Russian and Serbian Military JOIN FORCES in military exercise
Russian armed forces recently conducted a military exercise with
Serbian military. SREM-2014 anti-terrorist exercises in
Serbia were marked by
Russian troops dropping two infantry fighting vehicles from the air – one of them was even carrying a camera that captured its magnificent landing.
Two
BMD-2 machines were taken to the venue onboard an
Ilyushin Il-76 multi-purpose airlifter on Sunday. The vehicles successfully landed on to the
Nikinci training area in Serbia.
The BMD-2 is a
Russian airborne infantry fighting vehicle used for combat tracking, which
NATO has given the designation
BMD M1981/1. It is fitted with a turret, anti-tank guided missile launcher and two machine guns.
The vehicle is also fully amphibious and was designed especially for airdrops.
From a distance, a BMD-2 dropping may well look like a small tank landing with a parachute.
Russia's airborne paratrooper units arrived in
Belgrade on Thursday to take part in the first-ever joint tactical anti-terror drills
with the Serbian army, titled 'SREM-2014'. Six
IL-76 military transport aircraft from Russia landed at
Batajnica's military airport with airborne paratroopers and hardware onboard.
The SREM-2014 maneuvers involve live-firing exercises and the airdrop of both troops and combat vehicles. The exercises were first planned in
November 2013, when Serbia and Russia signed a military and technical cooperation agreement.
The
Serbian Armed Forces (
Serbian:
Војска Србије /
Vojska Srbije) are the armed forces of Serbia. The armed forces consist of the
Serbian Army and the
Serbian Air Force and
Air Defence. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is the
President of the Republic. The Serbian Armed Forces are a professional and volunteer based military. Serbia exercises civilian control of the military through the
Ministry of Defence.
Organisation
The Serbian Armed Forces are commanded by the
General Staff corp of senior officers.
The general staff is led by the
Chief of the General Staff. The chief of the general staff is appointed by the
President who is the Commander-in-Chief. The current Chief of the General Staff is
General Ljubiša Diković.
The armed forces are formally a part of the Ministry of Defence. The current
Minister of Defence is Bratislav Gašić.
History
The 1804
Serbian Revolution, started with a
Serbian rebellion against the Ottoman occupation of Serbia. The victories in the battles of
Ivankovac,
Mišar,
Deligrad and Belgrade, led to the establishment of the
Principality of Serbia in 1817. The subsequent
Second Serbian Uprising led to full independence and recognition of the
Kingdom of Serbia and weakened the Ottoman dominance in the
Balkans. In 1885 Serbia had a war against
Bulgaria. In 1912, the
First Balkan War erupted between the
Ottoman Empire and the
Balkan League (Serbia,
Greece,
Montenegro and Bulgaria). The victories in the
Battle of Kumanovo,
Battle of Prilep,
Battle of Monastir,
Battle of Adrianople,
Siege of Scutari resulted in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and its expulsion from the Balkans. Shortly after, the
Second Balkan War broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with the division of territory, declared war against its former allies, Serbia and Greece.
Following a string of defeats, Bulgaria requested an armistice and signed the
Treaty of Bucharest, formally ending the war.
Serbia's independence and growing influence threatened neighboring Austria-Hungary which lead to the
Bosnian crisis of 1908-1909. Consequently, since
1901, all Serbian males between the ages of 21 to 46 were liable for general mobilization.[6] Following the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in
1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia under the pretense that Serbia was responsible for the assassination, marking the beginning of the
First World War. Serbia repelled three consecutive invasions by
Austria, securing the first major victories of the war for the
Allies, but was eventually overwhelmed by the combined forces of the
Central Powers and forced to retreat through
Albania to the
Greek island of
Corfu.
ervice branches[edit]
Following the
2006 reorganization, the armed forces consist of the following service branches:
Serbian Army[edit]
The Serbian Army (including a
River Flotilla on the
Danube) is the land-based component of the armed forces consisting of: infantry, armoured, artillery, engineering, and special forces units.
Serbian Air Force and
Air Defense[edit]
The Serbian Air Force and Air Defense is the aviation and anti-aircraft defence based component of the armed forces consisting of: aviation, anti-aircraft, surveillance and reconnaissance units.
Reserve[edit]
The reserve force is composed of an active reserve and passive reserve. The active reserve force numbers 2,
000 members,[7] while the passive reserve totals about 1.7 million citizens with past military training or experience.[7]
Peacekeeping[edit]
The Serbian Armed Forces actively take part in several multinational