161 Sodobni vojaški izzivi, september 2019 – 21/št. 3
Contemporary Military Challenges, September 2019 – 21/No. 3
SPREMINJANJE IN RAZVOJ SLOVENSKE 
VOJSKE – POGLED IZ TUJINE
Neil Grayston
THE REFORM AND EVOLUTION OF 
THE SLOVENIAN ARMED FORCES – 
A VIEW FROM ABROAD
celoti uvede poklicna vojska. 
Povzetek
Ključne 
besede
Abstract
DOI: 10.33179/BSV.99.SVI.11.CMC.21.3.9
 162 Sodobni vojaški izzivi/Contemporary Military Challenges
Neil Grayston
 
latest point for which information is available.
publication for the 5th th
Key words
Introduction
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THE REFORM AND EVOLUTION OF THE SLOVENIAN ARMED FORCES – A VIEW FROM ABROAD
 1 THE YEARS 1999-2004
 1.1 The initial challenges
At the 
Albania Estonia Latvia
Lithuania  
were in place for the democratic control of their armed forces. This was less of a 
to the civil authorities.
which to base its future development.
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 1.2 The NATO planning and review process (PARP) and the NATO 
membership action plan (MAP)
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th
should not spend resources on supersonic combat aircraft. Such aircraft can consume 
The major nations are also those who are the producers of advanced combat aircraft 
 1.3 The impact of the decision to create a professional SAF
THE REFORM AND EVOLUTION OF THE SLOVENIAN ARMED FORCES – A VIEW FROM ABROAD
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purchased after Independence without a clear idea as to whether such equipment 
realistic aim.
either of these requirements.
 1.4 The referendum on NATO and EU membership
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 1.5 Control and leadership of the SAF
forces.
 1.6 The new force structure
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reform.
 2 POST-2004 – DEVELOPMENTS AFTER NATO MEMBERSHIP
 2.1 Overview
 2.2 2004-2008/9: The first five years
declared capabilities within the NFS.” 
 2.3 2009/10-2014: The next five years
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provided for the realization of this and other documents. This is the complete 
 2.4 Deployments on NATO and EU missions
missions. 
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 3 THE CURRENT STATE OF THE SLOVENIAN ARMED FORCES
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
National Budget 9,314,513 9,654,921 9,797,661 9,000,298 9,156,852
MoD Financial Plan 350,703 339,949 343,939 389,227 406,569
DEFENCE EXPENDITURE 381,658 366,460 361,376 406,166 422,277
GDP in Million EUR 36,239 37,615 38,837 40,418 43,278
% of the MoD’s FP in the NB 3.77 3.52 3.51 4.32 4.44
% of the MoD’s FP in GDP 0.97 0.90 0.89 0.96 0.94
% of DE in GDP 1.05 0.97 0.93 1.00 0.98
Table 1:
The Proportion of 
the MoD’s Financial 
Plan in the National 
Budget and GDP in 
Millions of Euros
Source: 
Annual Report of 
the Ministry of 
Defence for 2017, 
p 87.
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Status Situation as of 31 
December 2017
Situation as of 31 
December 2016
Difference
Officers 1071 1061 10
NCOs 1970 1960 10
Soldiers 2711 2886 -175
Senior Military Specialists 261 255 6
Junior Military Specialists 318 315 3
Civilian Personnel 446 443 3
TOTAL 6777 6920 -143
Category Officers NCOs Soldiers
2017 1 1.8 2.5
2016 1 1.9 2.7
2015 1 1.9 2.8
2014 1 1.8 2.8
Table 2: 
Comparison of 
the SAF Active 
Component in 
2017 and 2016
Source: 
Annual Report 
of the Ministry 
of Defence for 
2017, p 93.
Table 3:
Ratio between 
Officers, NCOs 
and Soldiers
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The economic measures had a negative impact on the planned provision and 
maintenance of capabilities, and on training in accordance with current professional 
military standards. The failure to update the SAF has led to a technological lag in 
comparison to modern armed forces, and has hindered the SAF’s interoperability 
within the Alliance.” 
need to be considered. 
Conclusion 
and the way 
forward
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forces on operations outside its national boundaries.
tasks.
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1. Annual Report of the Ministry of Defence for 2009. Ministry of Defence, 2010.  
May 2019.
2. Annual Report of the Ministry of Defence for 2010. Ministry of Defence, 2011. May, 2019.
3.  
4. 
Armed Forces. Ljubljana. 
, May 2019.
5. Osterman, A., 2014. Republic of Slovenia in NATO – Slovenian Armed Forces ten years 
, May 2019.
Bibliography
Neil Grayston