Serbian Armed Forces

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Serbian Armed Forces
Bojcка Србије
$1.48 billion (2024)[6]
Percent of GDP1.8% (2024)
Industry
Domestic suppliersYugoimport SDPR (armored vehicles and artillery systems)
Zastava Arms (firearms)
Prvi Partizan (small-caliber ammunition)
Sloboda (large-caliber ammunition)
Krušik (large-caliber ammunition)
Milan Blagojević (gunpowder)
Utva (trainer aircraft and drones)
FAP (light utility vehicles)
Zastava Tervo (light utility vehicles)
Yumco (combat and service uniforms)
Mile Dragić (combat helmets and ballistic vests)
Foreign suppliers Russia
 China
 France
 Germany
Annual exports$449 million (2021)[7]
Related articles
HistoryHistory of the Serbian Army
History of the Serbian Air Force
RanksMilitary ranks of Serbia

The Serbian Armed Forces (Serbian: Војска Србије, romanized: Vojska Srbije) is the military of Serbia.

The President of the Republic acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while administration and defence policy is carried out by the Government through the Ministry of Defence. The highest operational authority, in-charge of the deployment and preparation of the armed forces in peace and war, is the General Staff.

Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime. As of 2024, Serbia is ranked 56 out of 145 countries considered for the annual GFP review.[8]

The Serbian Armed Forces consists of two branches: Serbian Army and Serbian Air Force and Air Defence.

History

Main article: Military history of Serbia
Main article: History of the Serbian Army
Main article: History of the Serbian Air Force

Serbia has a long military tradition dating to early medieval period. The modern Serbian military dates back to the

Siege of Scutari (October 1912 to April 1913) resulted in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which lost most of its remaining Balkan territories per the Treaty of London (May 1913). Shortly after, the Second Balkan War (June to August, 1913) 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 1913 Treaty of Bucharest
, formally ending the war.

Serbia's independence and growing influence threatened neighboring

retreat through Albania (1915–1916) to the Greek island of Corfu
(1915–1916).

Serbian military activity after World War I took place in the context of

independent state
in 2006.

Organization

The Serbian Armed Forces are commanded by the

General
Milan Mojsilović.

Organization of the Serbian Armed Forces

Service branches

The armed forces consist of the following service branches:

Serbian Army

Main article: Serbian Army

The Serbian Army (Kopnena vojska Srbije - KoV) is the land-based and the largest component of the armed forces consisting of: infantry, armoured, artillery, engineering units as well as River Flotilla. It is responsible for defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia; participating in peacekeeping operations; and providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

Serbian Air Force and Air Defence

Main article: Serbian Air Force and Air Defence

The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence (Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije - RViPVO) is the aviation and anti-aircraft defence based component of the armed forces consisting of: aviation, anti-aircraft, surveillance and reconnaissance units. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Serbian airspace, and jointly with the Army, to protect territorial integrity.

Command structure

Command structure of the Serbian Armed Forces is centered around General Staff as the highest command authority, and three separate commands: one for each of the branches (Army Command and Air Force and Air Defence Command) and one responsible for training (Training Command).

General Staff

Main article: Serbian General Staff

The Serbian General Staff (Generalštab Vojske Srbije) makes strategic and tactical preparations and procedures for use during peacetime and war. Special forces (63rd Parachute Brigade and 72nd Brigade for Special Operations) are under direct command of the Chief of the General Staff. Organizational units of the Armed Forces subordinated to the General Staff are: Guard, Signal Brigade, Central Logistics Base, 224th Center for Electronic Action, Technical Testing Center, Peacekeeping Operations Center, as well as the Directorate of Military Police (which includes Criminal Investigative Group and Detachment of the Military Police for Special Operations "Cobras").[11]

Army Command

Army Command (Komanda Kopnene vojske) is responsible for unitary, administrative and operational control of the Army. Army Command headquarters is in Niš.

Air Force and Air Defence Command

Air Force and Air Defence Command (Komanda Ratnog vazduhoplovstva i protivvazduhoplovne odbrane) is responsible for unitary, administrative and operational control of the Air Force and Air Defence. Its headquarters is in Zemun.

Training Command

The Training Command (Komanda za obuku) is responsible for providing basic and specialist training for soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers of Serbian Armed Forces as well the members of foreign armies. It also serves the role of maintaining the reserve regional brigade structure of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Equipment

Main article: List of equipment of the Serbian Armed Forces

The Serbian Armed Forces has a wide variety of equipment, mix of older

Soviet
products (dating back to the 1980s and even 1970s) and new equipment, either domestically-produced from Serbian defence contractors or acquired from foreign producers (main suppliers being Russia, France, China, and to a lesser extent Germany).

Inventory of Serbian Army includes: 242 tanks (30 Russian

Gvozdika), 60 Yugoslav-made M-77 Oganj MRLs, 320 Yugoslav-made BVP M-80 infantry fighting vehicles, 37 domestically-produced Lazar armoured personnel carriers, over 100 MRAPs and other armoured vehicles (including 43 domestically-produced Miloš) as well as 18 pieces of domestically-produced PASARS-16 short-range air-defence missile system (armed with total of 50 French Mistral 3 missiles).[12][13]

Serbian Air Force and Air Defense has in operational use the following equipment: 13 Soviet-made

Mi-35 attack helicopter (armed with Ataka missiles),[16] 13 Russian Mi-17 utility helicopters, 6 (and 9 more on order) German H145M utility helicopters, 6 Chinese CH-92 combat drones, 4 batteries of Chinese HQ-22 long-range air-defence missile system,[17] one battery (and 2 more on order) of Russian Pantsir
medium-range air-defence missile system.

In last several years Serbia has embarked on ambitious programme of equipment modernisation and acquisition. Whenever possible, the Serbian Ministry of Defence favors products that are manufactured in Serbia such as:

anti-tank guided missiles
).

Significant acquisitions of military equipment are also planned in the near future. Recently it was announced the intention of purchase of 12 new French Rafale multirole fighter aircraft with the aim of replacing MiG-29 which will be in service until the end of the 2020s.[18]

  • M-84 tank
    M-84 tank
  • Nora B-52 self-propelled howitzer
    Nora B-52 self-propelled howitzer
  • M-77 Oganj multiple rocket launcher
    M-77 Oganj multiple rocket launcher
  • Lazar armored personnel carrier
    Lazar armored personnel carrier
  • Miloš armored vehicle
    Miloš armored vehicle
  • PASARS-16 anti-aircraft artillery system
    PASARS-16 anti-aircraft artillery system
  • Neštin-class river minesweeper
    Neštin-class river minesweeper
  • MiG-29 fighter aircraft
    MiG-29
    fighter aircraft
  • An-26 transport aircraft
    An-26 transport aircraft
  • Mi-35 attack helicopter
    Mi-35
    attack helicopter
  • H145M utility helicopter
    H145M utility helicopter
  • CH-92 combat drone
    CH-92 combat drone
  • HQ-22 long-range air-defence missile system
    HQ-22 long-range air-defence missile system
  • Pantsir medium-range air-defence missile system
    Pantsir medium-range air-defence missile system
  • 2K12 Kub medium-range air-defence missile system
    2K12 Kub medium-range air-defence missile system

Personnel

The Serbian Armed Forces are composed entirely of professionals and volunteers following the suspension of mandatory military service in 2011.

Active personnel

There are 22,500 active members: 4,200 officers, 6,500 non-commissioned officers, 8,200 active-duty soldiers and 3,500 civilians in volunteer military service.[2] It breaks down as follows:

  • General Staff (including attached units: special forces brigades, Guard, Signal Brigade, Logistics, etc.): 4,300
  • Army Command: 13,200
  • Air Force and Air Defence Command: 3,000
  • Training Command: 2,300

Reserve force

The reserve force is composed of an active reserve and passive (i.e. war-time) reserve. The active reserve forces have 2,000 members and they are generally required to perform 45 days of military service per year.[3] They are assigned to one of four reserve territorial brigades (Banat Brigade, Belgrade Brigade, Timok Brigade and Rasina Brigade), each having active HQ, command company and logistics company predicted for rapid deployment in case of war. The passive reserve totals about 600,000 citizens of age 18–49 with past military training or experience and is activated only in the events of war.

Traditions

Motto

Motto of the Serbian Armed Forces is "For Freedom and Honour of the Fatherland" (Za slobodu i čast Otadžbine) and is found on uniforms as well as on brigade flags.

Armed Forces Day

Serbian Armed Forces Day (Dan Vojske Srbije) is marked on 23 April, the anniversary of the Second Serbian Uprising. On that day in 1815, in Takovo, prominent elders met and decided to start the fight for liberation of Serbia from the Turkish authorities, which eventually led to the free and independent Serbia.

Patron Saint

The patron saint (krsna slava) of the Serbian Armed Forces is Saint Stefan Visoki. The first celebration was held in 2023; earlier that year, the Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church decided that the patron saint of the Serbian Armed Forces should be Saint Stefan Visoki, 15th-century Serbian ruler and saint, remembered as a wise statesman and a successful military leader.[19]

Marches

High-stepping in a parade in 2014

The Serbian military was the first to pioneer the high-step as a

Victory Day Parade, to assert itself as independent from Soviet influence. High-stepping is still used today by Serbian Armed Forces, and is also utilized by the militaries of North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
.

March Music

There are several marches in use in Serbian Armed Forces. The standard one is Parade March (Paradni marš), while the Guard uses its own Guard March (Gardijski marš) as standard march music. Also frequently used and the most popular and recognizable by the general public in Serbia is famous March on the Drina (Marš na Drinu). Other frequently used march is Vojvoda Stepa Stepanović March (Marš vojvode Stepe Stepanovića).

Deployments

The Serbian Armed Forces actively take part in numerous multinational peacekeeping missions.[4]

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

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "Istorijat Vojske Srbije". Vojska Srbije. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Brojnost vojski Srbije, Hrvatske, BiH, Crne Gore i Severne Makedonije u 2021". 28 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Iz stroja pravo na posao" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Министарство одбране Републике Србије - Актуелне мултинационалне операције".
  5. ^ https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2023/Pdf/G20234003.pdf
  6. ^ https://www.balkansec.net/post/vojni-bud%C5%BEet-srbije-u-2024-vi%C5%A1e-para-za-plate-manje-za-naoru%C5%BEanje-i-obuku
  7. ^ "Gde Srbija izvozi naoružanje i vojnu opremu - objavljen godišnji izveštaj". 20 April 2023.
  8. ^ "2024 Military Strength Ranking". www.globalfirepower.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  9. ^ "Serbian Army in WWI". Archived from the original on 2009-03-23.
  10. ^ "Law on the Serbian Army".
  11. ^ "Generalštab Vojske Srbije" (in Serbian). www.vs.rs.
  12. ^ "[PARTNER 2021] Sve o oklopnim premijerama, modernizacijama i modifikacijama". 22 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Vučić: Kupili smo 18 sistema Mistral sa 50 raketa". 16 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Srpski MiG-ovi 29 biće naoružani raketama vazduh-vazduh R-77". 27 April 2022.
  15. ^ "RTS :: Društvo :: Vojsci Srbije isporučen i drugi transporter, zamena za čuveni sovjetski "Antonov-26"". www.rts.rs. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  16. ^ Vojinovic, Petar (2023-11-23). "[POSLEDNJA VEST] Na Batajnici prikazani helikopteri Mi-35P nabavljeni sa Kipra, kupljena 22 Talesova radara, najavljena kupovina još Erbasovih helikoptera". Tango Six (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  17. ^ "[EKSKLUZIVNO] Prvi detalji i opis karakteristika: Prišli smo većini vozila u sastavu jedne baterije PVO sistema FK-3". 2 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Vučić: Srbija pregovara o kupovini dve eskadrile Rafala već godinu dana, nabavlja borbene bespilotne letelice Bajraktar, kineske borbene bespilotne letelice CH-95, u utorak ili sredu "predstavljamo ponos srpske vojske"". 9 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Krsna slava Vojske Srbije | Vojska Srbije". www.vs.rs. Retrieved 2024-03-12.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military of Serbia.
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