Defense
The defense, which has been on a voluntary basis since
2004, comprises 6,650 men and is organized into a brigade, a
smaller battleship and eight combat helicopters. The
reserves amount to about 20,000 people. Semi-military
security forces, police units, amount to 4,500 men with
about 5,000 men in reserve. Prior to the 1991 dissolution,
Yugoslavia's standing defense was led mainly by Serbian
officers and was under central command. After the end of the
first service, the conscripts were transferred to the
states. At the time of the liberation, Slovenia therefore
stood with a large trained reserve, few own officers and an
old-fashioned equipment of Soviet origin. The new defense
has been gradually built up.
Slovenia applied for membership in NATO in 1997 and
joined in 2004. Defense spending amounted to 1.8% of GDP in
1996 and had fallen to 1.5% in 2001. Slovenia participates
in a number of UN peacekeeping efforts, including with about
80 men in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR II). To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that SLO stands for Slovenia.
Slovenia's defense overview
Slovenia joined NATO in 2004. Military duty was abolished
in 2004. Slovenia's armed forces have a staff of 7250 active
personnel, with a reserve of 1,500 personnel (2018, IISS).
Slovenia has no navy or its own aircraft. Since joining
the NATO, Italy and Hungary have had fighter jets stationed
in Slovenia.
Army
Of the material, the army has 14 M-84 tanks (which is a
Yugoslav license-produced variant of the T-72), and 115
armored personnel vehicles. The Army has an air component
with 610 personnel, 19 training aircraft (nine of which are
PC-9M which can also be used as light attack aircraft), four
transport aircraft and 16 helicopters, and a sea component
with 130 personnel and two patrol boats.
International operations
Slovenia participated in the NATO operation in Kosovo
(KFOR) in 2018 with 241 personnel, and had 50 personnel
deployed in Latvia (Enhanced Forward Presence).
In addition, Slovenia participated, among others, in the
UN operation in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 18 personnel, and in
the EU operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR) with 14
personnel. |
