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Romania Ground Forces
In 1989 the ground forces numbered 140,000 men, of whom
twothirds were conscripted soldiers. The country was divided
into
Cluj, Bacau, and Bucharest military regions in the west,
east, and
south, respectively
(see
fig. 7). In wartime the ground
forces in
each military region would become an army corps with their
headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, and Bucharest. The
ground
forces consisted of eight motorized rifle (infantry)
divisions, two
tank divisions, four mountain infantry brigades, and four
airborne
regiments. Motorized rifle divisions were organized along
the
Soviet model with three motorized rifle regiments, one
tank
regiment, and a full complement of 12,000 infantry
soldiers
(see
fig. 8). They were mechanized to a considerable extent,
operating
more than 3,000 BTR-50, BTR-60, TAB-72, and TAB-77 armored
personnel carriers and more than 400 BRDM-1, BRDM-2, and
TAB-C
armored reconnaissance vehicles. Tank divisions had three
tank
regiments, one motorized rifle regiment, and 10,000 men.
Tank
divisions operated more than 800 T-54 and T-55, 350 M-77,
and 30 T72 tanks.
The artillery, antitank, and air defense regiments of
ground
forces divisions provided specialized fire support that
enabled
motorized rifle and tank regiments to maneuver. In 1989
the
artillery regiments of motorized rifle and tank divisions
included
two artillery battalions, one multiple rocket launcher
battalion,
and one surface-to-surface missile battalion. Romania's
artillery
units operated nearly 1,000 Soviet-designed towed
artillery pieces
with calibers ranging from 76 to 152 millimeters,
approximately 175
SU-100 self-propelled assault guns, and more than 325
multiple
rocket launchers, including the 122mm truck-mounted BM-21
and 130mm
M-51. Surface-to-surface missile battalions were divided
into three
or four batteries, each equipped with one missile
launcher. They
operated thirty FROG-3 and eighteen SCUD missile
launchers. The
FROG-3, a tactical missile first introduced in 1960, was
being
replaced in other non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies. Proven to
be
fairly inaccurate in combat, FROG and SCUD missiles would
be
ineffective weapons carrying conventional high-explosive
warheads.
Tipped with nuclear or chemical warheads, however, they
could be
devastating. According to one former Romanian official
writing in
1988, Romania produced chemical agents that could be
delivered by
battlefield missiles.
Antitank regiments were equipped with Soviet-made 73mm,
76mm,
and 82mm recoilless rifles, 57mm antitank guns, and
AT-1/SNAPPER
and AT-3/SAGGER antitank guided missiles (ATGM). Whereas
the AT1 /SNAPPER was primarily a shoulder-fired weapon, more
advanced AT3 /SAGGER ATGMs were mounted on BRDM-2 armored
reconnaissance
vehicles.
Air defense regiments provided motorized rifle and tank
divisions with mobile protection against enemy air attack.
They
consisted of two antiaircraft artillery battalions and one
surfaceto -air missile (SAM) battalion, each composed of several
batteries.
Air defense regiments were equipped with medium-range SA-6
SAM
launcher vehicles, shoulder-fired short-range SA-7
missiles, and
more than 500 30mm, 37mm, 57mm, 85mm, and 100mm
antiaircraft guns.
Romania's mountain infantry and airborne units are
noteworthy.
Approximately 30 percent of the country's terrain is
mountainous;
therefore, these units can be employed to great effect.
Transported
by helicopters, which Romania began manufacturing in the
mid-1970s,
the mountain units are highly mobile.
Data as of July 1989
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