, the
Navy and the
Ground Forces Structure and organization (late 1980s – early 1990s) In the mid-1980s, plans were made under a formal top-secret strategic and operational plan named "Jedinstvo" for a structural change from republic armies and divisions to military districts and brigades to allow for easier federal consolidation of the republics' territorial armies, particularly in the case of a crisis. Because of internal and external security changes during that time, "Jedinstvo" was later modeled in three parts: "Jedinstvo 1", "Jedinstvo 2", and "Jedinstvo 3", starting from 1987 (with a planned completion date of 1995) for the JNA to start major reform. The first part of JNA major overhaul under "Jedinstvo 1" had its basic force structure nearly completed in 1989. Manpower was planned to be reduced to about 1 million in wartime, while in peacetime it would be 299,057 personnel including officers, soldiers and the civilian workforce, including civil service. Equipment purchase was not realized in full. The JNA's organization and structure after "Jedinstvo 1" consisted of the
Ground Forces,
Air Force and
Navy. Under reforms through the "Jedinstvo" plan it was planned to reorganize the army's structure into four major army areas called "Vojna Oblast" under command of the
Federal Secretariat of People's Defence (SSNO) – "Vojna oblast" or
military regions were further divided into corps, brigades, garrisons and smaller districts and sectors that were responsible for administrative tasks such as
draft registration,
mobilization, and construction and maintenance of military facilities. The regions were: • The first military region with headquarters in
Belgrade (responsible for eastern
Croatia, northern and central parts of
Serbia and parts of
Bosnia and Herzegovina) • The second military region with headquarters in
Zagreb (
Slovenia and northern Croatia) • The third military region with headquarters in
Skopje (
Macedonia,
Southern Serbia and
Montenegro) • The military-naval region "Vojnopomorska Oblast" with its headquarters in
Split. Military-Naval Region included parts of Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Montenegro – almost all Yugoslavia coastline. It had subdivisions on three sectors including flotilla and one corps. Directly under SSNO were the Guard's motorized brigade, school centers, three SIGNAL regiments, a light anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and a few independent battalions and divisions. In the "Jedinstvo 1" reforms, JNA eliminated most of its old
divisional infantry organization and established the
brigade and
corps structure with some independent units under direct command of SSNO. Territorial defense was also changed and laws and the constitution were amended to address those changes. The Ground Forces "converted ten of twelve
infantry divisions into twenty-nine
tank, mechanized and mountain infantry
brigades with integral
artillery,
air defense and
anti-tank regiments under corps structure. One
airborne brigade was organized before 1990. The shift to brigade-level organization provided greater operational flexibility, maneuverability, and tactical initiative and reduced the possibility that large army units would be destroyed in set piece engagements with an aggressor. The change created many senior field command positions that would develop relatively young and talented officers." In 1989, five independent divisions under general staff command and 25 partisan (reserve) divisions under corps command were formed including many other battalions, regiments and batteries under different commands. The 1989 plan "Jedinstvo 2" commenced and border battalions were transferred under corps command including some divisions that have remained before under others commands. Brigades got some artillery and antiaircraft batteries under their direct command that helped them to gain independence in wartime from higher levels. Defense of all major cities was previously planned with separate units but under "Jedinstvo 2" only Belgrade and Zagreb retained separated units for defense of their cities. There were usually three classes of brigades, regiments and battalions: • A. class • B. class • R. class A. class brigades and battalions were more than 60 to up to 100% manned, and B. class units had 15–60% manpower. R. class units were reserved with about 15–20% and was manned mostly in their logistic units and commands. Battalions with A. class status were 100% manned and equipped. A. class brigades had a brigade HQ and 4 battalions and B class brigade had 2–3 battalions with HQ. The "Jedinstvo 3" plan started in 1990. To the military leadership of the JNA, it was obvious that
USSR was moving to defend its internal borders and the only global superpower left was the USA. It was then agreed in JNA that potential for aggression from the
Warsaw Pact had diminished but potential aggression from
NATO had increased. The new plan "Jedinstvo 3" included changes to organize better defenses from new perceived external threats. The plan required the building of smaller but more modernized forces with highly mobile units. Corps closer to the border would have two A. class brigades including an artillery regiment of A. class, an anti-armor regiment of B. class and an engineering battalion of A class. Corps deeper inside country would have one brigade of A. or B. class. Under "Jedinstvo 3" every corps in the
Air Force should have one support aviation brigade, one fighter wing, one Air Surveillance, Early Warning and Guidance regiment, 1–2 rocket brigades or regiments and rest up to possibilities to equip. Under "Jedinstvo 2", the JNA on 1 January 1990 had: and operated over 400 aircraft and 200
helicopters. It was responsible for transport,
reconnaissance and
rotary-wing aircraft as well as the national air defence system. The primary air force missions were to contest enemy efforts to establish
air supremacy over Yugoslavia and to support the defensive operations of the ground forces and navy. Most aircraft were produced in Yugoslavia.
Missiles were produced domestically and 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
Soko J-22 Orao,
Super Galeb and
J-21 Jastreb, and older
Soko J-20 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 defence. However, the bulk of the MiG-21 fleet consisted mainly of the
bis variant, the latest production MiG-21 model, and was armed with the Soviet
Vympel K-13 (
NATO reporting name: AA-2 "Atoll") missile, air-to-air missiles and some
Molniya R-60 (NATO reporting name: AA-8 "Aphid") missiles as well as twin 23 mm cannons. By 1989, Yugoslavia started developing a new domestic multirole fighter plane 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 the
Mirage 2000 and
Dassault Rafale fighter types and it was to enter service by the 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-29s. Although not officially known at the time, Yugoslavia was rumoured to have been interested in the purchase of
Su-25 attack-aircraft and
Mi-24 gunships. Instead of developing its own fighter plane, the
Novi Avion, the country made a request to licence-build the
F-20, but due to unstable relations with the US, the request was rejected. By the late 1980s, the licensed production of
Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopters was also planned, but due to the dissolution of the country, it was not continued. One of the structures operated by the
Yugoslav Air Force was the underground
Željava Air Base near the town of
Bihać in northwest
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The structure was made to withstand a nuclear explosion and was destroyed by the JNA in 1992 to prevent its capture. Željava was home to the 117th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was composed of the 124th and 125th Fighter Squadrons, equipped with MiG-21Bis fighters, and the 352nd Reconnaissance 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 Air Base (
Belgrade),
Niš Constantine the Great Airport,
Slatina Air Base (
Priština),
Golubovci Airbase (
Titograd),
Skopski Petrovec,
Sarajevo,
Mostar, Željava Air Base (Bihać),
Pleso (
Zagreb),
Split Airport,
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, 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 them were soon obsolete. The navy was upgraded in the 1960s when it acquired ten
Osa-I-class missile boats and four s 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 the delivery of two Soviet s. In 1988 it completed two additional units under license. The Koni frigates were armed with four Soviet
P-15 Termit surface-to-surface missile launchers, twin
9K33 Osa (NATO reporting name: 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 s armed with 533 mm torpedoes. Two smaller s 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 carried two swimmers and of mines. The Yugoslav navy operated ten Osa-class missile boats and six missile boats. The Osa I boats were armed with four P-15 Termit 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, and fifteen of them were ordered in late 1989. Armed with two P-15 Termit launchers, the
Končar-class boats were modeled after the , and there were plans to upgrade them with Swedish-built missiles. Two
Kobra missile boats were built by
Croatia as the and both are still in service. The navy's fifteen Topčider-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 minesweepers built on a French design, four British s, 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 (including 4,400 conscripts and 900 marines). They were essentially a coastal defence force with the mission of preventing enemy
amphibious landings along the country's rugged 4,000-kilometer shoreline and coastal islands, and contesting 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,
Šibenik,
Pula,
Ploče 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 prohibited. 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 Split on the Adriatic coast. It employed Soviet
Ka-25,
Ka-28, and
Mi-14 helicopters, and domestic Partisan helicopters. Some air force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons supported naval operations.
Military education and composition The Yugoslav Constitution of 1974 principally tried to have the most proportional representation of Yugoslavia's republics and autonomous provinces in the high army ranks. It is defined in article 242 of the constitution, which says that, "Regarding the composition of staff and the employment in the high command and leadership functions in the Yugoslav People's Army the principle is applied of as proportional representation as possible of republics and autonomous provinces". Representation of the main nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia in the general population and the armed forces: Ethnic distribution among higher ranks of the JNA:
Anniversaries and rewards 22 December was established as the Yugoslav People's Army Day. On that day all units and organizations within JNA including other Yugoslavia states bodies celebrated the day the JNA was founded. Prestigious awards were given on that day: they were called
dvadesetdrugi decembar. Rewards were given to anyone who had contributed to the defence of Yugoslavia in some way including military, scientific, economic or another contribution. Winners of such awards were highly praised in media and among the populace. Every ten years, special medals were awarded on 22 December. It was last promoted by the JNA general, the winner of the 22 December reward and JNA silver star medal. Major general Ener Taso died on 12 December 2018. ==Industry==