Post by MiG on May 6, 2009 11:55:38 GMT -5
Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija
The Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija or Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija - JNA), was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The JNA enjoyed an international reputation as a powerful, well-equipped, and well trained force.
Origins
The origins of JNA can be found in the Yugoslav Partisan units of World War II. As a part of the antifascist People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ), a predecessor of JNA, was formed on December 22, 1941 in the town of Rudo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the liberation of the country from the Axis Powers occupation, that date was officially celebrated as the Day of the Army in the SFR Yugoslavia. In March 1945, the NOVJ was renamed the Yugoslav Army (Jugoslovenska Armija) and finally on its 10th anniversary on December 22, 1951, received the adjective People's (i.e. Narodna).
Organization
Once considered the fourth largest army in the Europe, JNA consisted of the ground forces, air force and navy. They were organized in four military regions. The regions were further divided into districts that were responsible for administrative tasks such as draft registration, mobilization and construction and maintenance of military facilities. The regions were: Belgrade (responsible for eastern Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zagreb (Slovenia and northern Croatia), Skopje (Republic of Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro) and Split Naval Region. Of the JNA's 180,000 soldiers, more than 100,000 were conscripts.
In 1990 the army had nearly completed a major overhaul of its basic force structure. It eliminated its old divisional infantry organization and established the brigade as the largest operational unit. The army converted ten of twelve infantry divisions into twenty-nine tank, mechanized, and mountain infantry brigades with integral artillery, air defense, and anti-tank regiments. One airborne brigade was organized before 1990. The shift to brigade-level organization provided greater operational flexibility, maneuverability, and tactical initiative, and it reduced the possibility that large army units would be destroyed in setpiece engagements with an aggressor. The change created many senior field command positions that would develop relatively young and talented officers. The brigade structure also was more appropriate at a time of declining manpower.
Industry and Infrastructure
The arms industry took up the majority of Yugoslavia's heavy industries. With annual exports of $3 billion, it was twice as large as the second largest Yugoslav industry, tourism. It had modern infrastructure with underground air-bases and control centres in several mountains. The biggest and best known was the Bihać underground Integrated Radar Control and Surveillance Centre and Air Base also known as "Željava" in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Several companies in Yugoslavia produced airplanes and specifically combat aircraft, most notably Soko of Mostar, with the Soko J-22 Orao being the best known, as well as Utva in Serbia. Regarding ground combat, Yugoslav military-industrial complex produced tanks (most notably, the modern M-84), armored vehicles (BOV-M, BOV-1 M-83, M-80), various artillery pieces (mortars, MLRS, howitzers etc.), anti-aircraft weapons, as well as various types of infantry weapons and other equipment.
Ground forces
The ground forces led in personnel. It had about 165,000 active-duty soldiers (including 90,000 conscripts) in 1991 and could mobilize over a million trained reservists in wartime. Reserve forces were organized along republics' lines into Territorial Defense Forces and in wartime they were to be subordinate to JNA Supreme Command as an integral part of defense system. Territorial Defense (reserve force) was made up of former conscripts and they were occasionally called up for war exercises.
The ground forces were infantry, armor, artillery, and air defense, as well as signal, engineering and chemical defense corps.
Air Force
The Yugoslav Air Force had about 32,000 including 4,000 conscripts and operated over 700 aircraft and 200 helicopters. It was responsible for transport, reconnaissance, and rotary-wing aircraft as well as the national air defense system. The primary air force missions were to contest enemy efforts to establish air superiority over Yugoslavia and to support the defensive operations of the ground forces and navy. Most aircraft were produced in Yugoslavia but missiles were produced domestically or supplied by the Soviet Union.
The Yugoslav Air Force had twelve squadrons of domestically produced ground attack fighters. The ground attack squadrons provided close air support to ground force operations. They were equipped with 165 new Orao-2, Super Galeb and J-21 Jastreb, and older P-2 Kraguj fighters. Many ground attack fighters were armed with AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles purchased from the United States. Others were armed with Soviet Kh-23 and Kh-28 missiles. The air force also had about ninety armed Mi-8 helicopter gunships to provide added mobility and fire support for small ground units. A large number of reconnaissance aircraft were available to support ground forces operations. Four squadrons of seventy Galeb, Jastreb, and Orao-1 fighters were configured for reconnaissance missions.
The Yugoslav Air Force had nine squadrons of 130 Soviet-made MiG-21 interceptors for air defence. First produced in the late 1950s, the MiG-21 design was largely obsolete in 1990 and represented a potential weakness in Yugoslavia's air defense. However, the bulk of the MiG-21 fleet consisted mainly of the bis variant, the latest production MiG-21 model, and was armed with Soviet AA-2 (NATO: Atol) air-to-air missiles and some more modern AA-8 (NATO: Aphid) missiles as well as twin 23 mm cannons. By 1989, Yugoslavia started developing a new domestic multirole fighter called Novi Avion, which was supposed to replace the MiG-21 and J-21 Jastreb fleets entirely. The design of the new aircraft was influenced by both Mirage 2000 and Dassault Rafale fighter types and it was to enter service by early 2000s. As an interim solution, a modernization package was planned for the MiG-21 and it is speculated that India's MiG-21 Bison upgrade was actually intended for Yugoslav aircraft.
In 1987, Yugoslavia acquired 16 MiG-29 interceptors.
Although not officially known at the time, Yugoslavia was rumored to have been interested in the purchase of certain numbers of Su-25 attack-aircraft and Mi-24 gunships. Instead of developing its own fighter plane, the "Novi Avion", the country was offered to licence-build the F-20, but due to unstable relations with the US, the offer was rejected. By late 1980s, the licence-production of Eurocopter Super Puma was also envisaged, but due to the break-up of the country, this idea, like many others, never came to be realized.
The Yugoslav Air Force conducted a large pilot training program with almost 200 Galeb, Super Galeb, and UTVA-75/-76 aircraft. The propeller-driven UTVA trainers had underwing pylons capable of carrying light weapons loads. A new UTVA Lasta trainer was under development in 1990. After practicing instrument and night flying, gunnery, bombing, rocket firing, and aerial maneuvers in the Lasta, student pilots progressed to the Super Galeb. Twenty Partisan helicopters were used for pilot training.
One of the most impressive structures operated by the JNA Air Force was the underground Željava air base near the town of Bihac in Bosnia. The structure was made to withstand a nuclear explosion and was destroyed by the JNA in 1992 to prevent it's capture. Željava vas base of 117th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which has compose of 124th and 125th fighter squadrons equipped with MiG-21Bis fighters and 352th rece squadron equipped with MiG-21R aircraft.
The Air and Air Defence forces were headquartered at Zemun and had fighter and bomber aircraft, helicopters, and air defence artillery units at air bases throughout the former Yugoslavia: Batajnica (Belgrade), Niš, Slatina (Priština), Golubovci (Titograd), Skopski Petrovec, Sarajevo, Mostar,Željava (Bihać), Pleso (Zagreb), Divulje (Split), Pula, Zemunik (Zadar), Cerklje ob Krki and many other smaller air bases.
Navy
Minor surface combatants operated by the Yugoslav Navy included nearly eighty frigates, corvettes, submarines, minesweepers, and missile, torpedo, and patrol boats in the Adriatic Fleet. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split (now part of Croatia).
The Partisans had operated many small boats in raids harassing Italian convoys in the Adriatic Sea during World War II. After the war, the navy operated numerous German and Italian submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and tank-landing craft captured during the war or received as war reparations. The United States provided eight torpedo boats in the late 1940s, but most of those units were soon obsolete. The navy was upgraded in the 1960s when it acquired ten Osa-I class missile boats and four Shershen-class torpedo boats from the Soviet Union. The Soviets granted a license to build eleven additional Shershen units in Yugoslav shipyards developed for this purpose.
In 1980 and 1982, the Yugoslav navy took delivery of two Soviet Koni class frigates. In 1988 it completed two additional units under license. The Koni frigates were armed with four Soviet SS-N-2B surface-to-surface missile launchers, twin SA-N-4 (NATO: SA-8 Gecko) surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine rocket launchers.
The Yugoslav navy developed its own submarine-building capability during the 1960s. In 1990, the main combat units of the submarine service were three Heroj-class patrol submarines armed with 533 mm torpedoes. Two smaller Sava-class units entered service in the late 1970s. Two Sutjeska-class submarines had been relegated mainly to training missions by 1990. At that time the navy had apparently shifted to construction of versatile midget submarines. Four Una-class midgets and four Mala-class swimmer delivery vehicles were in service in the late 1980s. They were built for use by underwater demolition teams and special forces. The Una-class boats carried five crewmen, eight combat swimmers, four Mala vehicles, and limpet mines. The Mala vehicles in turn carried two swimmers and 250 kilograms of mines.
The Yugoslav navy operated ten Osa class missile boats and six Rade Koncar-class missile boats. The Osa I boats were armed with four SS-N-2A surface-to-surface missile launchers. In 1990, ten domestic Kobra missile boats were scheduled to begin replacing the Osa I class. The Kobra class was to be armed with eight Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles to which idea 100 RBS-15 were ordered in late 1989. Armed with two SS-N-2B launchers, the Koncar-class boats were modeled after the Swedish Spica class but these too were also planned to be upgraded with Swedish-built missiles. Two Kobra missile boats have been, however, built by Croatia as the Kralj /King class and one Rade Končar-class boat has been upgraded to a previously mentioned standard. The navy's fifteen Topcider-class torpedo boats included four former Soviet Shershen-class and eleven Yugoslav built units.
The Yugoslav navy's mine warfare and countermeasures capabilities were considered adequate in 1990. It operated four Vukov Klanac-class coastal minehunters built on a French design, four British Hamclass inshore minesweepers, and six 117-class inshore minesweepers built in domestic shipyards. Larger numbers of older and less capable minesweepers were mainly used in riverine operations. Other older units were used as dedicated minelayers. The navy used amphibious landing craft in support of army operations in the area of the Danube, Sava, and Drava rivers. They included both tank and assault landing craft. In 1990, there were four 501-class, ten 211-class, and twenty-five 601-class landing craft in service. Most of them were also capable of laying mines in rivers and coastal areas.
The Yugoslav Navy had 10,000 sailors (4,400 conscripts, 900 marines). This was essentially a coastal defense force with the mission of preventing enemy amphibious landings along the country's rugged 4,000-kilometer shoreline or coastal islands, and contesting an enemy blockade or control of the strategic Strait of Otranto. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split. The naval region was divided into three smaller naval districts and a riverine flotilla with major naval bases located at Split, Sibenik, Pula, Ploce and Kotor on the Adriatic sea, and Novi Sad on the river Danube. The strategic islands of Vis and Lastovo were heavily fortified and unauthorised entry was denied. The fleet was organized into missile, torpedo, and patrol boat brigades, a submarine division, and minesweeper flotillas. The naval order of battle included four frigates, three corvettes, five patrol submarines, fifty-eight missile, torpedo, and patrol boats, and twenty-eight minesweepers. One antisubmarine warfare helicopter squadron was based at Divulje on the Adriatic sea coast for coastal operations. It employed Soviet Ka-25, Ka-28, and Mi-8 helicopters, and domestic Partisan helicopters. Some air force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons supported naval operations.
Doctrine
The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) had a unique operational military doctrine for a conventional military force. Yugoslavia based its defence doctrine upon the total war concept of the "Total National Defence" (Serbian: Opštenarodna odbrana; Croatian: Općenarodna obrana; Slovene: Splošna ljudska obramba; Macedonian: Општонародна одбрана; abbr.: latin: ONO, cyrilic: ОНО), which drew upon Yugoslavia's rich partisan history during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War in the Second World War. The Total National Defence gave the JNA the role of defending borders against aggressors with the intention of delaying an invader long enough for Territorial Defence Forces to enter the field and start wearing the invader down with partisan tactics. The entire Yugoslav population under this concept was to be engaged in armed resistance, armaments production, and civil defence. The concept of Total National Defence was believed by the Yugoslav planners to be the best method by which a smaller nation could properly defend itself against a much stronger invader.
Exemplary Soldier
If a JNA recruit completes basic training with distinction, he will earn the Exemplary Soldier plaque. This means that the soldier has shown that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty. The plaque's text is addressed to soldier's parents and sent to them upon completion of training. It lists that the recruit has excellent understanding of basic military training, military doctrine and politics. The plaque also states that the recruit has shown excellent commitment to brotherhood and unity and has shown honor in defending the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Ladies and Gentlemen, me questions to you are;
If Yugoslavia survived, what type of military equipment do you think the JNA would have fielded?
Do you think that the JNA, had it survived, still been the 4th largest in Europe? Would it be stronger or weaker?
Do you think that the doctrine would have changed?
Do you think that there would be much more exports annually since the USSR fell?
Keep it clean, and lets discuss.
The Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija or Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija - JNA), was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The JNA enjoyed an international reputation as a powerful, well-equipped, and well trained force.
Origins
The origins of JNA can be found in the Yugoslav Partisan units of World War II. As a part of the antifascist People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ), a predecessor of JNA, was formed on December 22, 1941 in the town of Rudo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the liberation of the country from the Axis Powers occupation, that date was officially celebrated as the Day of the Army in the SFR Yugoslavia. In March 1945, the NOVJ was renamed the Yugoslav Army (Jugoslovenska Armija) and finally on its 10th anniversary on December 22, 1951, received the adjective People's (i.e. Narodna).
Organization
Once considered the fourth largest army in the Europe, JNA consisted of the ground forces, air force and navy. They were organized in four military regions. The regions were further divided into districts that were responsible for administrative tasks such as draft registration, mobilization and construction and maintenance of military facilities. The regions were: Belgrade (responsible for eastern Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zagreb (Slovenia and northern Croatia), Skopje (Republic of Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro) and Split Naval Region. Of the JNA's 180,000 soldiers, more than 100,000 were conscripts.
In 1990 the army had nearly completed a major overhaul of its basic force structure. It eliminated its old divisional infantry organization and established the brigade as the largest operational unit. The army converted ten of twelve infantry divisions into twenty-nine tank, mechanized, and mountain infantry brigades with integral artillery, air defense, and anti-tank regiments. One airborne brigade was organized before 1990. The shift to brigade-level organization provided greater operational flexibility, maneuverability, and tactical initiative, and it reduced the possibility that large army units would be destroyed in setpiece engagements with an aggressor. The change created many senior field command positions that would develop relatively young and talented officers. The brigade structure also was more appropriate at a time of declining manpower.
Industry and Infrastructure
The arms industry took up the majority of Yugoslavia's heavy industries. With annual exports of $3 billion, it was twice as large as the second largest Yugoslav industry, tourism. It had modern infrastructure with underground air-bases and control centres in several mountains. The biggest and best known was the Bihać underground Integrated Radar Control and Surveillance Centre and Air Base also known as "Željava" in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Several companies in Yugoslavia produced airplanes and specifically combat aircraft, most notably Soko of Mostar, with the Soko J-22 Orao being the best known, as well as Utva in Serbia. Regarding ground combat, Yugoslav military-industrial complex produced tanks (most notably, the modern M-84), armored vehicles (BOV-M, BOV-1 M-83, M-80), various artillery pieces (mortars, MLRS, howitzers etc.), anti-aircraft weapons, as well as various types of infantry weapons and other equipment.
Ground forces
The ground forces led in personnel. It had about 165,000 active-duty soldiers (including 90,000 conscripts) in 1991 and could mobilize over a million trained reservists in wartime. Reserve forces were organized along republics' lines into Territorial Defense Forces and in wartime they were to be subordinate to JNA Supreme Command as an integral part of defense system. Territorial Defense (reserve force) was made up of former conscripts and they were occasionally called up for war exercises.
The ground forces were infantry, armor, artillery, and air defense, as well as signal, engineering and chemical defense corps.
Air Force
The Yugoslav Air Force had about 32,000 including 4,000 conscripts and operated over 700 aircraft and 200 helicopters. It was responsible for transport, reconnaissance, and rotary-wing aircraft as well as the national air defense system. The primary air force missions were to contest enemy efforts to establish air superiority over Yugoslavia and to support the defensive operations of the ground forces and navy. Most aircraft were produced in Yugoslavia but missiles were produced domestically or supplied by the Soviet Union.
The Yugoslav Air Force had twelve squadrons of domestically produced ground attack fighters. The ground attack squadrons provided close air support to ground force operations. They were equipped with 165 new Orao-2, Super Galeb and J-21 Jastreb, and older P-2 Kraguj fighters. Many ground attack fighters were armed with AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles purchased from the United States. Others were armed with Soviet Kh-23 and Kh-28 missiles. The air force also had about ninety armed Mi-8 helicopter gunships to provide added mobility and fire support for small ground units. A large number of reconnaissance aircraft were available to support ground forces operations. Four squadrons of seventy Galeb, Jastreb, and Orao-1 fighters were configured for reconnaissance missions.
The Yugoslav Air Force had nine squadrons of 130 Soviet-made MiG-21 interceptors for air defence. First produced in the late 1950s, the MiG-21 design was largely obsolete in 1990 and represented a potential weakness in Yugoslavia's air defense. However, the bulk of the MiG-21 fleet consisted mainly of the bis variant, the latest production MiG-21 model, and was armed with Soviet AA-2 (NATO: Atol) air-to-air missiles and some more modern AA-8 (NATO: Aphid) missiles as well as twin 23 mm cannons. By 1989, Yugoslavia started developing a new domestic multirole fighter called Novi Avion, which was supposed to replace the MiG-21 and J-21 Jastreb fleets entirely. The design of the new aircraft was influenced by both Mirage 2000 and Dassault Rafale fighter types and it was to enter service by early 2000s. As an interim solution, a modernization package was planned for the MiG-21 and it is speculated that India's MiG-21 Bison upgrade was actually intended for Yugoslav aircraft.
In 1987, Yugoslavia acquired 16 MiG-29 interceptors.
Although not officially known at the time, Yugoslavia was rumored to have been interested in the purchase of certain numbers of Su-25 attack-aircraft and Mi-24 gunships. Instead of developing its own fighter plane, the "Novi Avion", the country was offered to licence-build the F-20, but due to unstable relations with the US, the offer was rejected. By late 1980s, the licence-production of Eurocopter Super Puma was also envisaged, but due to the break-up of the country, this idea, like many others, never came to be realized.
The Yugoslav Air Force conducted a large pilot training program with almost 200 Galeb, Super Galeb, and UTVA-75/-76 aircraft. The propeller-driven UTVA trainers had underwing pylons capable of carrying light weapons loads. A new UTVA Lasta trainer was under development in 1990. After practicing instrument and night flying, gunnery, bombing, rocket firing, and aerial maneuvers in the Lasta, student pilots progressed to the Super Galeb. Twenty Partisan helicopters were used for pilot training.
One of the most impressive structures operated by the JNA Air Force was the underground Željava air base near the town of Bihac in Bosnia. The structure was made to withstand a nuclear explosion and was destroyed by the JNA in 1992 to prevent it's capture. Željava vas base of 117th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which has compose of 124th and 125th fighter squadrons equipped with MiG-21Bis fighters and 352th rece squadron equipped with MiG-21R aircraft.
The Air and Air Defence forces were headquartered at Zemun and had fighter and bomber aircraft, helicopters, and air defence artillery units at air bases throughout the former Yugoslavia: Batajnica (Belgrade), Niš, Slatina (Priština), Golubovci (Titograd), Skopski Petrovec, Sarajevo, Mostar,Željava (Bihać), Pleso (Zagreb), Divulje (Split), Pula, Zemunik (Zadar), Cerklje ob Krki and many other smaller air bases.
Navy
Minor surface combatants operated by the Yugoslav Navy included nearly eighty frigates, corvettes, submarines, minesweepers, and missile, torpedo, and patrol boats in the Adriatic Fleet. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split (now part of Croatia).
The Partisans had operated many small boats in raids harassing Italian convoys in the Adriatic Sea during World War II. After the war, the navy operated numerous German and Italian submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and tank-landing craft captured during the war or received as war reparations. The United States provided eight torpedo boats in the late 1940s, but most of those units were soon obsolete. The navy was upgraded in the 1960s when it acquired ten Osa-I class missile boats and four Shershen-class torpedo boats from the Soviet Union. The Soviets granted a license to build eleven additional Shershen units in Yugoslav shipyards developed for this purpose.
In 1980 and 1982, the Yugoslav navy took delivery of two Soviet Koni class frigates. In 1988 it completed two additional units under license. The Koni frigates were armed with four Soviet SS-N-2B surface-to-surface missile launchers, twin SA-N-4 (NATO: SA-8 Gecko) surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine rocket launchers.
The Yugoslav navy developed its own submarine-building capability during the 1960s. In 1990, the main combat units of the submarine service were three Heroj-class patrol submarines armed with 533 mm torpedoes. Two smaller Sava-class units entered service in the late 1970s. Two Sutjeska-class submarines had been relegated mainly to training missions by 1990. At that time the navy had apparently shifted to construction of versatile midget submarines. Four Una-class midgets and four Mala-class swimmer delivery vehicles were in service in the late 1980s. They were built for use by underwater demolition teams and special forces. The Una-class boats carried five crewmen, eight combat swimmers, four Mala vehicles, and limpet mines. The Mala vehicles in turn carried two swimmers and 250 kilograms of mines.
The Yugoslav navy operated ten Osa class missile boats and six Rade Koncar-class missile boats. The Osa I boats were armed with four SS-N-2A surface-to-surface missile launchers. In 1990, ten domestic Kobra missile boats were scheduled to begin replacing the Osa I class. The Kobra class was to be armed with eight Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles to which idea 100 RBS-15 were ordered in late 1989. Armed with two SS-N-2B launchers, the Koncar-class boats were modeled after the Swedish Spica class but these too were also planned to be upgraded with Swedish-built missiles. Two Kobra missile boats have been, however, built by Croatia as the Kralj /King class and one Rade Končar-class boat has been upgraded to a previously mentioned standard. The navy's fifteen Topcider-class torpedo boats included four former Soviet Shershen-class and eleven Yugoslav built units.
The Yugoslav navy's mine warfare and countermeasures capabilities were considered adequate in 1990. It operated four Vukov Klanac-class coastal minehunters built on a French design, four British Hamclass inshore minesweepers, and six 117-class inshore minesweepers built in domestic shipyards. Larger numbers of older and less capable minesweepers were mainly used in riverine operations. Other older units were used as dedicated minelayers. The navy used amphibious landing craft in support of army operations in the area of the Danube, Sava, and Drava rivers. They included both tank and assault landing craft. In 1990, there were four 501-class, ten 211-class, and twenty-five 601-class landing craft in service. Most of them were also capable of laying mines in rivers and coastal areas.
The Yugoslav Navy had 10,000 sailors (4,400 conscripts, 900 marines). This was essentially a coastal defense force with the mission of preventing enemy amphibious landings along the country's rugged 4,000-kilometer shoreline or coastal islands, and contesting an enemy blockade or control of the strategic Strait of Otranto. The entire coast of Yugoslavia was part of the naval region headquartered at Split. The naval region was divided into three smaller naval districts and a riverine flotilla with major naval bases located at Split, Sibenik, Pula, Ploce and Kotor on the Adriatic sea, and Novi Sad on the river Danube. The strategic islands of Vis and Lastovo were heavily fortified and unauthorised entry was denied. The fleet was organized into missile, torpedo, and patrol boat brigades, a submarine division, and minesweeper flotillas. The naval order of battle included four frigates, three corvettes, five patrol submarines, fifty-eight missile, torpedo, and patrol boats, and twenty-eight minesweepers. One antisubmarine warfare helicopter squadron was based at Divulje on the Adriatic sea coast for coastal operations. It employed Soviet Ka-25, Ka-28, and Mi-8 helicopters, and domestic Partisan helicopters. Some air force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons supported naval operations.
Doctrine
The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) had a unique operational military doctrine for a conventional military force. Yugoslavia based its defence doctrine upon the total war concept of the "Total National Defence" (Serbian: Opštenarodna odbrana; Croatian: Općenarodna obrana; Slovene: Splošna ljudska obramba; Macedonian: Општонародна одбрана; abbr.: latin: ONO, cyrilic: ОНО), which drew upon Yugoslavia's rich partisan history during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War in the Second World War. The Total National Defence gave the JNA the role of defending borders against aggressors with the intention of delaying an invader long enough for Territorial Defence Forces to enter the field and start wearing the invader down with partisan tactics. The entire Yugoslav population under this concept was to be engaged in armed resistance, armaments production, and civil defence. The concept of Total National Defence was believed by the Yugoslav planners to be the best method by which a smaller nation could properly defend itself against a much stronger invader.
Exemplary Soldier
If a JNA recruit completes basic training with distinction, he will earn the Exemplary Soldier plaque. This means that the soldier has shown that he has gone above and beyond the call of duty. The plaque's text is addressed to soldier's parents and sent to them upon completion of training. It lists that the recruit has excellent understanding of basic military training, military doctrine and politics. The plaque also states that the recruit has shown excellent commitment to brotherhood and unity and has shown honor in defending the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Ladies and Gentlemen, me questions to you are;
If Yugoslavia survived, what type of military equipment do you think the JNA would have fielded?
Do you think that the JNA, had it survived, still been the 4th largest in Europe? Would it be stronger or weaker?
Do you think that the doctrine would have changed?
Do you think that there would be much more exports annually since the USSR fell?
Keep it clean, and lets discuss.