOS fighters wore American camouflage pattern 82 (with winter and summer camouflage patterns), black berets or Croatian caps. In everyday conditions, the KhOS sheep preferred to use a black American-style uniform and red berets with the national symbol of the pre-war period (with a white upper left square). This symbol, which first appeared in the Middle Ages, was discredited by Pavelić's fascist regime and was not used after 1945.
On the left hand of the KhOS members there was a patch in the form of the old national emblem in a silver ring. At the top of the ring were the letters HOS, below them HSP. At the bottom of the ring was embroidered the inscription “Za dom spremni” (Ready to defend the Motherland). HOS members wore both Croatian and Ustashe insignia, the history of which can be traced back to the Second World War.
In December 1991, the Croatian authorities demanded that the HOS members remove their Ustashe symbols and use the symbols of the Croatian Republic.
(c) Ilya Sadchikov, March 2015.
Materials from Osprey - Elite 138 - Yugoslavian Wars 1 were used in the design of this article.
Slovenia, Croatia and Albania have warehouses of obsolete equipment of Yugoslav, Soviet and Chinese production
NATO fought its only war in Europe in the Balkans. At the same time, the countries of this region are gradually becoming its members. It absolutely cannot be ruled out that Serbia will also join the military alliance. But so far the three most “anti-Serbian” countries have been accepted into the alliance. The first of them was Slovenia.
Slovenian Army
The Slovenian Armed Forces, like the armies of other republics of the former Yugoslavia, are fragments of the Yugoslav People's Army located on the territories of each specific republic. Slovenia received a small part of the equipment of this army, while the republic practically did not participate in the civil war, and therefore did not feel any particular need to strengthen its armed forces.
In 2004, Slovenia became a member of NATO. Joining the alliance further reduced the country's leadership's interest in rearmament. Almost no new equipment is being acquired, so the Slovenian armed forces represent an increasingly symbolic size.
The country does not have the division into army, air force and navy that is typical for the vast majority of the world's armed forces. The Slovenian Air Force and Navy are so small that there is no point in making them separate services. The armed forces include two brigades, a special forces group, battalions - reconnaissance, communications, logistics, military police, an air wing (this is the Air Force) and a naval division (Navy).
There are 19 M-84 tanks in service (Yugoslav version of the T-72); in storage - another 35 M-84 and from 30 to 55 obsolete Soviet T-55.
In service are 13 Yugoslav M-80A infantry fighting vehicles, 85 Valuk armored personnel carriers (Austrian Pandur) and 30 Svarun armored personnel carriers (Finnish AMVs). In storage are four Soviet BRDM-2, another 39 M-80A infantry fighting vehicles, 19 Yugoslav M-60 armored personnel carriers and 28 BOVs.
Soldiers of the 10th motorized infantry battalion of the Slovenian army. Photo: AFP / East News, archive
Artillery is represented by 18 Israeli 155-mm howitzers M-845 (TN-90) and 36 MN-9 mortars (120 mm). In storage are eight Soviet 2S1 self-propelled guns, 18 American M2A1 howitzers (105 mm), 30 M48B1 guns (76 mm), eight M-52 and 16 M-74 (120 mm) mortars, 39 Yugoslav MLRS M63 and M71 (128 mm) .
There are 12 self-propelled ATGMs “Malyutka” and “Fagot” each on the chassis of the Yugoslav BOV-3 armored personnel carrier.
Ground-based air defense includes 15 anti-aircraft missile systems: nine French Roland, six Soviet Strela-1. In addition, 132 Soviet MANPADS, 36 ZSUs are in service - 12 Yugoslav BOV-3, Czechoslovak M-53/59, Soviet ZSU-57-2 each.
Slovenian aviation has 22 airplanes and helicopters; there are no combat vehicles in service with the country's army. The air wing includes three transport aircraft - one Czech L-410 and two Swiss PC-6s, 19 training aircraft, ten Bell-built multi-role helicopters and 12 transport helicopters.
The naval division consists of two patrol boats - the Israeli Super Dvora type and the Russian project 10412.
Almost all equipment of the Slovenian Armed Forces is very outdated. The combat effectiveness of vehicles in storage is highly questionable. At the same time, the armed forces are not making any attempts to purchase new equipment, with the exception of the supply of Austrian and Finnish armored personnel carriers.
Croatian Army
The Croatian armed forces are much stronger than the Slovenian ones. They had to go through a long, difficult war against the Serbs during the collapse of Yugoslavia. During the war, this country not only captured the Yugoslav army, but also acquired it abroad (mainly through smuggling).
For Croatia, the war ended in the fall of 1995, when its troops defeated and completely captured the Serbian Krajina, thereby restoring the integrity of the country.
In 2009, Croatia joined NATO as part of the “third wave of enlargement”. Its armed forces are still equipped almost exclusively with Soviet, former Yugoslav and domestic equipment, much of which has already reached the end of its useful life. The main supplier of new equipment is not NATO countries, but neutral Finland.
Ground forces include armored and motorized infantry brigades, as well as infantry, artillery and air defense regiments. In addition, there are regiments - an engineering regiment, a transport regiment, a communications regiment, an intelligence regiment and a military police regiment.
Celebrating Croatian Armed Forces Day in 2009. Photo: Darko Bandic / AP
The basis of the country's tank fleet is 74 M-84s left over from the Yugoslav army. Two of them have been upgraded to the M-84D level. Updating the remaining machines is delayed due to lack of funds. There are two M-95 tanks of our own design, which, however, is based on the same T-72. There are between 186 and 280 old Soviet T-55s in storage.
In service there are 128 Yugoslav M-80 infantry fighting vehicles and 278 armored personnel carriers: 26 old Soviet BTR-50s, 54 Yugoslav BOV-VP and 72 LOV-1OP, 126 newest Finnish AMVs.
The Croatian armed forces have at their disposal nine Soviet self-propelled guns 2S1 (122 mm), 12 mountain guns M48 (76 mm), 89 American M-2A1 and 47 their Yugoslav counterparts M-56H1 (105 mm), 53 Soviet D-30 (122 mm ), 18 Argentine L-33 (155 mm). In addition, up to 200 different towed guns are in storage.
There are up to two thousand mortars (mostly, again, in storage). It is armed with 31 Soviet BM-21 Grad MLRS and 24 Romanian APR-40 (122 mm), two Yugoslav M-87 Orkan MLRS (262 mm) and 24 towed RAK-12 (128 mm). Another 60 RAK-12s are in storage, as well as six M-96s and seven M-91s (122 mm).
Croatia has 676 Soviet-made anti-tank missile systems - 461 Malyutka (including 43 self-propelled on the M-83 armored personnel carrier), 119 Fagot, 42 Konkurs, 54 Metis. There are 133 Soviet T-12 anti-tank guns (100 mm) in storage.
Military air defense includes nine Soviet Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile systems (on an AMV chassis, not an MTLB, as in the “original” version). In addition, there are 619 Soviet MANPADS (539 Strela-2, 80 Igla), 62 Yugoslav ZSUs on the BOV-3 armored personnel carrier chassis (44 - 20 mm, 17 - 30 mm), 189 anti-aircraft guns - 177 Yugoslav M55 ( 20 mm), 12 Swedish L/70 (40 mm).
The country's air force is armed with ten old Soviet MiG-21 fighters (six MiG-21bis, four combat trainer MiG-21UM; another seven bis and 2 UM in storage) and six American AT-802AF counter-guerrilla attack aircraft. The issue of replacing the MiG-21 with something more modern was discussed for many years and ended with the decision to purchase several more of the same MiG-21 from Ukraine.
There are nine transport aircraft in service (two Ukrainian An-32, seven Canadian - one CL-604 and six CL-415), 26 training aircraft (17 Swiss PC-9M, three more in storage; four Yugoslav Utva-75, eight more in storage; five Czech Z-242L).
All seven Mi-24 combat helicopters (two “D”, five “B”) are in storage. There are 34 multi-purpose and transport helicopters in service - 13 Mi-8 (11 MTV, two T; three more T in storage), ten Mi-17, 11 American Bell-206B.
The Navy has five missile boats (one Konchar type, two Helsinki type, two King type, all armed with Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles), four patrol boats, one minesweeper, and eight landing boats. Apart from the Finnish Helsinki-type boats, all the others are locally built.
Coastal defense includes three RBS-15K anti-ship missile systems and 21 artillery batteries.
Albania
Albania's armed forces, along with all infrastructure and government institutions, were almost completely destroyed in 1997 during the uprisings of “defrauded investors” who made up the majority of the country's population. The country, together with Moldova and Ukraine, remains among the three most impoverished and backward states in Europe. Nevertheless, for complicity in aggression against Serbia, it was accepted into NATO in 2009, together with Croatia.
Albanian soldiers during an exercise. Photo: Gent Shkullaku / AFP / East News, archive
Currently, the country's ground forces consist of a rapid reaction brigade and a commando regiment. They are armed with three Chinese Toure 59 tanks (a copy of the T-55), six Chinese YW-531 armored personnel carriers, eight American armored vehicles, 18 Chinese Toure 66 howitzers (152 mm), 81 Chinese mortars (82 mm), 42 anti-aircraft guns guns. Apart from American armored vehicles, which do not have weapons, all this equipment is outdated to the point of complete loss of combat effectiveness.
The Albanian Air Force has 24 transport and multi-purpose helicopters - four French AS532, eight German Bo-105, three Italian Bell-205, seven Bell-206, one A-109C and one European EC145.
45 ancient Chinese fighters (35 J-6 (MiG-19) and ten J-7 (MiG-21)) completely lost their combat capability, as did 11 Y-5 (An-2) transport aircraft and six Z-5 (Mi -4). All of them are formally in storage, but can only be sent from there to scrap metal. The only division of the Chinese HQ-2 air defense system (a copy of the S-75) is listed as combat-ready.
The Navy, apparently, can still go to sea with one or two Chinese Shanghai-class patrol boats. There are also 20–30 Western-built patrol ships and boats with or without machine gun armament.
In general, the military potential of the three Western Balkan NATO countries is negligible, and tends to further decrease. Which is the norm these days.
The Croatian Army has a typical three-component structure: ground forces, air force and navy. The last type of aircraft is the smallest. Croatia has one minesweeper and three coast guard ships.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
The basis of the Croatian Air Force is still Soviet aircraft. The only combat fighter is the MiG-21. Zagreb has 12 vehicles: seven of them were modernized in Romania and Ukraine, another five units were purchased from Kyiv. /Flickr/Dennis Jarvis
The Croatian army was formed during the war of secession from Yugoslavia. About 20 thousand people became victims of the clashes of 1991-1995. The conflict was accompanied by mutual ethnic cleansing.
/Flickr/7th Army Training Command Follow
Croatian militias gained combat experience that was used in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Zagreb helped the Catholic population of the confederation. Initially, the Croats did not support the Muslims, but later entered into an alliance with them against the Serbs.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
With independence, Croatia set a course for integration into Western structures. On May 25, 2000, the country entered the NATO Partnership for Peace program and within nine years became a full member of the alliance.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
The Croatian ground forces are armed with 72 M-84 tanks, 574 armored vehicles (some of them European and American-made), 21 self-propelled guns, and 70 towed howitzers. 92 multiple launch rocket systems.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
There are two air bases in Croatia: the 91st (Pleso) and the 93rd (Zemunik). Strike aircraft are represented by six American AT-802AF attack aircraft. The photo shows MiG-21 and F-16 fighters.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
Croatia must radically renew its fighter aircraft fleet in the coming years. Zagreb is awaiting the delivery of 14 Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen aircraft. Fourth generation aircraft will replace the MiG-21.
/ Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
Called to protect its sovereignty and independence and defend its territorial integrity. In addition to its main task, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia take part in international peace, humanitarian and other operations and missions, carry out certain tasks in situations of immediate threat and provide assistance to civil authorities and citizens in the event of natural, man-made and environmental disasters.
1. Number
The total number of active duty military personnel (professional army) is 20,000.
The number of reserves is 12,000, of which 6,000 are in full combat readiness. Theoretically fit for military service, men aged 15-49 years old are 1,035,712, of whom 771,323 are actually fit for military service. 2. Structure Structure of the Croatian Armed Forces 2009 (click to enlarge) The Croatian Armed Forces consists of three branches: Croatian Army(Hrvatska kopnena vojska), Croatian Navy
(Hrvatska ratna mornarica),
The current organizational structure of the Croatian Armed Forces since 2008 is based on the long-term development plans of the Croatian Armed Forces and it includes the General Staff with headquarters units, the command of the branches of the Croatian ground forces, the navy and the air force and air defense, the Command of the support forces and the Military Academy them. Petar Zrinski. The early structure of the Russian Armed Forces was based primarily on the concept of individual defense and was aimed at building and maintaining the ability to defend the country's territory and was developed based on the experience of the Patriotic War. The current structure is adapted to the new tasks assigned to the Armed Forces in the strategic defense documents.
2.1. General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces
The General Staff is a joint body within the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia, responsible for the development, organization, equipment, training and activities of the first strategic echelon (regular forces) and the second strategic echelon (reserves). The Chief of the General Staff in peacetime is responsible to the Supreme Commander for the Plan of Employment of the Armed Forces and the military elements of combat readiness and is accountable to the Minister of Defense for the implementation of orders. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces since 2003 has been Joseph Lutsich, who was elected for a second five-year term on February 28.
The headquarters units of the General Staff of the RoK Armed Forces carry out tasks to meet the needs of the entire Croatian armed forces and include Honor Guard Battalion, Special Forces Battalion And Electronic Intelligence Center.
2.2. Ground troops
BRDM special forces battalion
2.3. Support Forces Command
This is the most important part of the logistics system, which is responsible for providing logistical, medical, and partially personal support to the Armed Forces.
In addition to the Support Forces Command, the material and technical support system of the Russian Armed Forces consists of other elements and logistics support units in the branches, commands, units and institutions of the Russian Armed Forces.
2.4. Air Force and Air Defense
The main task of the Air Force and Air Defense is to ensure the integrity of Croatian airspace and provide air support to other branches of the Armed Forces when carrying out their tasks in joint operations. Conductor and organizer of the integrated air defense of the Republic.
From where the Air Force and Air Defense Command is located - the capital is Zagreb.
2.5. Navy
Missile boat RTOP-41 Vukovar
The command of the Croatian naval forces is stationed in Split.
In addition to the tasks of protecting the integrity and sovereignty of the state, protecting and defending the Croatian coast and territorial waters, naval forces are involved in search and rescue operations, protecting maritime transport, preventing criminal and other illegal activities in shipping, protecting natural resources and the environment, providing assistance in extinguishing large fires and in eliminating the consequences of other natural and man-made disasters.
In 2008, the Coast Guard of the Republic of Croatia was created as part of the Navy.
3. High Command
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces in peacetime and war is the President of the Republic. The Commander-in-Chief approves the organization of the Croatian armed forces on the proposal of the Chief of the General Staff with the consent of the Minister of Defense.
In peacetime, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief exercises his command through the Minister of Defense. In war and in cases where the Minister of Defense does not carry out orders, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief exercises command directly to the Chief of the General Staff.
In the second half of 1990, Croatian military units were born - the Volunteer Youth Units, and then the People's Guard (in the summer of 1991, 90,000 people, mostly unarmed). At the end of spring 1991, the first military units of the National Guard were created, founded on April 20, 1991 by Decree of the President of the Republic, which for legal and political reasons was formally subject to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In addition to the structures and units created by the state, there were also party military organizations or their embryos. The Croatian Party of Right organized its own armed units - the Croatian Defense Forces (MDF), armed privately, relatively well trained and prepared in terms of tactics and deployed in the most important sectors of the front. The Party of Democratic Change (reformed communists, SDP) in Istria, Littoral and Dalmatia armed its activists, as did the ruling Croatian Democratic Commonwealth in other parts of Croatia. There were also volunteer troops under the control of local authorities. In some places the maintenance system was successfully restored (for example, in Zagreb).
The command and control system was initially extremely confusing, and responsibilities were vague and unclear. There were often several different units operating on the ground, which, although nominally belonging to the same organization, often did not have a common high command.
The main tasks of the Croatian National Guard (later the RH Armed Forces) were to counter the penetration of the Yugoslav army and other hostile forces in the main directions, defend cities and vital areas and obtain JNA barracks in their own rear. These tasks begin to be more fully and systematically implemented only after in September, according to the new law “On Defense,” the armed forces were consolidated into a single Croatian Army (AF RB), and on September 21, 1991, the General Staff was established, headed by General Anton tus. Then begins the systematic mobilization of the reserve and the organization of units, commands and institutions, as well as the planned use of troops.
6. Foreign arms suppliers
Croatia purchases military products from the following countries.