TheAlbanian Armed Forces (Albanian:Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Shqipërisë (FARSH)) are the military ofAlbania and were formed after thedeclaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of theGeneral Staff, theAlbanian Land Force,Albanian Air Force and theAlbanian Naval Force.
ThePresident of Albania is theCommander-in-Chief of the nation's military.[8] In times of peace, the President's powers as Commander-in-Chief are executed through thePrime Minister and theDefence Minister.[9]
According to theAlbanian Constitution, the Albanian Armed Forces are charged to: protect the territorial integrity of the country, be present in areas incurring menace, assist the population in case of natural and industrial disasters, warn the dangers of military and non-military nature, protect the constitutional order as it is determined by law and participate in international operations in composition of multinational forces.
On 4 December 1912, the AlbanianPrime Minister,Ismail Qemali andhis government, formed the Albanian National Army. Its first Chief in Command wasLieutenant ColonelAli Shefqet Shkupi[10] By 1923, the Albanian Armed Forces fielded 10,691 active troops, including military police forces. At that time,Albania did not have a navy.[11]
In 1927, the Albanian Armed Forces numbered approximately 8,000. These troops were organised into three groups, based inTirana,Shkodër to the north andBerat to the south. Each group was organised into three battalions of 500. A guards battalion of 350 was organized inTirana. Four frontier battalions of mountaineers were held on reserve, as well as tanks and armoured cars. Additionally, a cadet school, a machine-gun school, and a bombing school were housed in the capital. Italian involvement in the Albanian Armed Forces was significant, with an ItalianColonel attached to each of the three main troop groups and an Italian officer attached to each battalion and battery and to each medical, veterinary, and transportation unit. In 1927 alone, the Albanian military ordered 20,000 rifles, 40 mountain guns, 120 machine guns, and other supplies from Italy.[12]
TheRoyal Albanian Army (Albanian:Ushtria Mbretërore Shqiptare) was the army of KingZogu from 1928 until 1939. Its commander-in-chief was himself; its commander GeneralXhemal Aranitasi; its chief of staff was GeneralGustav von Myrdacz. The army was mainly financed by Italy.[13] On 7 April 1939,Italian troops invaded the country, and captured it in six days after weak resistance by the overwhelmed Albanian army.
After theSecond World War,Albania became a Soviet-aligned country. The ranks and structure of the Albanian Armed Forces were organised based onSoviet concepts, thus increasing the political control of the State-Party over the Armed Forces. One of the defining characteristics of civilian-military relations during this period was the effort of the civilian leadership to ensure the loyalty of the military to the communist system's values and institutions.
Like all other branches of the state, the military was subjugated toCommunist Party control. All high-ranking military officers and most of the lower and middle ranks were members of the Communist Party—and had loyalties to it. The system was re-enforced by the establishment of Party cells within the military and extensive communist political education alongside soldiers' military training, by thepolitical commissars. To further increase its political control, the Albanian Communist Party enlarged the conscription system, thus enlisting in the Armed Forces personnel dedicated to the military career from the Albanian rural areas.
The State and Party went even further, beginning on 1 May 1966,military ranks were abolished following the example of theChinesePeople's Liberation Army, heavily influenced byMaoism during the years of theCultural Revolution, and thus adopting strategic concepts related to forms ofguerrilla war (Vietnam War doctrine). The military was still organised during this period into basic structural forms, but the role of the military commander was insignificant with respect to the commanding role of the politicalcommissars. In 1991 the rank system was reestablished underPresidentRamiz Alia.[14]
During all these years,Sigurimi which was the Albanian secret service during the period and was formed upon theKGB structure, was responsible for the execution, imprisonment, and deportation of more than 600 officers from the Armed Forces, by completely neutralising the Armed Forces ability to start a coup d'état. Initially the communist purge concentrated on military personnel who had graduated from the Western Military Academies (mainly from Italy 1927–1939), and was extended later to the officers graduated from the Soviet Union (after Albania abandoned theWarsaw Pact in 1968). As thecommunist regime collapsed in Albania during 1990, there was a real fear that the armed forces might intervene to halt the collapse of communism by force. In the event, the armed forces stood by as the regime of which they had been a part disintegrated.
During the 1980s, Albania had reduced the number of infantry brigades from eight to four. It had shifted to fully manned units from its prior reliance on the mobilisation of reserve soldiers to flesh out a larger number of units manned at a lower level. Each brigade had three infantry battalions and one lightly equipped artillery battalion. Armoured forces consisted of one tank brigade. Artillery forces were increased from one to three regiments during the 1980s, and six battalions of coastal artillery were maintained at strategic points along the Adriatic Sea littoral.
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In 1992, theLibrary of Congress estimated that the ground forces had about 35,000 men, or about three-quarters of all armed forces personnel.[15] Because the strength of the ground forces was sufficient to man only about two divisions, brigades of approximately 3,000 soldiers became the largest army formation. In 1991 four infantry brigades constituted the bulk of combat units in the ground forces.[16]
During the civilian riots in 1997, the political attempts by the government to use the Armed Forces to crush the rebellion were soon demonstrated to be a failure, following a total disintegration of the Armed Forces and the looting of the military facilities by the civilian population.[17]
Albania sheltered many thousands of Kosovar refugees during the 1999 conflict, and allowed NATO to provide logistical assistance forKosovo Force (KFOR) troops through Communications Zone West headquartered in Durrës.[18] Albania was part of the International Stabilization Force (SFOR) serving inBosnia (then EU missionALTHEA), and Albanian peacekeepers are part of the International Security Assistance Force inAfghanistan,ISAF and the international stabilization force inIraq. Albania has been a steadfast supporter of U.S. policy in Iraq, and one of only four nations to contribute troops to the combat phase ofOperation Enduring Freedom.[19]Increasing the military budget was one of the most important conditions forNATO integration. Military spending has generally been lower than 1.5% since 1996 only to peak in 2009 at 2% and fall again to 1.5%.[20]
There was an incident in 2002 in Albania where it was discovered, ina cluster of mountain bunkers, 16 tons[21] of primitive, undocumented chemical weapon agents that Albania had forgotten about.[22]
In December 2006, the Armed Forces adopted a new structure based on theJoint warfare concept. It had three main Commands: theJoint Forces Command, theJoint Support Command and theTraining and Doctrine Command. TheAlbanian Joint Forces Command (AJFC) consists of the Rapid Reaction Brigade, the Commando Regiment, the Navy Brigade, the Air Brigade and the Area Support Brigade. TheAlbanian Joint Support Command provides support and logistical functions to all AAF units. TheAlbanian Training and Doctrine Command was established as the main educational and training provider for the Albanian Armed Forces. The final number of personnel will be 13,800 (including 2,000 civilians). However this new structure lasted a little more than 3 years and in April 2010 returned to its classic and current form.[23]
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In March 2008 the problem of massive amounts of excess ammunition stockpiled in Albania became known to the public through the tragic consequences of the explosion of an ammunition depot (the2008 Tirana explosions).[24]
The Albanian Land Force or Albanian Army consists of theRapid Reaction Brigade, a Commando Regiment, and the Area Support Brigade. Part of the structure of the Albanian Commando Regiment is theSpecial Operations Battalion (BOS). The Albanian Army is mostly supported by the United States,Germany, theNetherlands,Italy, theUnited Kingdom,Greece,Turkey,Switzerland,Denmark andBelgium.
The Albanian Navy performs mainly Coast Guard duties, and recently the Albanian parliament has approved some amendments to the articles of the actual Law on the Coast Guard in Albania, in order to improve the necessary legal framework due to efforts at European Union-NATO integration. Since February 2008, Albania participates officially in NATO'sOperation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean.[25] Albania became a full member of theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization on 1 April 2009.[26] It hosts an international fair on security and defense called theAlbanian Military Exhibition (ALMEX) where different security industries can present their products and services for the regional market.[27]
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After several major re-equipment programs, in 2001 the Albanian Armed Forces launched a 10-year reform program to become technologically advanced and fully professional by 2011. The new armed forces consists of about 14,500 troops including 2,000 civilians, trained toNATO standards.[28] The same radical reform is being implemented on surplus equipment, includingairplanes,tanks,helicopters,artillery equipment, navy vessels, SALW andammunition.[29] Albania started an ambitious destruction program. However, Albania is still dealing with a huge amount of surplus and obsolete ammunition, a direct result of the country's long isolation and ethnic tensions in the area. TheAlbanian Ministry of Defense estimates such quantity up to 85,000 tons, but it is expected to increase up to 104,000 tons due to the ongoing downsizing process of the AAF.
In 2004 U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush authorised the use ofNunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program funds for projects in Albania, marking the first time such funds were reauthorised for use outside the former Soviet Union. With this funding the U.S. assisted the Government of Albania with the destruction of a stockpile ofchemical warfare agents left over from the communist regime (Category 1, Total amount 16.7 tons).[30] The final cost of the project was US$48 million and was officially completed on 10 July 2007.
On 3 April 2006, the final contract for the delivery of 12Bölkow-Blom MBBBO-105 lightweight twin-engine multi-role helicopters to the Republic of Albania was signed inTirana between the Albanian Ministry of Defence andEurocopterDeutschland GmbH. According to the Albanian Government,[31] six of the BO-105 helicopters are designated for the Albanian Air Brigade, four for theMinistry of Interior and the remaining two for the Albanian Ministry of Health.
Albania has recently acquired fourEurocopter AS532 Cougar helicopters and has two more EC 145 on order as of 2015. Also, since 2008 fourDamen Stan 4207 patrol vessels have been commissioned in the Navy, three of them have been constructed in Albania.
On 16 July 2014, The Albanian Defence Minister declared that within 2014 the Albanian Motorised Infantry Battalion will be fully combat ready and also equipped with modern NATO equipment. This will be the first unit in the Albanian Armed Forces to not have the AK 47 in its inventory. Instead the M4 carbine will act as its standard battle rifle.[32]
In August 2018, thePrime Minister of Albania,Edi Rama, announced viaFacebook that NATO would be investing in the base, saying "NATO will invest more than 50 million euros ($58 million) for the first phase of the project alone, to modernise theKuçovë Air Base."[33]
The process of modernization of the Albanian Armed Forces is based on the short-term, middle-term and long-term objectives and priorities of their restructuring and development aiming at achieving the increase of the operational capacities. The modernization programme started before the country'sNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization membership (on 1 April 2009) with the purchase of armaments produced by theNATO countries. It also started a programme for the disposal and alienation of surplus ammunition inherited from the communist regime for 50 years.
The modernization of the Land Forces began around 2006, starting with Special Forces such as the BFS (then known as the Batalioni i Operacioneve Speciale, BOS) and the Commandos. Seeing their involvement in NATO peacekeeping operations inIraq andAfghanistan, the need arose for more modern armaments given that until then these branches used old Soviet or Chinese era armaments. In 2007, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) reached agreement with the German companyHeckler & Koch for the purchase of several weapons in limited quantities for special forces, includingHK416, two variants ofH&K G36,HK417,MP7, and variants ofH&K USP.[34] Some of them were only for evaluation purposes. In 2009 theBeretta ARX160 was issued in much larger quantities thus becoming the standard assault rifle for the BFS over the HK416 and HK G-36. In 2015, theColt M4A1 joined ARX160 as standard use alongside it.[35] For the 3 infantry battalions, the modernization started in 2013, initially introducing the as standard handgun theBeretta Px4, as alight machine gunH&K MG4 andH&K MG5 as aGeneral-purpose machine gun.[36]
In 2015 other weapons were introduced over all ground units. The2nd Infantry Battalion (B2K) was equipped with Colt M4A1.[37] TheMilitary Police was equipped with the Beretta ARX160 and added 4 new Iveco LMV vehicles.[38][39] TheSako TRG-22 andTGR-44 were distributed to all sniper units, while theBenelli M4 Super 90 to the BFS and MP forClose-quarters combat.
The following year theItalian Government offered an aid package of 5,000Beretta AR70/90 units, which at the time were in the process of being withdrawn and replaced in favor of the Beretta ARX160 overItalian Army.[40] This package fitted the needs of the Albanian Armed Forces (AAF) as the process of replacing the old Soviet7.62×39mm ammunition with5.56×45mm, a task-requirement byStandardization Agreement (STANAG) of NATO allies since Albania's accession in 2009.[41] The process that was expected to last within 10 years, but the aid package helped completing the process 4 years earlier and without additional costs. After the process of replacing the AK47 variants (many of which were locally produced under the name ASh-78 and ASh-82) with the AR70/90 was ended, the rifle became the standard weapon and most used over most Land Forces branches.
In 2017 the Combat Support Battalion (Batalioni Mbështetjes së Luftimit, BML) was equipped withHirtenberger M6 60mm and Hirtenberger M8 81mm mortars by the Austrian company Hirtenberger Defense Systems. Thus removing from use the Chinese made mortars from the communist period. In March of the same year came the first 77HMMWV M1114 of an aid package totaling 250 armored vehicles. They are obtained fromExcess Defense Articles (EDA) through theDefense Security Cooperation Agency, aUnited States program to support NATO partners and allies.[42] The vehicles were immediately put at the service of B1K. In 2019 came the second part of the package of 250 vehicles and it consisted of 36International MaxxPro and 1 MaxxPro Wrecker recovery vehicle. These vehicles joined the previous 3 MaxxPro bringing the total number of MRAPs used by Special Forces to 40.[42][43] Following the 2024-2033 Armed Forces Long Term Development Plan, structural changes were made. Namely the 1st and 3rd Infantry Battalions are now increased to Regiment size and are renamed to Northern and Southern Infantry Regiment respectively. The Special Forces Battalion and the Commando Battalion are merged under same command named Special Operations Regiment. Combat Support Battalion was also transformed to Combat Support Regiment with plans to equip it with 105mm and 155mm howitzer for an Artillery Battalion on its component. The Infantry Regiments and Special Operations Regiment will be equipped with C-UAS, V-ShoRAD and M-RAD capabilities. The Northern and Southern Infantry Regiments will each have a maneuver company equipped with IFVs.[44]
In 2007, was signed a contracts with theDamen Group for the or completing of the Albanian Naval Forces with Patrol vessels to be used to perform a number of tasks and duties, including coastal patrols, search and rescue, control and monitoring of maritime traffic, marine environment protection. The contract envisaged the construction of 4 vessels of theDamen Stan 4207 class, which the first of them would be built inNetherlands and 3 others in thePasha Liman naval base in Albania. The first patrol vessel, namedIliria P-132, was built and delivered to the Albanian Coast Guard in August 2008. Enabling thus the following construction of 3 other patrol vessels in Pasha Liman Base by Albanian carpenters assisted by the experts of Damen Group. The second patrol vesselOriku P-133 will be commissioned in September 2011, the third ship,Lisus P-133, will be operational in 2012 and fourthButrint P-134 in 2013.[45][46][47][needs update]
| Country | Current Mission | Organization | No. of personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
 Germany | NSATU | NATO | 3[57] |
 Egypt | Multinational Force and Observers | United Nations | 3[58] |
 Bulgaria | NATO Enhanced Forward Presence | NATO | 120[59] |
 Bosnia | Operation Althea | European Union | 30[60] |
 United Kingdom | Operation Interflex | NATO | Unknown[61] |
 South Sudan | United Nations Mission in South Sudan | United Nations | 11[62] |
 Aegean Sea | Operation Sea Guardian | NATO | ALS Oriku Iliria-class patrol boat manned by 21 crew members[63] |
 Kosovo | KFOR | NATO | 90[64] |
 Latvia | NATO Enhanced Forward Presence | NATO | 20[65] |
| Country | Former Mission | Organization | No. of personnel |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan | Resolute Support Mission | NATO | 872015 12620161662017212201827020191772020[66] |
 Mali | European Union Training Mission in Mali | European Union | 14[67] |
| Afghanistan | ISAF | NATO | 2944 in total.[68] |
 Georgia | United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia | United Nations | 39[69] |
 Chad | MINURCAT | European Union | 63[70] |
Altogether, the (Albanian) bunkers hold nearly 600 vessels containing about 16 tons of what is known in military jargon as "bulk agent."
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
