Austrian Armed Forces

On 1 March 1978, the "Wehrgesetz 1978" became law, which encompassed the "Heeresgliederung 1978" plan to grow the Austrian Armed Forces to 384,000 (84,000 active, 300,000 militia) by the early 1990s to be able to fully employ the Austrian de:Raumverteidigung's concept. A total of 30 new Landwehrstammregimenter were to be raised. On 6 October 1987, the Austrian government enacted the "Heeresgliederung 1987", which instructed the armed forces to stop the growth of the militia at 200,000. Afterwards only the militia's infantry grew, making 1988-1989 the timeframe Austria's armed forces reached their maximum strength. On 29 May 1990 the "Wehrgesetz 1978" was cancelled and the army began to shrink, which accelerated with the Gesamte Rechtsvorschrift für Wehrgesetz 1990, Fassung vom 31.12.1992.

NATO's Central Army Group in Southern Germany was arrayed against attacks from East Germany and Czechoslovakia, with only the German Army's 10th Panzer Division available to cover the army group's Austrian flank. To strengthen the flank NATO would have deployed the French Army's II Corps, which would have required seven days for mobilization and approach. The arrival of Warsaw Pact forces in southern Bavaria within the first six days after the start of hostilities would have prompted NATO to use tactical nuclear weapons to block the enemy approach routes through Upper Austria.[5] To prevent the use of tactical nuclear weapons on Austrian territory the Austrian military developed the Raumverteidigung (Area Defense) concept, which envisioned that Austrian forces would delay, harass and decimate Warsaw Pact forces with determined, sustained and costly resistance along their expected axis of advance.[5][6][7][8][9]

The Austrian military assumed that Warsaw Pact forces would include Czechoslovak People's Army, Hungarian People's Army, and Soviet Army units. A mixed Czechoslovak-Soviet corps of three divisions was expected to mass in the Břeclav-Brno-Znojmo region and attack through the Weinviertel north of Vienna. The expected crossing of the Danube was expected to occur between Tulln and Krems, from where the enemy forces would have turned West to reach the Sankt Pölten area. In parallel the 5th Hungarian Army, consisting of Hungarian units, Soviet Central Group of Forces and Southern Group of Forces units, and Czechoslovak units based in Slovakia was expected to strike from Sopron through the Wiener Wald towards Sankt Pölten.[7][8]

After taking Sankt Pölten the Austrian armed forces expected the combined Warsaw Pact forces to strike West to take possession of the Linz-Steyr-Wels, supported by an advance of two Czechoslovak People's Army divisions through the Mühlviertel to the North of Linz. After taking possession of the Linz basin the Warsaw Pact attack would have continued into Bavaria. The Austrian military also expected an advance by up to three Hungarian People's Army divisions, supported by Romanian People's Army units, into Styria and across the Soboth Pass and Pack Saddle towards Klagenfurt and Villach, from where the Eastern forces could turn South towards the Italian Army's 5th Army Corps or West towards the Italian 4th Alpine Army Corps.[8]

While it was imagined that NATO troops could likewise use Austria as a stepping stone for invasions of the Warsaw Pact countries, such a scenario was considered highly unlikely, unrealistic and eventually remained theoretical in strategic realization.

In 1978 the Austrian Armed Forces enacted its new concept of Raumverteidigung. The Raumverteidigung divided the entire nation into Key Zones (Schlüsselzonen), Area Security Zones (Raumsicherungszonen), and Subzones (Teilzonen). Key zones were set up in those areas of the national territory, which an aggressor had to take possession of in order to achieve his military goals. Area security zones were set up to deny an aggressor the possibility to bypass key zones and prevent the massing, movement, supply, and maintenance of enemy units. Operationally the aim was to block the direct march lines through layered defenses in the key zones and to prevent an aggressor from freely using the space in the area security zones through mobile warfare. Both types of zones were to be defended by militia formations.[7][8][10][9]

The four subzones formed the Central Area in Austria's mountainous interior, which was outside of the anticipated main axis of a Warsaw Pact advance. In the event of an attack and an occupation of most of Austria, one or more the sub zones would form the national territory, which would justify the continuation of Austria as a subject of international law. The central area was therefore of essential importance and had to be defended at its entrances. The Army Command and Austrian government would have retreat to a bunker complex in St Johann im Pongau in the central area.[5] Furthermore the central area acted as main depot of Austria's war stocks. The capital Vienna would not have been defended and was therefore excluded from defense preparations.[7][8][9]

Geographically the country was divided into 34 areas:

• 10 Key zones
• 19 Area security zones
• 1 reinforced key area designated Block Zone 33 (Sperrzone 33)
• 4 Sub zones / Central Area

Each key zone and area security zone, and Block Zone 33 were overseen during peacetime by a Landwehrstammregiment, which were tasked with training the militia forces needed for the defense of their assigned zone.[9] The Landwehrstammregiments consisted of a staff company, training companies, a supply train, and mobilization depots. Some of the Landwehrstammregiment also trained and fielded an active Jäger battalion. In case of war the Landwehrstammregiments would have reformed as Landwehr Regiments with various types of militia battalions and companies, allowing the regiments to fight delaying actions from fortified positions as well has hit and run attacks on enemy formations trying to pass through their zone. The Landwehr regiments formed the area-bound Landwehr and fielded the following types of Landwehr units:[7][8]

• Landwehr battalions (Landwehrbataillone) tasked with defending their zone
• Blocking battalions and companies (Sperrbataillone and Sperrkompanien) tasked to man more than 500 bunkers and fortified positions[5]
• Jagdkampf battalions and companies (Jagdkampfbataillone and Jagdkampfkompanien) tasked to fight behind enemy lines and disrupt enemy supply lines
• River-blocking companies (Flusssperrkompanien) tasked with blocking river fords
• Guard companies (Wachkompanien) tasked to guard key infrastructure
• Guard-blocking companies (Wachsperrkompanien) tasked to guard and defend key transport infrastructure, and to prevent the enemy from capturing it
• Stationary artillery batteries (Artilleriebatterie ortsfest) with M2 155mm howitzers in bunkers to lay suppressing fire on enemy approach routes

Operationally the country was divided initially into three operational areas (Operationsraum), which were commanded by the Army Command.[8]

• Operational Area East under Corps Command I, in Graz, encompassing the states of Vienna, Burgenland, Steiermark and Lower Austria, the latter without Key Zone 35
• Operational Area Center under Corps Command II, in Salzburg, encompassing the states of Kärnten, Salzburg and Upper Austria, Key Zone 35, and East Tyrol
• Operational Area West under Military Command Tyrol, in Innsbruck, encompassing the states of Tyrol (without East Tyrol) and Vorarlberg (later merged into Operational Area Center)

The Air Division and army's support troops were under direct Army Command. In wartime the operational commands would command nine brigades, which formed the mobile Landwehr. The mobile Landwehr was the Austrian armed forces reserve, which once the intentions of the opponent were determined, could be used to counterattack enemy formations. The mobile Landwehr consisted of six light Jäger brigades, which would only be fully manned during wartime, and three Panzergrenadier brigades, equipped with main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, which were fully manned at all times. The staffs of the six Jäger brigades would have been formed upon war by the armed forces military commands, which in peacetime had territorial functions in the states. The three Panzergrenadier brigades were assigned to the 1st Panzergrenadier Division and based along the Danube valley from Vienna to Linz.[7][8]

Each Austrian military command was numbered from 1 to 9, with all zones and units assigned to the command or part of the command starting with the same number. The only exception was the 9th Panzergrenadier Brigade, which carried the number of the Vorarlberg Military Command in the extreme West of the country, but was based near Vienna in the East of the country and manned by conscripts from Vienna. The Austrian military commands of the Raumverteidigung concept, their assigned number, zones and main units during peacetime were:[7]

• Burgenland Military Command - No. 1, in Eisenstadt
  • 1st Jäger Brigade, in Eisenstadt
  • 11th Landwehrstammregiment, in Neusiedl (Area Security Zone 11)
  • 12th Landwehrstammregiment, in Eisenstadt (Area Security Zone 12)
  • 14th Landwehrstammregiment, in Pinkafeld (Key Zone 14)
• Vienna Military Command - No. 2, in Vienna
  • 2nd Jäger Brigade, in Vienna (in wartime assigned to Lower Austria Military Command)
  • 21st Landwehrstammregiment, in Vienna (Area Security Zone 21 in Lower Austria)
• Lower Austria Military Command - No. 3, in Sankt Pölten
  • 3rd Panzergrenadier Brigade, in Mautern an der Donau (based in the Area Security Zone 31)[11]
  • 9th Panzergrenadier Brigade, in Götzendorf an der Leitha (based in the Area Security Zone 21)
  • 311th Jagdkampfbataillon 311, in Allentsteig (Area Security Zone 31, in peacetime part of the 32nd Landwehrstammregiment)
  • 32nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Korneuburg (Area Security Zone 32)
  • 33rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Mautern an der Donau (Block Zone 33)
  • 34th Landwehrstammregiment, in Wöllersdorf (Key Zone 34)
  • 35th Landwehrstammregiment, in Amstetten (Key Zone 35)[12][10]
  • 36th Landwehrstammregiment (Area Security Zone 36, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
• Upper Austria Military Command - No. 4, in Linz
  • 4th Panzergrenadier Brigade, in Linz (covering Block Zone 45)
  • 41st Landwehrstammregiment, in Steyr (Block Zone 41)
  • 42nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Linz (Area Security Zone 42)
  • 43rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Wels (Area Security Zone 43)
  • 44th Landwehrstammregiment, in Kirchdorf an der Krems (Area Security Zone 44)
• Styria Military Command - No. 5, in Graz
  • 5th Jäger Brigade, in Graz
  • 51st Landwehrstammregiment (Area Security Zone 51, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
  • 52nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Feldbach (Area Security Zone 52)
  • 53rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Straß (Key Zone 53)[13]
  • 54th Landwehrstammregiment, in Graz (Key Zone 54)
  • 55th Landwehrstammregiment, in Sankt Michael (Subzone 55)
  • 56th Landwehrstammregiment (Subzone 56, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
• Tyrol Military Command - No. 6, in Innsbruck
  • 6th Jäger Brigade, in Innsbruck
  • 61st Landwehrstammregiment, in Kitzbühel (Area Security Zone 61)
  • 62nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Absam (Key Zone 62)
  • 63rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Landeck (Area Security Zone 63)
  • 64th Landwehrstammregiment, in Lienz (Area Security Zone 64)
  • 65th Landwehrstammregiment (Area Security Zone 65, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
• Carinthia Military Command - No. 7, in Klagenfurt
  • 7th Jäger Brigade, in Klagenfurt
  • 71st Landwehrstammregiment, in Wolfsberg (Key Zone 71)
  • 72nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Klagenfurt (Area Security Zone 72)
  • 73rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Villach (Key Zone 73)
  • 74th Landwehrstammregiment, in Spittal an der Drau (Area Security Zone 74)
• Salzburg Military Command - No. 8, in Salzburg
  • 8th Jäger Brigade, in Salzburg
  • 81st Landwehrstammregiment, in Salzburg (Area Security Zone 81)
  • 82nd Landwehrstammregiment, in St Johann im Pongau (Subzone 82)
  • 83rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Tamsweg (Subzone 83)
• Vorarlberg Military Command - No. 9, in Bregenz
  • 91st Landwehrstammregiment, in Lochau (Area Security Zone 91)

Under the area defence strategy, which determined the army's structure until 1993, the army was divided into three principal elements: the standing alert force (Bereitschaftstruppe) of active units, including the 1st Panzergrenadier Division and the air division; the mobile militia (Mobile Landwehr), organized as eight mechanized reserve brigades to be deployed to key danger spots in the event of mobilization; and the stationary militia (Raumgebundene Landwehr) of twenty-six reserve infantry regiments organized for territorial defence.[4] Both the mobile militia and the stationary militia were brought up to strength only in times of mobilization or during periods allotted for refresher training, usually three weeks in June.[4] Training of conscripts was conducted by twenty-eight training and equipment-holding regiments (Landwehrstammregimenter).[4] On mobilization, these regiments would disband, with their cadre reassigned to lead reserve units or form replacement regiments and battalions.[4]

At the army level were a headquarters, guard, and special forces battalions and an artillery battalion at cadre strength.[4] Two corps headquarters, one in the east at Graz and one in the west at Salzburg, would, on mobilization, command the provincially organized units in their respective zones.[4] Each corps included artillery, antitank, antiaircraft, and engineering battalions, and a logistics regiment, all on a cadre basis.[4]

Each of the nine provincial military commands supervised the training and maintenance activities of their training and equipment-holding regiments.[4] On mobilization, these nine commands would convert to a divisional headquarters commanding mobile militia, stationary militia, and other independent units.[4]

The only active units immediately available in an emergency were those of the standing alert force of some 15,000 career soldiers supplemented by eight-month conscripts.[4] The force was organized as a mechanized division consisting of three armored infantry brigades.[4] Each brigade was composed of one tank battalion, one mechanized infantry battalion, and one self-propelled artillery battalion.[4] Two of the brigades had antitank battalions equipped with self-propelled weapons.[4] The divisional headquarters was at Baden bei Wien near Vienna;[4] the 3rd, 4th, and 9th Brigades were based in separate locations, also in the northeast of the country. 3rd Brigade was at Mautern an der Donau, 4th at Linz, and 9th Brigade at Götzendorf an der Leitha.

The New Army Structure—the reorganization plan announced in late 1991 and scheduled to be in place sometime in 1995—replaces the previous two-corps structure with one of three corps.[4] The new corps is headquartered at Baden, with responsibility for the two northeastern provinces of Lower Austria and Upper Austria.[4] Army headquarters will be eliminated, as will the divisional structure for the three standing brigades.[4] The three corps—in effect, regional commands—will be directly subordinate to the general troop inspector.[4] The three mechanized brigades will be placed directly under the new Third Corps at Baden, although in the future one brigade may be assigned to each of the three corps.[4] The mobile militia will be reduced from eight to six mechanized brigades.[4] Each of the nine provincial commands will have at least one militia regiment of two to six battalions as well as local defence companies.[4]

Total personnel strength—both standing forces and reserves—is to be materially contracted under the new plan.[4] The fully mobilized army will decline in strength from 200,000 to 120,000.[4] The standing alert force will be reduced from 15,000 to 10,000.[4] Reaction time is to be radically shortened so that part of the standing alert force can be deployed within hours to a crisis zone (for example, one adjacent to the border with Slovenia).[4] A task force ready for immediate deployment will be maintained by one of the mechanized brigades on a rotational basis.[4] Separate militia training companies to which all conscripts are assigned will be dismantled; in the future, conscripts will undergo basic training within their mobilization companies.[4] Conscripts in the final stages of their training could supplement the standing forces by being poised for operational deployment at short notice.[4]

Promotion is not based solely on merit but on position attained, level of education, and seniority.[4] Officers with advanced degrees (for which study at the National Defence Academy qualifies) can expect to attain grade VIII before reaching the retirement age of sixty to sixty-five.[4] Those with a baccalaureate degree can expect to reach grade VII (colonel), and those without university training will retire as captains or majors.[4] Career NCOs form part of the same comprehensive personnel structure.[4] It is common for NCOs to transfer at some stage in their careers to civilian status at the equivalent grade, either in the Ministry for National Defence or in the police or prison services after further training.[4]

Austria's air force (German: Luftstreitkräfte) has as its missions the defence of Austrian airspace, tactical support of Austrian ground forces, reconnaissance and military transport, and search-and-rescue support when requested by civil authorities.[4]

Until 1985, when the first of twenty-four Saab 35 Draken were delivered, the country had remained essentially without the capacity to contest violations of its airspace.[4] The Drakens, reconditioned after having served the Swedish Air Force since the early 1960s, were armed, in accordance with the restrictions on missiles in the State Treaty of 1955, only with a cannon.[4] However, following Austria's revised interpretation of its obligations under the treaty, a decision was made in 1993 to procure AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.[4] The first of these missiles were purchased from Swedish air force inventory, while later a higher performance model was acquired directly from the United States, with deliveries commencing in 1995.[4] French Mistral surface-to-air missiles systems were purchased to add ground-based protection against air attack.[4] The first of the systems arrived in Austria in 1993; final deliveries concluded in 1996.[4]

The Drakens were retired in 2005 and 12 F-5E Tiger II were leased from Switzerland to avoid a gap in the Austrian air defence capabilities until the first Austrian Eurofighter Typhoon units became operational in 2007. Besides one squadron of 15 Eurofighter Typhoons, the air force has a squadron with 28 Saab 105 trainers, which double as reconnaissance and close air support planes.

The helicopter fleet includes 23 AB 212 helicopters used as light transport. 24 French Alouette III are in service as search-and-rescue helicopters. Furthermore, the air force fields 10 OH-58B Kiowa as light scout helicopters. After Austria had to request assistance from the United States Army, Swiss Air Force, French Air Force, and German Bundeswehr to evacuate survivors after the 1999 Galtür Avalanche a decision was taken to equip the Austrian Air Force with medium-sized transport helicopters. Thus in 2002 Austria acquired 9 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. In 2003 the air force received 3 C-130K Hercules transport aircraft to support the armed forces in their UN peacekeeping and humanitarian activities.

The Jagdkommando (lit. Hunting Command) is the Austrian Armed Forces' Special Operations group. The duties of this elite unit match those of its foreign counterparts, such as the United States Army Special Forces and British Special Air Service being amongst others counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. Jagdkommando soldiers are highly trained professionals whose thorough and rigorous training enables them to take over when tasks or situations outgrow the capabilities and specialization of conventional units.