Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Air Force and Air Defence Brigade of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Brigada zračne snage i protivzračne odbrane Bosne i Hercegovine; Croatian: Brigada zračne snage i protuzračne obrane Bosne i Hercegovine; Serbian: Бригада ваздушне снаге и противваздухопловна одбрана Босне и Херцеговине, romanized: Brigada vazdušne snage i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Bosne i Hercegovine) is part of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The headquarters is in Sarajevo. It maintains operating bases at Sarajevo International Airport, Banja Luka International Airport and Tuzla International Airport.

Air Force and Air Defence Brigade of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brigada Zračne snage i protivzračne odbrane (Bosnian) Бригада ваздушне снаге и противваздухопловна одбрана (Serbian)
Founded	1 December 2006; 18 years ago (2006-12-01)
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Type	Air force
Role	Aerial warfare Aerial defence
Size	700 airmen 300+ civilian personnel 1,100 guard personnel
Part of	Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Headquarters	Sarajevo
Motto(s)	Perspektiva "Perspective"
Colours	Ultramarine Blue and Golden Yellow
Insignia
Fin flash
Aircraft flown
Helicopter	Mil Mi-8, Mil Mi-17, Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Aérospatiale Gazelle

History

The Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Brigade of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed when elements of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Air Force were merged in 2006.^[1]

Bosnia and Herzegovina in talks to acquire Bayraktar TB2 drones from Turkey.^[2]

Structure

• Air Force and Air Defense Brigade, at Sarajevo Air Base and Banja Luka Air Base
  • 1st Helicopter Squadron, at Banja Luka Air Base
  • 2nd Helicopter Squadron, at Sarajevo Air Base
  • Air Defence Battalion, at Sarajevo Air Base
  • Early Warning and Surveillance Battalion, at Banja Luka Air Base
  • Flight Support Battalion, with detachments at the two air bases

Airbases

• Banja Luka International Airport
• Sarajevo International Airport
• Tuzla International Airport

Aircraft

A Bosnian Bell Huey II TH-1H presented at Rajlovac Air Force Base.

Planned procurement of 6 Bayraktar TB2 UCAV.^[3]

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Helicopters
Mil Mi-8	Russia	Utility	Mi-8MTV	4[4]
		Transport	Mi-8 Hip	8[4]
Mil Mi-17	Soviet Union	Utility	Mi-17 Hip H	1[4]
Bell UH-1	United States	Transport	UH-1H Iroquois	6[4]	2 used for MEDEVAC[4]
			UH-1H Huey II	3[4]	One in store[4]
Aérospatiale Gazelle	France	Utility	SA341H	1[4]
			SA341L	3[4]

Retired

Previous notable aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the UTVA 75, CASA C-212 Aviocar, Mil Mi-34, Mil Mi-24, Soko J-22 Orao, Soko G-2 Galeb, Soko G-4 Super Galeb, and the Bell 206 helicopter.^[5][6]

Air defense

Name	Origin	Type	In service	Notes
SAM
2K12 Kub	Soviet Union	Mobile SAM system	20[4]
9K31 Strela-1[7]	Soviet Union	Mobile SAM system	34
9K35 Strela-10[8]	Soviet Union	Mobile SAM system	N/A
M53/59 Praga	Czechoslovakia	SPAAG	96[9]
9K34 Strela-3[8]	Soviet Union	MANPADS	N/A[4]
FIM-92 Stinger[10]	United States	MANPADS	N/A
9K38 Igla[8]	Soviet Union	MANPADS	N/A
Anti-aircraft artillery
Bofors 40 mm gun[11]	Sweden	Anti-aircraft gun	47[9]	31 L/60, 16 L/70[4]
ZU-23-2	Soviet Union	Anti-aircraft gun	30[9]

See also

• Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

1. Dougherty, Kevin (11 January 2006). "Bosnia breaks through ethnic divide by merging Serb, Muslim-Croat forces". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
2. Fretay, Halna du. "Bosnia and Herzegovina Orders Bayraktar TB-2 Drones from Türkiye". armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
3. "Türkiye'den talep ettiler: Bosna Hersek Savunma Bakanı Helez: Bir daha asla hazırlıksız olmayacağız" (in Turkish). 2024-11-14. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
4. Military Balance 2024. IISS. 2024. ISBN 978-1032780047.
5. "World Air Forces 2004". flightglobal.com. September 2004. p. 46. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
6. "World Air Forces 2013" (PDF). Flightglobal Insight. 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
7. "SA-9 Gaskin 9K31 Strela-1 ground to air missile system technical data sheet specifications | Russia Russian missile system vehicle UK | Russia Russian army military equipment vehicles UK". Army Recognition. 11 March 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
8. "Bosnia Herzegovina army land ground armed defense forces military equipment armored vehicle UK | Bosnia Herzegovina army land ground forces UK | East Europe UK". Army Recognition. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
9. Administrator. "Bosnia Herzegovina army land ground armed defense forces military equipment armored vehicle UK | Bosnia Herzegovina army land ground forces UK | East Europe UK". armyrecognition. Archived from the original on 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
10. "Detailing the development and operational history of the General Dynamics / Raytheon FIM-92 Stinger Man-Portable, Air Defense Missile System". 26 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
11. A. Šarenkapa (12 January 2016). "Haubice, transporteri, raketni bacači i snajperi: Oružane snage BiH predstavile vojnu opremu (FOTO)". Faktor. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

External links

• Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defence(in Bosnian)
• "List of Aircraft" (PDF) (in Bosnian). Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defence. July 2011.