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MoldovaThe Armed Forces
A transition to a professional force of 12,000 to
15,000
volunteers was planned at first, but when fighting erupted
in
1991 between supporters of the central government in
Chisinau and
supporters of separatist regions, males between eighteen
and
forty years of age were mobilized, and the size of
Moldova's
military was temporarily expanded to meet the demands of
the
Transnistrian conflict. In early 1995, the armed forces
totaled
some 11,000 volunteers, and there were plans to gradually
create
a professional army, similar to that of the United States.
At the beginning of 1994, the Moldovan army (under the
Ministry of Defense) consisted of 9,800 men organized into
three
motor rifle brigades, one artillery brigade, and one
reconnaissance/assault battalion. Its equipment consisted
of
fifty-six ballistic missile defenses; seventy-seven
armored
personnel carriers and sixty-seven "look-alikes;" eighteen
122mm
and fifty-three 152mm towed artillery units; nine 120mm
combined
guns/mortars; seventy AT-4 Spigot, nineteen AT-5 Spandral,
and
twenty-seven AT-6 Spiral antitank guided weapons; a 73mm
SPG-9
recoilless launcher, forty-five MT-12 100mm anti-tank
guns; and
thirty ZU-23 23mm and twelve S-60 57mm air defense guns.
Moldova
has received some arms from former Soviet stocks
maintained on
the territory of the republic as well as undetermined
quantities
of arms from Romania, particularly at the height of the
fighting
with Transnistria.
In 1994 the Moldovan air force consisted of 1,300 men
organized into one fighter regiment, one helicopter
squadron, and
one missile brigade. Equipment used by the air force
included
thirty-one MiG-29 aircraft, eight Mi-8 helicopters, five
transport aircraft (including an An-72), and twenty-five
SA-3/-5
surface-to-air missiles.
Other military forces also existed within Moldova. In
early
1994, the government of the "Dnestr Republic" had armed
forces of
about 5,000 which included the Dnestr battalion of the
Republic
Guard and some 1,000 "Cossacks." As of early 1994, the
Russian
14th Army (about 9,200 troops) consisted of one army
headquarters, one motor rifle division, one tank
battalion, one
artillery regiment, and one anti-aircraft brigade. Their
equipment consisted of 120 main battle tanks, 180 armored
combat
vehicles, and 130 artillery/multiple rocket
launchers/mortars.
Peacekeepers in Transnistria consisted of six airborne
battalions
supplied by Russia, three infantry battalions supplied by
Moldova, and three airborne battalions supplied by the
"Dnestr
Republic."
Data as of June 1995
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