The Serbian Army of Krajina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srpska vojska Krajine, SVK, Српска војска Крајине, СВК) was the armed forces of the

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...

(RSK). Also known as the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina or Krajina Serbian Army, the armed forces of Krajina consisted of ground and air elements. Created through the merger of the Territorial Defense of the Republika Srpska Krajina (TORSK), units of the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA) and the Krajina Militia, the Krajina Serb Army was officially established on 19 March 1992. Responsible for the security of the RSK, its area of responsibility covered an area of some 17,028 km² at its peak, as it was located entirely inland it thus had no naval forces. The Serbian Army of Krajina, along with the state of RSK, ceased to exist in 1995 following the Croatian military offensive

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...

Organization

Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders

Structure

Srpska vojska Krajine, desetarski emblem

105th Aviation Brigade The 105th Aviation Brigade ( hbs, 105. ваздухопловна бригада, 105. vazduhoplovna brigada) was formed from the disbanded Yugoslav 105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment in the spring of 1993 by the Military of Serbian Krajina a ...

* 44th Air defense rocket brigade * 75th Mixed artillery brigade * "Pauk" Operational Group * Special forces corps * 7th Dalmatia (''dalmatinski'') corps * 15th Lika (''lički'') corps * 21st Kordun (''kordunski'') corps * 39th Banija (''banijski'') corps * 18th West-Slavonia (''zapadnoslavonski'') corps * 11th East-Slavonia (''istočnoslavonski'') corps At the creation of the army, it was planned that its number would be 80,000 people, however it turned out to be less. * According to Colonel Kosta Novaković: 62,483 (772 officers, 2,709 non-commissioned officers and 59,002 soldiers) or 78% of the planned number. * According to the General Staff in 1994: 62,805 (2,890 officers, 4,329 non-commissioned officers and 55,886 soldiers).Рат за опстанак Срба Крајишника. Зборник радова 1. - Београд: Тело Принт. - 2010, с. 199. * According to General Milisav Sekulić: 71,409 (3,291 officers, 3,424 non-commissioned officers and 60,496 soldiers).

Equipment

* Armored Vehicles **

T-34/85 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Chr ...

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

(2) **

M-84 The M-84 is a Yugoslav main battle tank, a variant of the Soviet T-72. The M-84 is still in service in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kuwait. Development and production Development The M-84 is based on the Soviet T-72M (expo ...

(31) **

PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like ...

OT M-60 The OT M-60 is a Yugoslav armoured personnel carrier produced from 1962 to 1979. Development The OT (''Oklopni transporter - armoured personnel carrier'') M-60 was the first Yugoslav armored vehicle to enter serial production. Research and devel ...

BVP M-80 The BVP M-80, is a tracked Yugoslavian-made infantry fighting vehicle, produced from the 1980s until the country's collapse in the 1990s. Development Early research and development of the M-80 began in 1969, with testing of the first completed pr ...

BOV (APC) The BOV ( sr, Борбено оклопно возило (БОВ), Borbeno oklopno vozilo (BOV), lit=Combat Armored Vehicle), is an all-wheel drive armoured vehicle manufactured in the former Yugoslavia and today in Serbia. The second generation B ...

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car used by states that we ...

SU-100 The SU-100 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years af ...

M36 Jackson The M36 tank destroyer, formally 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage, M36, was an American tank destroyer used during World War II. The M36 combined the hull of the M10 tank destroyer, which used the M4 Sherman's reliable chassis and drivetrain comb ...

M18 Hellcat The M18 Hellcat (officially designated the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer that was used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. A top speed of up to was attained by keeping armor to a minim ...

* Artillery **

M-63 Plamen M-63 Plamen ( sr, Пламен; "flame") is a 128mm multiple rocket launcher developed in 1963 in Yugoslavia for use in the Yugoslav People's Army. Development Serbian Prof. Obrad Vučurović, mechanical engineer at the Military Technical Instit ...

M-77 Oganj The M-77 Oganj is a 128mm self-propelled multiple rocket launcher developed in the former Yugoslavia. NATO designation is the YMRL-32. Development Development started in 1968. Professor Obrad Vučurović, mechanical Engineer and Chief Operating O ...

(11) **

9K52 Luna-M The 9K52 ''Luna-M'' (russian: Луна; en, moon, NATO reporting name FROG-7) is a Soviet short-range artillery rocket system which fires unguided and spin-stabilized 9M21 rockets. It was originally developed in the 1960s to provide divisional ...

* Anti-aircraft **

ZSU-57-2 The ZSU-57-2 Ob'yekt 500 is a Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), armed with two 57 mm autocannons. 'ZSU' stands for '' Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (russian: link=no, Зенитная Самоходная Установ� ...

M53/59 Praga The M53/59 Praga is a Czechoslovak self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed in the late 1950s. It consists of a heavily modified Praga V3S six-wheel drive truck chassis, armed with a twin 30 mm AA autocannon mounted on the rear for which t ...

** 9K35 Strela 1 **

Strela 2 The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing gu ...

9K38 Igla The 9K38 Igla (russian: Игла́, "needle", NATO reporting name SA-18 Grouse) is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. A simplified, earlier version is known as the 9K310 Igla-1 (NATO: SA-16 Gi ...

S-75 Dvina The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...

2K12 Kub The 2K12 ''"Kub"'' (russian: 2К12 "Куб"; en, cube) (NATO reporting name: SA-6 "Gainful") mobile surface-to-air missile system is a Soviet low to medium-level air defence system designed to protect ground forces from air attack. "2К12" is ...

* Aircraft **

An-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau ...

(1) **

J-20 Kraguj The Soko J-20 Kraguj (''Sparrowhawk'') is a light military, single-engine, low-wing single-seat aircraft with a metal airframe, capable of performing close air support, Counter-insurgency aircraft, counterinsurgency (COIN), and aerial reconnaiss ...

Soko J-22 Orao The Soko J-22 Orao ( sr-cyr, text=Oрао, translation=eagle) is a Yugoslav twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova i ...

(2) **

J-21 Jastreb The Soko J-21 ''Jastreb'' ( en, Hawk), referred to as the J-1 ''Jastreb'' in some sources, is a Yugoslav single-seat, single-engine, light attack aircraft, designed by the Aeronautical Technical Institute (ATI) and Vojnotehnički Institut Beogra ...

(12) **

G-2 Galeb The Soko G-2 Galeb ( en, Seagull) is a Yugoslav single engine, two-seater jet trainer and light ground-attack aircraft. The G-2 was developed during the 1950s by the Aeronautical Technical Institute at Žarkovo as a replacement for the Lockheed ...

Aérospatiale Gazelle The Aérospatiale Gazelle (company designations SA 340, SA 341 and SA 342) is a French five-seat helicopter, commonly used for light transport, scouting and light attack duties. It is powered by a single Turbomeca Astazou turbine engine and was ...

Mil Mi-8T The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition to ...

Utva 66 The UTVA-66 is a STOL aircraft, which was produced in the former Yugoslavia. It was developed from the UTVA-60 and first flew 1966. Description The aircraft was built for landing on unprepared fields and its STOL A short takeoff and landing (S ...

** Zlin Z-526 * Other **

Krajina Express The Krajina Express ( sr, Крајина експрес) was an improvised armored train used by the Krajina Serb army during the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War, from 1991 to 1995. The main battle in which the train became invo ...

** K-15 Krajina Missile

Gallery

File:Krajina Airforce Galeb G2.jpg, Krajina Airforce G-2 Galeb File:Krajina Airforce Gazelle.jpg, Krajina Airforce Aérospatiale Gazelle File:Krajina Airforce Utva 66.JPG, Krajina Airforce Utva 66 File:Krajina Airforce Zlin 526.jpeg, Krajina Airforce Zlin Z-526

War crimes

During the Croatian War of Independence, numerous massacres were conducted by the Army of Serbian Krajina. One of the most notable attacks was the

Zagreb rocket attacks The Zagreb rocket attacks were two rocket attacks conducted by the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina that used multiple rocket launchers to strike the Croatian capital of Zagreb during the Croatian War of Independence. The attack killed ...

, which was launched in retaliation for

Operation Flash Operation Flash ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Operacija Bljesak, Операција Бљесак) was a brief Croatian Army (HV) offensive conducted against the forces of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) from 1&nda ...

. 7 Croats were killed and 214 wounded.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military of Serbian Krajina