Victory and Thanksgiving Day in Croatia
Description:
On this day in 1995, the Croatian army entered Knin, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska Krajina.
Two days later, the Croatian military operation “Storm” – the largest offensive operation in Europe since World War II – ended completely, killing 2,000 and expelling 250,000 Serbs. Only a small number of them have returned to their homeland, and recent incidents have not encouraged others to do so. Croats call this day a victory in the domestic war.
The Croatian side believes that during the Storm, the occupied Croatian territories were liberated, and the operation itself was a key action of the Patriotic War.
Serbs see Operation Storm as an act of ethnic cleansing and say U.S. military strategists, though officially critical of ethnic cleansing, helped the Croats. This was confirmed by a retired American general, at the time Deputy Commander of NATO forces Charles Boyd.
What is the Croatian army today?
In recent years, all Balkan countries, dreaming of joining NATO as soon as possible, began to accelerate the modernization and putting in order of their armed forces, consisting of the gradually obsolete remnants of the military power of the Yugoslav People's Army (except Serbia, enthusiastically disbanding and again forming a brigade and Montenegro, busy how to get rid of the mountain of weapons that fell on it with independence). However, even against the background, the clear leader is Croatia, which has adopted an ambitious plan for the long-term development of the armed forces until 2015 and is clearly trying to assume the role of a regional military leader.
As part of the plan, from 1 January 2008, Croatian citizens will no longer be conscripted for military service. The last recruits will be called up for a three-month service in November. The basis for the cancellation of the draft is the Long-Term Development Plan of the Armed Forces, which plans to have 16,000 professional military personnel and rely on voluntary replenishment of approximately 2,000 people annually. To end conscription, Croatia went two years ahead of schedule, spending 16 million euros. The Government believes that in case of military necessity there will be no problems with replenishment, as on 1 January 2008 the total number of reservists will be 751 106 people, of which 713 840 soldiers, 20066 non-commissioned officers and 17200 officers. By January 1, 2015, the number is expected to be 423,524 soldiers, 8,489 non-commissioned officers and 7,072 officers.
Armament of the Croatian army with small arms:
- It is planned to replace the Kalashnikov assault rifles with the German Heckler & Koch or the Croatian-made HS VHS assault rifle, which is a copy of the Israeli Tavor according to the bullpup scheme. According to the latest news, the Croatian Ministry of Defense is leaning towards the second option.
The HS-2000 pistol, which is fully produced in Croatia, is in many ways an imitation of the Czech CZ99.
After many months of reflection and testing, the first of 84 armored personnel carriers of the 8x8 configuration of the Finnish company Patria began to be delivered. It is planned to purchase another 42 armored personnel carriers in the 6x6 configuration, the supplier of which has not yet been selected.
According to the official website of the Ministry of Defense of Croatia, 10 Iveco4x4 armored vehicles were purchased, as well as 8 Toyota Land Cruiser armored vehicles for the needs of the Croatian contingent in Afghanistan, according to the results of testing, a decision on further purchases is possible.
The modernization of M84 Yugoslav tanks has begun, according to press reports, the first tanks have been upgraded to the M84D level, but in the future it is planned to upgrade the tanks to the Degman level. The cost of the upgrade is likely to pay off, as the experience will be a decisive factor in the long-standing struggle with Serbia for the right to upgrade the 185 Kuwaiti M84.
Already purchased 5 American radar (Lockheed Martin AN/FPS 117) worth $ 100 million.
Croatia inherited about 10 Mi-8 helicopters from the JNA, but the attempt to repair the 8 Mi-8 was unsuccessful, since, apparently for the sake of economy, it was decided not to buy original Russian-made spare parts. Therefore, it was decided to purchase 10 Mi-171sh equipped with Western electronics in Russia, the supply of which has already begun.
In the near future, deliveries of the first of the 14 Swedish JAS39 Grippen aircraft, which won the competition Russian MiG-29M2 and American F-16, will begin.Swedish aircraft will gradually replace the outdated MiG-21 bis, somewhat modernized by Romania.
Periodically, information appears in the press about the possible purchase in Russia of parts for the final configuration of the S300 complex.
As part of the contract for the supply of aircraft, the Swedes offered the Croatian fleet two corvettes of the Gothenburg class (built in the 90s), in their characteristics close to the Croatian corvettes of the Petar Kreshimir class. Two more such corvettes will soon be withdrawn from the Swedish fleet, so the Croats could count on them. The French offer Croatia 4 corvettes "Gowind 200", built on modern stealth technologies with a displacement of 1760 tons. Of these four corvettes, 2 were fully armed, and 2 others would be used for auxiliary purposes, but in the event of war, their full equipment is also possible. The construction of these ships will take place in Croatian shipyards.
It is also planned to build a Krka-class amphibious assault ship, as well as produce a new class of patrol boats with a length of 30 meters and a displacement of 100 tons (in characteristics similar to the Turkish MRTP-33).