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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 cars: seven of them have been modernized in Romania and Ukraine, five more units were bought from Kyiv. / Flickr / Dennis Jarvis
The Croatian army was formed during the war for secession from Yugoslavia. About 20 thousand people became victims of the clashes in 1991-1995. The conflict was accompanied by mutual ethnic cleansing. / Flickr / 7th Army Training Command Follow
Croatian militias received 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 allied 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 joined 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
by the most weak link The Croatian Armed Forces is an air defense system. Air defense units are armed with one of the first modifications of the S-300P air defense system, the Strela-1 mobile system, as well as the Strela-3 and Igla-1 MANPADS. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
In the 2000s, Croatia carried out a major military reform associated with joining NATO. Zagreb sought to optimize the structure and control system of the aircraft. The Croatian Ministry of Defense has reduced the number of military equipment and the number of military personnel. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
Croatia got a large arsenal of Yugoslav and Soviet military equipment. Suffice it to say that in the city of Slavonski Brod, on the border with Bosnia, there was a plant named after. Juro Jakovic. Until 1991, the company produced M-84 tanks. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
In 2008, compulsory military service was abolished in Croatia. Today, the strength of the Armed Forces is 21.5 thousand people with 102 thousand reservists. Defense spending is estimated at about $1 billion (nearly 2% of GDP). / 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 are of European and American production), 21 self-propelled unit, 70 towed howitzers. 92 jet systems salvo fire. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
On the territory of Croatia there are two air bases: 91st (Pleso) and 93rd (Zemunik). Attack aviation is represented by six American AT-802AF attack aircraft. The photo shows the MiG-21 and F-16 fighters. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
Croatia in the coming years should radically update the park fighter aviation. Zagreb is awaiting delivery of 14 Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen aircraft. Machines of the fourth generation will replace the MiG-21. / Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
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 are burning the Yugoslav flag to the cries of "sig-heil".
By the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia, Croatia was the second largest republic of a federal state. 4,784,300 people lived on its territory. The lion's share of the inhabitants of the republic 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 hotbed of tension in Serbian Krajina.
Croatia had historical ties with Austria and little experience 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 inside the republic, interested in the collapse of the SFRY and the withdrawal of Croatia 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 the "brothers in the federation." Unfortunately, the leadership of the new Croatia was all hard-nosed nationalists who took an uncompromising attitude towards the Serbs, which led to a monstrous four-year massacre.
We have resolved the Serbian question, there will not be more than 12% Serbs or 9% Yugoslavs, as it was. And 3%, how many there will be, will no longer threaten the Croatian state.
From the speech of Franjo Tuđman at the opening of the military school "Ban Josip Jelačić" in Zagreb on December 14, 1998.
Before starting a review of the Serbo-Croatian conflict, it makes sense to take a closer look at the armed forces of the newly formed state.
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 asked for military assistance from the authorities of East Germany and Bulgaria. In less than two months, the Bulgarians handed over 10,000 AK-47s to the Croats. The Germans supplied Spegel's men with heavy handguns and rocket-propelled grenades.
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 town of Slavonski Brod and captured several M-84 tanks that had just been assembled 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 anti-tank systems, 2000 grenade launchers, 190 tanks M-84, T-55, PT-76 and even T-34 -85, 179 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 180 anti-aircraft guns 20 mm, 24 ZSU M-53/59 "Prague", 10 ZSU ZSU-57-2, 20 anti-aircraft guns, 200,000 units small arms, 18,600 tons of ammunition, 1,630 tons of fuel. With such stockpiles of weapons, the Croats could resist the Yugoslav army for several months in the autumn and winter of 1991-1992.
By April 12, 1991, the Croatian authorities had reduced all police forces to 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 another 13 days later (May 28, 1991) a military parade was held on the streets of Zagreb, in which 4 class A infantry brigades (active) participated. On May 30, a Special Guards Battalion appeared in Hovartia, the purpose of which was to ensure the safety of the first persons of the state. Additional R-Class Guard Brigades (reserves) were formed throughout the summer of 1991. Their target was maintenance depots controlled by the federal government.
During the summer of 1991, the Croatian government closely watched 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 the army reform. The Croatian Armed Forces (Hrvatska Vojska) were created and the republican territory was divided into 6 operational zones (from 1 to 6). General Anton Tus became the commander-in-chief of the Croatian army ( former commander Yugoslav Air Force), since Spegel was the victim of a serious conflict with Tudjman and was "promoted" to the post of inspector general of the Croatian army. In mid-autumn, numerous deserters joined the newly minted army, leaving the ranks of the JNA forever.
The first real battle between Croatian nationalists and the Yugoslav army took place in Borovoye Selo on May 1, 1991. The national flag of the SFRY, hung on the wall of the local administration, was in the center of attention of the warring parties. Armed Croats tried to get to the city center in cars and armored personnel carriers, but they ran into fierce resistance from the Serbs, drove into a pre-arranged ambush and lost 12 people killed and their commander, Stepan Boshnyak. Several dozen people were taken prisoner, including citizens of Romania and Albania, as well as a visiting figure from the USSR. Parts of the JNA were saved from the complete defeat of the Croats, who separated the participants in the skirmish "along different sides ring". However, the Serbs had no doubt that the Croats would repeat their visit very soon. In fact, the conflict over Borovo Selo became the prologue of a 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 Class A brigades; 5-16 R-class brigades, 0-11 separate guards battalions and the zonal headquarters (it included 1-2 artillery battalions, 1-2 air defense battalions, 1 engineering battalion and one military police battalion) were located on the territory of the zone. The 3rd zone providing security for Zagreb was defended twice a large number troops than any other zone (precautions proved redundant as the JNA never struck the Croatian capital). Zones 1 and 6 (Slavonia and Dalmatia, respectively) were saturated heavy weapons, since it was they who were supposed to hold back the onslaught of the 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. Thousands of civilians died, and horrific rumors about torture and concentration camps being formed on both sides of the front began to seep into the Western and Russian press. The Yugoslav army experienced all the delights of urban tank combat (Vukovar), while the Croats suffered monstrous losses during attacks against fortified Serbian positions. Actually, neither one nor the other side of the conflict really knew how to fight. Modern combat experience no one had, and the experience of the Second World War was exclusively partisan, not very suitable for a siege war, in which artillery and tanks were actively used. Croatian and Serbian generals had to experiment right on the battlefield, which led to an unjustified increase in losses.
In December 1991, the Croatian Army had 230,000 personnel (including 180,000 Croats), both men and women, organized into 60 A and R class brigades. At the same time, 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 reaction 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 one was formed from the judicial personnel of the police - the 98th brigade.
According to the charter, the Croatian brigade was supposed to consist of 1,800 people, but in conditions of continuous fighting, its strength ranged from 500 to 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 combat experience and often suffered heavy losses from ax blows "on the forehead" of the enemy position. For example, during the battle for the JNA barracks in Mirkovci (September 21, 1991), the Croats tried to storm the 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 among the attacking troops.
Despite the lack of experience, the Croatian commanders did not suffer from the shortcomings inherent in the Yugoslav command: they did not evade the battle (“saving” the lives of their soldiers) and even more so did not hand over their weapons to a potential enemy (JNA commanders left at least 1/3 all stockpiles of weapons located on the territory of Croatia.
Soldiers of the Guards Brigade "Thunder".
Formation of reservist brigades (R - class) by months (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 "Thunder"(1991-2008) (in some sources it is called "Lightning" for some reason).
3rd Guards Brigade "Martens" (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)
The structure of brigades and battalions of the National Guard:
The motorized brigade of the National Guard included a headquarters consisting of an engineering and police company, as well as a reconnaissance, counter-terrorist platoon, as well as a communications platoon and a commando detachment. In addition to this, it included 1-4 infantry battalions,
plus mixed artillery, tank battalions or air defense battalions.
The infantry battalion of the National Guard included a headquarters, which included a signals 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 company of the Croatian National Guard 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 IN 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 Serbs and Croats in the second half of 1992 was interrupted in January 1993. New stage the war continued for another two years, while the Croats fought not only on their own land, but also on the territory of Bosnia (which did not prevent them, at the same time, from fighting together with the Serbs against the 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 hostilities and capable of achieving its goals, despite the fierce resistance of the enemy. Some researchers generally believe that in the mid-90s, the Croats had the most combat-ready army on the European continent.
After another disagreement with Tudjman, on January 22, 1992, General Anton Tus left his post. The new head of the Croatian army was General Janko Bobetko, who resigned on July 15, 1995 and transferred command to General Zvonimir Cervenko.
After the beginning 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 has been reduced. In March 1992, 20,000 people were demobilized, in May-June another 100,000 fighters, and finally, in November, another 40,000 military personnel were dismissed from military service.
A Croatian policeman waits out an artillery "raid". Late fall 1991.
(c) Jean Claude Coutausse.
Using 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 soldiers of the former Territorial Battalions joined the so-called Croatian Domobranstvo.
The Domobranstva 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 they changed their numbering (129 to 3, 141 to 6, 135 to 9, 124 to 10, 162 to 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 in the forces defending 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 "defence" 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 guard battalions (numbers 80-84) from their fighters.
The protection of any of the six Operational Zones of Croatia in 1992-1995 was to be provided by forces: 0-2 Guards motorized brigades, 2-15 motorized brigades or Home Guard regiments, 0-3 separate guard battalions together with a headquarters unit (0-3 artillery battalions, 0-2 anti-tank battalions, 0-1 air defense brigade, 0-1 engineer brigade or battalion, and reconnaissance company and 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 Operations Zone system was abolished and replaced by the Corps District system.
Soldiers of the Serbian army in the battle for Vukovar.
During the conflict with the Serbs, the Croatian army fought mainly positional warfare. 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 is the direct heirs of the Ustashe).
In the early stages of the war, Croatian special units suffered heavy losses. Their fighters did not have a unified training and often went into battle without a clear plan of action. Losses were especially heavy in enemy territory. Unable to overcome the "front line", the Croats fell into the "bag" and were destroyed by the advancing Serb forces with the help of tanks or heavy equipment.
Croatian special units demonstrated great effectiveness during operations on their territory. Their attacks on enemy mechanized columns were also effective (they used the tactic of destroying the first and last vehicles, followed by the destruction of the center of the column). At the first stage of the war, such attacks occurred so often that the Serbian tankmen called this period the Corn War (the Croats liked to use flowering corn thickets for ambushes).
Understanding the weakness of their own special forces, the Croats seriously took up the training of fighters by Western military specialists. By the end of the war, the special forces of the Croatian army were able to conduct successful combat raids deep behind enemy lines.
CROATIAN AIR FORCE, NAVY AND MILITIES
As it was written above, the backbone of the Yugoslav Navy was made up of people from Croatia. The Croatian Navy was established on September 12, 1991. The personnel of the fleet consisted of 1,000 people, under the command of Admiral Sveto Letitsa. By May 1995, the fleet's personnel had been increased to 1,850 men. The Croats had 2 missile boats, a torpedo boat, a minelayer, a submarine and a ship designed to support commando operations. Subdivision marines consisted of 53 companies, several battalions of the Household Guard, coastal artillery battery, 51 communications battalions and 74 military police battalions.
Croatian air Force were established in January 1992. Colonel Tomo Madic formed the backbone of the Air Force, recruiting 150 professional pilots, mechanics and air defense specialists, from which 3 air squadrons and three separate aviation platoons were formed. Croatian pilots flew mainly on the captured from the JNA military equipment, as well as on civilian aircraft, which they inherited from the former Yugoslav owners.
Croatian fighter in West German winter uniform.
The Croatian Territorial Defense Force was 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 TOs was 240,000 people. During the active phase of the war, these people joined the ranks of the Zengovtsy or fought as part of separate units of the Territorial Defense, which operated on the front lines until 1995.
The People's Defense Forces (Narodna zastita - NZ), formed on April 5, 1991, consisted of 100,000 volunteer fighters whose task was to protect private property, strategic enterprises and convoys, as well as collect data on the movement of enemy troops. All divisions of the People's Defense were disbanded in March-April 1992.
CROATIAN POLICE
In May 1990, the Croatian militia numbered 16,000 (the militia was renamed the police on November 8, 1990). Initially, the militia was subordinate to the Republican Ministry of the Interior (Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova - MUP). On the territory of Croatia there were 119 police secretariats (17 in Zagreb, the rest in other Croatian territories). At least 60% of the Croatian police were Serbs.
On August 17, 1990, the Croatian militia attempted to disarm Serb militiamen operating on Croatian territory. In response, Serbian police general Milan Martic 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 Serbian Krajina), the Croatian police were completely bled, new fighters had to be taught everything from the very beginning.
JNA soldiers suddenly attacked a Croatian police station. A photographer inside captured the commotion 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 detachment was renamed the Lutsk Counter-Terrorist Unit).
In 1991, the tension between the militia formations of Serbs and Croats reached its climax, automatic weapons were used. On March 2, 1991, in Pakrac (Western Slavonia), the Croatian position captured the building of the Security Service, which was guarded by the Serbs. The JNA units came to the aid of the Serbs, against which the Croats used armored personnel carriers. In Plitvice, the Croatian police recaptured the local police building from the Serbs, and then entered into battle with the Serbian police forces. The fighting continued for two days.
In the summer of 1991, such skirmishes became an internal affair of the police / militia, since the JNA fighters had to treat both sides of the conflict equally. By the end of the year, the situation had changed and the Yugoslav army began to join the battle on the side of the Serbian militia.
In January 1991, the Croatian police force consisted of 55,260 personnel (21,360 regular police, 22,900 reservists and 11,000 fighters from special police units). In May 1991, a Special Police Brigade was created from three territorial police battalions, capable of fighting 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 the special units police. On December 26, 1992, the police was reorganized again, its administrative structure increased to 20 district departments.
During the hostilities, military police companies and battalions were used not only to restore order in the territories controlled by the Croats, but also to break through the enemy defense line. Often, police units acted 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 opposition from the enemy.
HOS fighters. "Black Legion".
CROATIAN MILITARY UNITS
The first paramilitary unit of the Croatian Nationalists was the HSP combat detachments, led by the ultra-right nationalist Dobroslav Paraga. The ideological predecessors of the KhSP were the Ustashe during World War II. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the battle banners and uniforms of the KhSP fighters were replete with Ustashe symbols. The total number of combat wing of the new Ustasha was 10,000 people, which included 300 fighters of the resurrected "Black Legion" (under the command of Alia Sidzhak). The 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 military 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. Voinik, unit "Marko Kovac", Territorial Defense Forces, Chakovets, September 1991.
Croatian TO fighters wore Yugoslav uniforms and insignia until the end of 1990. In 1991, the Croats finally abandoned the “titivok” hats and began to wear classic mountain caps. This fighter wears Croatian national symbols on a cap and on an armband (the Croatian national symbol is the Spanish shield Sahonvica, decorated with a red and white checkerboard pattern. There is a red square in the upper left corner of the shield. Above the shield you can see the emblems of five historical Croatian regions - Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia).
The fighter is dressed in a jacket and pants of the Yugoslav armed forces, model 1975. On the hand is a handicraft bandage, hastily made in one of the Croatian sewing workshops (at an early stage of the conflict, some Croats did not use a bandage, but a paper token with national symbol). The fighter has no insignia, since at the beginning of 1991 the Croats did not put them on, trying to confuse the enemy. The Croatian fighter is armed with a Gorenje MGV-176 submachine gun, which was requisitioned from the nearest maintenance depot.
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 Krajina, 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 Conscription Policemen. On the left shoulder of the shooter you can see a green police chevron with the inscription in Croatian "POLICIJA". This new chevron replaced the old dark blue MILICIJA chevron, the Cyrillic version of which was used personnel federal forces of Yugoslav security, as well as militia units of Serbia, Montenegro and Vojvodina since 1978.
On the cap of the policeman you can see the emblem in the form of a chess shield with golden rays (sample of 90). In March 1991, the gilded emblem was replaced by a new version of the shield with silver rays and a golden wreath. The fighter has no insignia, which is typical for the initial period of the war. In the hands of a police officer, an SAR-80 assault rifle brought to Croatia under the guise of humanitarian aid.
3. Policeman Class I, Dubrovnik Police Department, November 1991.
This police officer is wearing a Croatian uniform of 1986 with epaulettes. In 1991, in all police stations in Dubrovnik, the red star was replaced with the national chess symbol. Since the number of the national Croatian police was rapidly increasing, there were not enough uniforms for all the 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, pants with two side pockets and two Velcro pockets, a beret, a belt, and Yugoslav officer's boots.
On the left shoulder of the fighter was a gray chevron "MILICIJA" (white letters). Another patch in the form of a shield appeared in July 1991, under which there was an additional pocket.
The chess symbol on the beret was introduced in 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 Krajina. However, in the fall, the chessboard was again returned to the national police.
The policeman shown in the image wears a cockade of the 1991 model (golden wreath, silver rays) on his beret. Ordinary police officers tried not to wear insignia, but senior constables had unofficial epaulettes (two yellow chevrons on a blue background).
1. Officer of the 106th brigade, National Guard, Osijek, September 1991.
Many Zengovtsy wore JNA 77 uniforms, gray Slovenian police uniforms, or US Army 1982 camouflage patterns. In 1991, the Croatian Sewing Workshops began sewing their own uniforms, tailored according to the American pattern (tiger camouflage or protective "police colors" were used as camouflage). Since many Zenga units were commanded by professional police officers, the insignia of the Yugoslav militia (later, the 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 Zenga cap with a national Croatian cockade (some officers used police or Zenga cockades). On the right left shoulder of the officer, you can see the Zeng 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. Voinik, 129th Brigade of the Croatian Army, Karlovac, December 1991.
During the heavy autumn battles of 1991, the Croats acquired several thousand sets of military equipment from the former warehouses of the GDR: helmets of the 56/76 model and the winter uniform of the 90 model in "rain camouflage". The Croats cut off shoulder straps from the German uniform and attached a shoulder emblem with a national chess field.
In the fall of 1991, only senior officers wore insignia. When the insignia appeared among the rank and file (this happened in the second half of 1992), the German uniform was no longer used. 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, American M1 helmets, Swiss M49 / 62 helmets (a variant of the British AT mk.II helmet), British AT mk.IV helmets, the Polish version of the Soviet SSH40, the Yugoslav model 59/85 helmet and even the Slovenian MPC- one.
3. Officer HOS, 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 HOS-sheep preferred to use black American-style uniforms 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 the Fascist regime of Pavelić and was not used after 1945.
On the left hand of the KhOS people was a stripe in the form of an old national emblem in a silver ring. At the top of the ring were the letters HOS, below them HSP. The inscription “Za dom spremni” (Ready to defend the Motherland) was embroidered at the bottom of the ring. KhOS members wore both Croatian and Ustashe insignia, whose history can be traced back to the Second World War.
In December 1991, the Croatian authorities demanded that the HOS members remove the Ustashe symbols and use the symbols of the Croatian Republic.
(c) Ilya Sadchikov, March 2015.
The design of the article used materials from Osprey - Elite 138 - Yugoslavian Wars 1.
Even before the outbreak of World War II, the separatist Croatian group Ustasha ("Rebel", "Rebel") operated in Yugoslavia. The group sought the independence of Croatia. Financial assistance from Italy and Hungary, however, did not help the group achieve significant results.
In April 1941, the German army invaded Yugoslavia, the army of this country fought only thanks to Serb soldiers - Croats and Bosnians fled dozens of units. At this time, the separatists decided to take advantage of the situation and declared independence. A new state appeared on the map - Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska. Ante Pavelic became the head of state, and Slavko Kvaternik became the commander-in-chief. On April 11, 1941, a decree was signed on the beginning of the formation of Hrvatsko Domobranstvo (Croatian troops). It was supposed to create ground forces, fleet, air force, gendarmerie, railway troops, labor services.
The new army did not have enough uniforms and weapons. Armored troops were armed only with old wedges and armored vehicles. The number of artillery pieces made it possible to create only 2 batteries in divisions. The recruitment of the army was carried out at the expense of conscripts, whose combat abilities were insignificant. In addition, a significant part of experienced officers entered the service of the German and Italian armies and the Ustasha Vojnica party armed formation.
After the Reich's attack on the USSR, Croatia also sent some of its units to the Eastern Front. The 369th Infantry Regiment and insignificant fleet forces were sent to Russia. A larger number of Croats served in the East in the uniform of the Wehrmacht and the Italian army.
For my short story the army went through several reorganizations: November 1, 1941 and May 1, 1943. In addition, in April 1942, 1 mountain division was formed (about 17,000 people). On November 20, 1944, military units and Vojnica were merged into the Croatian Armed Forces - Hrvatske Oruzane Snage. This was done to raise morale and strengthen the army units by party fanatics. By this time, the 1st shock division becomes the strongest formation of the army.
In the spring of 1945, units of the Red Army break into the territory of Croatia. Hrvatske Oruzane Snage units retreat with the Germans. In May 1945, a significant part of the Croatian divisions surrendered to the Allies in Austria near the city of Bleiburg. After a short break, the Allies hand over the prisoners to the Yugoslav government. Here, many Croatian soldiers were executed.
The Croatian army showed itself as a weak force at the front. But to a large extent, the Croats "distinguished themselves" in the fight against the partisans, when the "brave warriors" identified entire Serbian villages.
Initially, the regiments were structurally part of the military districts. Status as of October 1941:
Sava Divisional Region (district headquarters in Zagreb):
1 Infantry Regiment - Bjeloi (location)
2 Infantry Regiment - Zagreb
3rd Infantry Regiment - Karlovac
Osijek Divisional Region (district headquarters in Osijek):
4 Infantry Regiment - Osijek
5th Infantry Regiment - Pozega
6 Infantry Regiment - Vinkovci
Bosnian Divisional Region (district headquarters in Sarajevo):
7th Infantry Regiment - Sarajevo
8 Infantry Regiment - Tuzla
9 Infantry Regiment - Travnik
Vrbas Divisional Region (district headquarters in Banja Luka):
10th Infantry Regiment - Banja Luka
11th Infantry Regiment - Sisak
12th Infantry Regiment - Otocac
Jadran Divisional Region (district headquarters in Mostar):
13th Infantry Regiment - Mostar
14th Infantry Regiment - Trebinje
15th Infantry Regiment - Knin
Units outside the command of the district:
Cavalry Regiment "Zagreb" - Zagreb and Virovitica
Separate cavalry battalion - Sarajevo
1 Motorized Battalion - Zagreb
2 Motorized Battalion - Sarajevo
The first reorganization of the army in November 194th leads to the creation of corps:
I Corps (headquarters at Sisak):
1 Infantry division (1, 2, 11 infantry regiments; 1, 2 artillery battalions)
2 Infantry Division (3, 12, 15 infantry regiments; 8, 10 artillery battalions)
Cavalry Regiment "Zagreb"
1 motorcycle battalion
1, 3 Sapper battalions
II Corps - Slovenia and Northern Bosnia (headquarters at Slavonski Brod):
3 Infantry Division (4, 6 infantry regiments; 3, 4 artillery battalions)
4th Infantry Division (5th, 8th, 10th Infantry Regiments; 6th, 7th Artillery Battalions)
2 Brigades
III Corps - Southern Bosnia and Herzegovina (headquarters in Sarajevo):
5th Infantry Division (7th, 9th Infantry Regiments; 5th Artillery Battalions)
6 Infantry divisions (13th, 14th infantry regiments; 9 artillery regiments; 1-4 battalions)
1 Mountain Division (1-4 mountain brigades; 1-18 railway battalions; 21 Village Militia Bns.)
The organization changed after May 1, 1943. formed 3 corps from brigades. Garion brigades have been added.
On November 20, 1944, the Croatian Armed Forces were created. Organized 5 corps of 13 infantry, 2 mountain, 2 shock divisions, security divisions (+ Replacient Division):
By April 1945, Ustaha units formed the backbone of the army. Guard Corps "Poglavnik" (commander - General Ante Moskov)Security division "Poglavnik"
1 strike division
2nd Infantry Division
5 Infantry Division
16th Reserve Division
Mobile brigade
II Ustashe Corps (commander - General Max Luburic):
12 Infantry Division
14 Infantry Division
18 Infantry Division
III Ustashe Corps (commander - General Metzger):
3rd Infantry Division
7 Infantry Division
8 Infantry Division
9 Infantry Division
IV Ustashe Corps
4 Infantry Division
6 Infantry Division
15 Infantry Division
V Ustashe Corps (commander General Herencic):
10 Infantry Division
11th Infantry Division
13 Infantry Division
The fleet was armed mainly torpedo boats who made up Customs and the Coast Guard. All ships were divided into three groups: Northern, Central, Southern. On the Danube and the Sava there was a flotilla, which included a battalion of marines. After the capitulation of Italy in 1943, almost all Croatian ships were captured by this country.
The Air Force was armed with old Yugoslav aircraft, as well as captured French ones. The Air Force had three districts (in the region of Zagreb and Sarajevo). Aircraft were mainly used to fight Allied bombers.
The gendarmerie was created as a rural police, but it also performed the functions of fighting partisans. By the end of the war, there were about 18,000 people.
The Labor Service Service was established in August 1941 following the German example. All men before the draft on military service had to serve 12 months in this organization. By the summer of 1942 there were about 90,000 people here.
In addition, rural police battalions, security battalions, Muslim battalions, minor party formations, etc. were created.
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 cannot be completely 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 these was Slovenia.
Army of Slovenia
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 particular republic. Slovenia got an insignificant part of the equipment of this army, while the republic practically did not participate in civil war, therefore, did not feel a particular need to strengthen its armed forces.
In 2004 Slovenia became a member of NATO. Joining the alliance further reduced the interest of the country's leadership in rearmament. New equipment is practically not acquired, so the armed forces of Slovenia are an increasingly symbolic value.
The country lacks the division into army, air force and navy that is characteristic of the overwhelming majority of the world's armed forces. The Slovenian Air Force and Navy are so small that it makes no sense to make them certain types. 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 (Yugoslav version of T-72) in service; in storage - another 35 M-84s and from 30 to 55 obsolete Soviet T-55s.
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 - four Soviet BRDM-2, another 39 BMP M-80A, 19 Yugoslav armored personnel carriers M-60 and 28 BOV.
Soldiers of the 10th motorized infantry battalion of the Slovenian army. Photo: AFP / East News, archive
Artillery is represented by 18 Israeli 155 mm M-845 (TN-90) howitzers and 36 MN-9 (120 mm) mortars. Eight Soviet 2S1 self-propelled guns, 18 American M2A1 howitzers (105 mm), 30 M48V1 guns (76 mm), eight M-52 and 16 M-74 mortars (120 mm), 39 Yugoslav M63 and M71 MLRS (128 mm) are in storage .
There are 12 self-propelled anti-tank systems "Malyutka" and "Fagot" on the chassis of the Yugoslav armored personnel carrier BOV-3.
Ground air defense includes 15 anti-aircraft missile systems: nine French "Roland", six Soviet "Strela-1". In addition, 132 Soviet MANPADS are in service, 36 ZSU - 12 Yugoslav BOV-3, Czechoslovak M-53/59, Soviet ZSU-57-2.
Slovenian aviation has 22 aircraft 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 multi-purpose helicopters manufactured by Bell and 12 transport helicopters.
The naval division consists of two patrol boats - the Israeli type "Super Yard" and Russian project 10412.
Almost all equipment of the Slovenian Armed Forces is very outdated. The combat capability of the vehicles in storage is highly questionable. At the same time, the armed forces do not make any attempts to purchase new equipment, with the exception of the supply of Austrian and Finnish armored personnel carriers.
Army of Croatia
The Croatian armed forces are much stronger than the Slovenian ones. They had to go through a long hard war against the Serbs during the breakup of Yugoslavia. During the war, this country not only captured the Yugoslav army, but also acquired it abroad (mainly - by 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 in the course of the "third wave of enlargement". Its armed forces are still equipped almost exclusively with Soviet, ex-Yugoslav and its own equipment, a significant part of which has already exhausted its resource. main supplier new technology are not NATO countries, but neutral Finland.
The 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 the Day of the Croatian Armed Forces 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 rest of the 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. From 186 to 280 old Soviet T-55s are in storage.
There are 128 Yugoslav M-80 infantry fighting vehicles and 278 armored personnel carriers in service: 26 old Soviet BTR-50s, 54 Yugoslav BOV-VPs and 72 LOV-1OPs, 126 latest Finnish AMVs.
At the disposal of the Croatian armed forces there are nine Soviet self-propelled guns 2S1 (122 mm), 12 mountain guns M48 (76 mm), 89 American M-2A1 and 47 of their Yugoslav counterparts M-56H1 (105 mm), 53 Soviet D-30 (122 mm ), 18 Argentinean L-33s (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 MLRS BM-21 "Grad" and 24 Romanian APR-40 (122 mm), two Yugoslav MLRS M-87 "Orkan" (262 mm) and 24 towed RAK-12 (128 mm). There are 60 more RAK-12s in storage, as well as six M-96s and seven M-91s (122mm).
Croatia has 676 anti-tank missile systems Soviet-made - 461 "Baby" (including 43 self-propelled on the M-83 armored personnel carrier), 119 "Fagot", 42 "Competition", 54 "Metis". 133 Soviet anti-tank guns T-12 (100 mm) are in storage.
Military air defense includes nine Soviet anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela-10" (on the AMV chassis, and not MTLB, as in the "original" version). In addition, there are 619 Soviet MANPADS (539 "Strela-2", 80 "Igla"), 62 Yugoslav ZSU on the chassis of the BOV-3 armored personnel carrier (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 trainers MiG-21UM; another seven bis and 2 UM in storage) and six American counterguerrilla attack aircraft AT-802AF. 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 in Ukraine.
There are nine transport aircraft in service (two Ukrainian An-32s, seven Canadian ones - one CL-604 and six CL-415s), 26 training aircraft (17 Swiss PC-9Ms, three more in storage; four Yugoslav Utva-75s, eight more in storage; five Czech Z-242L).
All seven Mi-24 combat helicopters (two "D", five "V") 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-206V.
The Navy has five missile boats(one Koncar type, two Helsinki types, two Korol types, all armed with Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles), four patrol boats, one minesweeper, eight landing craft. In addition to the Finnish boats of the Helsinki type, all the rest are locally built.
Coastal defense has three RBS-15K SCRC batteries, 21 artillery batteries.
Albania
The Albanian armed forces, along with the entire infrastructure and state institutions, were almost completely destroyed in 1997 during the speeches of the "deceived 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 the aggression against Serbia, in 2009, together with Croatia, they were accepted into NATO.
Albanian soldiers during exercises. Photo: Gent Shkullaku / AFP / East News, archived
Now the country's ground forces consist of a rapid reaction brigade and a commando regiment. They seem to be 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 tools. In addition to American armored vehicles that do not have weapons, all this equipment is outdated to the point of complete loss of combat capability.
The Albanian Air Force has 24 transport and multipurpose helicopters - four French AS532s, eight German Bo-105s, three Italian Bell-205s, seven Bell-206s, one A-109C and one European EC145.
45 ancient Chinese fighters (35 J-6 (MiG-19) and ten J-7 (MiG-21)) have completely lost their combat capability, as well as 11 Y-5 (An-2) transport aircraft and six Z-5 (Mi -four). All of them are formally in storage, but they can only go from there to scrap metal. The only division of the Chinese air defense system HQ-2 (a copy of the S-75) is listed as combat-ready.
In the Navy, apparently, one or two Chinese patrol boats of the Shanghai type can still go to sea. There are also 20-30 Western-built patrol ships and boats with or without machine guns.
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.
