The Slovenian Ground Force is the primary component of Slovenian Armed Forces.

History

The current Slovenian Armed Forces are descended from the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia (''Teritorialna Obramba Republike Slovenije''; ''TORS''), which was formed in 1968 as a paramilitary complement to the regular army of the former Yugoslav within the territory of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. The main objectives of TORS were to support the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and conduct guerrilla operations in the event of an

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing ...

. When Slovenia declared independence at the onset of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

in 1991, the TORS and the Slovenian police comprised the majority of forces engaging 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 ar ...

during the

Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...

. The Slovenian Armed Forces were formally established in 1993 as a reorganization of the TORS.

Equipment

Infantry

Small arms

Artillery

Tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers

Other vehicles

Stored equipment

* 10× 9M111 Fagot

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

* 18× M2A1 105 mm towed

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

* 8×

2S1 Gvozdika The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (russian: link=no, 2С1 «Гвоздика», " Carnation") is a Soviet self-propelled howitzer based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mounting a 122 mm 2A18 howitzer. "2S1" is its GRAU designation. An alternative ...

122 mm

self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled m ...

* 9× Roland II

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

(2 units reportedly still in use with Cerklje ob Krki Airport air defense, rest stored with missiles demolished) * 5×

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 ...

(reportedly used by command company of 44th Armored-mechanized Battalion "Wolves") * Large quantities of M69 mortar and M57 Mortar, some used by reserve forces.

Former equipment

9K11 Malyutka The 9M14 Malyutka (russian: Малютка, links=no; "Little one", NATO reporting name: AT-3 Sagger) is a manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) wire-guided anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the Soviet Union. It was the first ...

* 6× Strela 1M * 12× BOV 3 * 12×

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 Установк ...

* 30× M48B1 76 mm towed gun * 4× M-63 Plamen Multiple rocket launcher system * 24×

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 ...

* 8× PT 76B * 52x BVP M-80A - Slovenia donated 35 BVP M-80As to Ukraine in June 2022, some in Pivka museum * 30x M-55S - Slovenia donated 28 M55S to Ukraine, 1 sold to Bangladesh, 1 in Pivka museum

References

{{Allied Land Command Military of Slovenia