The Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia ( (TO RS)), also known as the Territorial Defense of Slovenia (Slovenian: ''Teritorialna obramba Slovenije OS'), was the predecessor of the Slovenian Armed Forces. It was named after the Yugoslav Territorial Defense.

History

After the 1968

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

, the Yugoslav leadership adopted the doctrine of General People's Defence and established the Territorial Defense. After the victory of democratic parties in the 1990 Slovenian parliamentary election, the central government in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

ordered disarmament of TO Slovenia, a decision that was effectively ignored. Many

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

subsequently disappeared from supply depots and were later issued to the initial territorial defence units of the Republic of Slovenia.

Command

TO headquarters were established on November 20, 1968. The early development of this military command was almost exclusively in the hands of Slovenian officers. In 1990, the Territorial Defence Republic Headquarters was violently occupied by the federal army. After this incident, Slovenia designated a new

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

, who took command of the Slovenian Army. May 1991 marked the opening of the first military training centres in Ig, Ljubljana; and Pekre,

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

. The first draftees were sworn in on June 2.

Organization

The command language in TO was Slovenian, and this itself was organized in the form of an ancillary impact force to the JNA. After 1990 it was organized as a separate army, which was finally formed in the months before independence, in accordance with the Slovenian Constitution, which had been adopted in 1991.

Equipment

Small arms

* Zastava M 70AB

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

* Tokarev TT-33

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

MG 34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely ...

machine gun * 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 shoulde ...

* SKS

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and ligh ...

Yugoslav version M59/66 * Malyutka

* Strela 2

MANPAD Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and also used against low-flying cruise missi ...

M80 Zolja The M80 Zolja (from ) is a portable one-shot disposable 64 mm unguided anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade, designed in the former Yugoslavia. The M80 Zolja is still produced in Serbia and in North Macedonia. Description Constructed from fib ...

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

rocket launcher A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few i ...

* MG42

general-purpose machine gun A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered fo ...

Yugoslav version M53 * M48

bolt-action rifle Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of b ...

including sniper version * MGV-176

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

* M56

Yugoslav version of MP40 * M60 recoilless gun * M72

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...

* M76

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

* M79 Osa anti-tank rocket launcher * M84 machine gun * M49

Yugoslav

PPSh-41 The PPSh-41 () is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. The PPSh-41 saw ...

* RB M57 * SAR 80

* 3M6 Shmel

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

Vehicles

M-84 The M-84 is a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav main battle tank based on the Soviet T-72. It is still in service with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Kuwait. Development and production Development The ...

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank or simply tank,Ogorkiewicz 2018 p222 is a tank that fills the role of armour-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more po ...

* M-36

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire anti-tank gun, artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-ta ...

* T-54/55

* T-34/85 medium tank *

BTR-50 The BTR-50 (BTR stands for ''Bronetransporter'' (), literally "armored transporter") is a Soviet Union, Soviet tracked Amphibious vehicle, amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank chassis. The BTR-50 was developed ...

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

PU version *

2S1 Gvozdika The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...

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 mo ...

* BOV APC *

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car designed and developed ...

armored car * BVP M-80 IFV * TAM 5000

military truck A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles, both specifically designed for or significantly used by military. Most military vehicles require off-road capabilities and/or vehicle a ...

* Puch G

utility vehicle A utility vehicle (UV) is a vehicle, generally motorized, that is designed to carry out a specific task with more efficacy than a passenger vehicle. It sometimes refers to a small truck with low sides. Types of utility vehicles Military ...

* TAM-110

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

Artillery

* M75 20mm AAG * M-63 Plamen

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...

* BOV-3 SPAAG *

ZSU-57-2 The ZSU-57-2 Ob'yekt 500 is a Soviet Union, Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), armed with two 57 mm autocannons. 'ZSU' stands for ''Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (), meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled mount", '57' stand ...

* M53/59 Praga * 9K31 Strela-1 SAM

Aircraft

References

{{Reflist