Latvian National Armed Forces
Latvian National Armed Forces | |
---|---|
Latvijas Nacionālie bruņotie spēki | |
Ranks | Military ranks of Latvia |
The Latvian National Armed Forces (
Mission
The mission of the National Armed Forces (NAF) is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation and to defend its population against foreign or domestic armed aggression. In order to implement these tasks, the NAF provide for the defence of the nation, its air space and national territorial waters, participate in large scale crisis response operations, perform emergency rescue operations, and participate in international peacekeeping operations.
The main mission of the National Armed Forces is to:
- Provide for the inviolability of all national territory, its waters and air space;
- Participate in international operations;
- Participate in national threat elimination;
- Provide for the training of personnel and military reserves;
- Ensure modernization and enhancement of professional combat training.
History
War of Independence, peacetime (1919–1940)
The Latvian armed forces were first formed soon after the new state was
In terms of equipment, the Latvian military during its first independence period (1919-1940) was armed mostly with British weapons and gear. The average Latvian infantry soldier in the 1930s is believed to have carried 31,4
In terms of vehicles, the Latvian military was seriously lacking in motorized transport, and thus had to rely mostly on railroads and horse-drawn carriages for most of its logistics needs. The military leadership did make an effort to solve this problem at the end of the 1930s by purchasing a small number of cars, trucks, artillery tractors and motorbikes, but at the start of World War II, only a small portion of the Latvian military had access to motorized vehicles. In terms of armoured vehicles, the Latvian military had six armoured trains, a Carden Loyd tankette, seven armoured cars and 24 tanks of various designs and combat abilities. In terms of air power, at the start of World War II the Latvian Air Force had around 30 fighter planes and 24 scout planes, of which only some were the relatively modern Gloster Gladiator fighters, 24 training and 6 seaplanes. Thus, the Latvian military during the interwar era was more or less comparable both in equipment and size to its other Baltic neighbours, such as Estonia, Lithuania and Finland.[8] The Armed Forces were also supported by the volunteer Aizsargi Organization.
World War II and the occupation of the Baltic states (1939–1991)
However, the most crucial problem and flaw for both the Latvian military and other militaries of the Baltic states on the eve of World War II had to do with the failure to organize effective military cooperation between all the Baltic states in case of a new war in the region. The Latvian command in the interwar period had given very little attention towards any possible coordination of forces with either the Estonian or Lithuanian armies against a possible enemy, and so the Latvian military planned its actions and doctrine in almost complete isolation, oblivious to whatever its neighbours to the north (Estonia) or south (Lithuania) did. This ultimately led to flawed and questionable choices in creating defense plans against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (there were separate plans towards both of these possible aggressors), since the Latvian higher command was unsure as to how Latvia's neighbours would react in the event such a conflict started. [8]
After the
After restoration of independence (1991–present)
The origin of the current Latvian armed forces can be traced to the establishment of the Latvian National Guard or Zemessardze on August 23, 1991, which served as the first organized defence force after the restoration of the independence of Latvia. Unlike other Soviet republics, it is one of the military forces in the Baltic states that were not formed from the Baltic Military District. From the beginning, the reconstituted defense forces were modeled according to NATO standards with assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden etc.
A notable moment in the history of the armed forces is the accession to the
Since the 1990s, personnel of the NAF has been deployed to a number of peacekeeping, training and support missions – the NATO Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) from 1996 to 2004; the Kosovo Force (KFOR) from 2000 to 2009; the NATO training mission in Iraq (NTM-I) from 2005 to 2006, the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2003 to 2015, the Resolute Support Mission from 2015 to 2021 and others.[11][12]
In 2007, Latvia abolished conscription, switching to a professional, volunteer-based service model.
Structure
The National Armed Forces consist of:
- NAF Joint Headquarters
- NAF Commander's Personal Staff
- Land Forces
- Naval Forces
- Air Force
- National Guard
- Special Operations Command
- Military Police
- NAF Staff Battalion
- Training and Doctrine Command
- Support Command
The Security Service of the Parliament and State President was a part of the National Armed Forces until its merger with the Military Police in 2009.
Personnel
Latvian National Armed Forces consist of the Regular Force, National Guard and Reserve. On January 1, 2007, conscription was abolished and since then the Regular Force consists of only professional soldiers. Recruits must be 18 years of age or older. As of June 2018, there were 5500 active duty soldiers, 8000 national guards.[5] By the end of 2017, there were 7900 registered reserve soldiers, of whom about 5000 were retired professional soldiers. According to the National Defence Concept, the National Armed Forces are to maintain 25000 militarily trained personnel, including 6500 professional soldiers, 8005 National Guards and 3010 (trained) reserve soldiers. Reserve training began in 2015.[17][18]
Conscription
On April 5, 2023, Latvia decided to re-introduce compulsory national defense service in response to the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine.[19]
The first voluntary conscription will begin on July 1, 2023, and volunteers must apply by May 15, 2023. The law foresees two types of service: military and alternative (civil service). Males born after January 1, 2004, are subject to mandatory service, while males and females aged 18 to 27 can apply voluntarily. The law exempts certain individuals, including those whose health status does not comply with service requirements, sole guardians of children, sole caretakers of dependents, and those who have served in a different country if they have dual citizenship.[20][19]
During the autumn conscription of 2023, as of 14 November, only 170 people volunteered for service, which means that to reach a thousand by 1st of December, it may will be necessary to use the principle of random selection for the autumn draft in order to recruit the required number of people.[21]
Operations
International cooperation
Along with providing for national defence, the NAF will also react immediately to threats to other allies and to international crises.
Latvia cooperates with
Currently, NATO is involved in the patrolling and protection of the Latvian air space as the Latvian military does not have the means to do so. For this goal a rotating force of four NATO fighters, which comes from different nations and switches at two or three month intervals, is based in Lithuania to cover all three Baltic states (see Baltic Air Policing).
Current operations
Deployment | Organization | Operation | Personnel[22] |
---|---|---|---|
Mali | EU
|
EUTM Mali
|
4 |
Mali | UN
|
MINUSMA
|
1 |
Kosovo | NATO | KFOR RC-E | 133 |
Somalia | EU
|
Operation Atalanta | 2 |
Iraq | CJTF | Operation Inherent Resolve | 1 |
Modernization
After joining the
After joining NATO, the foundation of the Latvian defence system has shifted from total territorial defence to collective defence. Latvia has acquired small but highly professional troop units that have been fully integrated into NATO structures. NAF soldiers have participated in international operations since 1996. Specialized units (e.g. units of military medics, military police, unexploded ordnance neutralizers, military divers and
List of military equipment
Citations
- ^ "NBS Vadība". www.mil.lv. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ "Compulsory military service to be re-introduced in Latvia".
- ^ "Par mums | Nacionālie bruņotie spēki".
- ^ a b "Aizsardzības nozares budžets | Aizsardzības ministrija".
- ^ a b "Fact sheet "Latvian National Armed Forces" (2018)". Mod.gov.lv. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ Dambītis, Kārlis (2016). Latvijas armijas artilērija 1919.-1940.g.: Vieta bruņotajos spēkos, struktūra un uzdevumi [Artillery of the Latvian Army (1918–1940): structure, tasks and place in the Armed forces] (PhD thesis). University of Latvia. p. 178, 230.
- ISBN 978-1-300-01591-8.
- ^ ISBN 9984794555.
- OCLC 70240317.
- ^ "NATO Update: Seven new members join NATO - 29 March 2004". www.nato.int. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ^ a b "Latvia and NATO | Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia". www.mod.gov.lv. Archived from the original on 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ^ "Latvia to maintain troop presence in Afghanistan and Iraq". eng.lsm.lv. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ^ ERR, LSM, ERR | (2022-07-06). "Latvia to establish new military base, reinstate conscription". ERR. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - lsm.lv. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
- ^ "Latvia plans new military base, return of compulsory national service". eng.lsm.lv. 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
- ^ "Government supports return of mandatory military service in Latvia". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
- ^ Īvāns, Ansis (20 December 2017). "'2% no IKP: Kā mūs aizsargās?' No 8 tūkstošiem rezerves karavīru trīs gados iemaņas atjaunojuši 357". www.delfi.lv (in Latvian). DELFI.lv. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "The National Defence Concept". www.mod.gov.lv. Riga. 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Latvia reintroduces compulsory military service – DW – 04/07/2023". dw.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ "Compulsory military service to be re-introduced in Latvia". eng.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ "Всего 170 добровольцев: в третий призыв в армию могут начать призывать и тех, кто не хочет". rus.delfi.lv (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ^ "Pašreizējās operācijas". www.mil.lv.
References
- IISS (2019). The Military Balance 2019. Routledge. ISBN 978-1857439885.
External links
- National Armed Forces of Latvia Official Website
- Unified recruiment platform "klustikaravirs.lv"
- Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
- Mission of Latvia to NATO
- Camopedia (a collection of Latvian camouflage patterns
- Sargs.lv (The official news site of the National Armed Forces)
- Stefan Marx, "The Latvian Defence System", Jane's Intelligence Review, December 1993, pp. 557–559.