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Serbian Armed Forces

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Serbian Armed Forces
Bojcka Србије
Vojska Srbije
Emblem of the Serbian Armed Forces
Founded1838
Current form2006
Service branchesSerbian Army
Serbian Air Force and Air Defence
HeadquartersBelgrade, Serbia
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefPresident Tomislav Nikolić
Minister of DefenceZoran Đorđević
Chief of the General StaffGeneral Ljubiša Diković
Personnel
Military age18 years of age for voluntary military service
Fit for
military service		3,573,091[1] males, age 16-49 (2010 est.),
3,537,415 females, age 16-49 (2010 est.)
Reaching military
age annually		43,945 males (2010 est.),
41,080 females (2010 est.)
Active personnel52,000 (2016) [2]
Reserve personnel170.000 (2016) [2]
Deployed personnel336[3]
Expenditure
Budget€452 Million (2015)[4]
Percent of GDP1.8% (2013)[5]
Industry
Domestic suppliersZastava Arms
Yugoimport SDPR
Utva Pančevo
Prvi Partizan
Fabrika automobila Priboj
Annual exports$755 million (2014)[6]
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Serbia
RanksMilitary ranks of Serbia

The Serbian Armed Forces ([Војска Србије / Vojska Srbije] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) are the armed forces of Serbia. The armed forces consist of the Serbian Army and the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is the President of the Republic. The Serbian Armed Forces are a professional and volunteer based military. Serbia exercises civilian control of the military through the Ministry of Defence.

History

Main article: History of the Serbian Army

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

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

Organisation

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

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

Service branches

Following the 2006 reorganization, the armed forces consist of the following service branches:

Serbian Army

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

Serbian Air Force and Air Defense

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

Reserve

The reserve force is composed of an active reserve and passive reserve. The active reserve force numbers 2,000 members,[9] while the passive reserve totals about 1.7 million citizens with past military training or experience.[9]

Peacekeeping

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

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

See also

References

  1. ^ "The World Factbook".
  2. ^ a b The Military Balance 2015, p 149-152, International Institute for Strategic Studies
  3. ^ a b "Министарство одбране Републике Србије - Актуелне мултинационалне операције".
  4. ^ agencies, InSerbia with (21 December 2014). "Serbia lacks money to purchase new equipment for its army".
  5. ^ SIPRI military expenditure database (2013)
  6. ^ "OFANZIVA: Srbija naoružava Ameriku i Evropu". via kurir.rs. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Serbian Army in WWI".
  8. ^ "Министарство одбране Републике Србије - Министар одбране".
  9. ^ a b "Iz stroja pravo na posao" (in Serbian). Večernje novosti. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
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