The Österreichs Bundesheer (German for "Federal Army of Austria", officially referred to as the Austrian Armed Forces in English), is the name for the military of the Republic of Austria.

The main branches are the Land Forces (Kommando Landstreitkräfte; KdoLaSK), Air Forces (Kommando Luftstreitkräfte; KdoLuSK), Mission Support (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU), International Missions (Kommando Internationale Einsätze; KdoIE), Command Support (Kommando Führungsunterstützung; KdoFüU) and Special Forces (Kommando Spezialeinsatzkräfte; KdoSEK).
Being a landlocked country, Austria has no navy.

History

Between 1918 and 1921, the Austrian semi-regular army was called Volkswehr ("People's Defence"), and fought against Yugoslavian army units occupying parts of Carinthia. It has been known as "Bundesheer" since then, except when Austria was a part of Nazi Germany (1938-1945; see Anschluss). The Austrian Army did develop a defense plan in 1938 against Germany, but politics prevented it from being implemented.

In 1955, Austria declared its Everlasting Neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. The Austrian Military's main purpose since then has been the protection of Austria's neutrality.

With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military have increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. The war in the neighbouring Balkans resulted in the lifting of the restrictions on the range of weaponry of the Austrian military that had been imposed by a 1955 international treaty.

Mission

The main constitutional tasks of today's Austrian military are:

• to protect the constitutionally established institutions and the population's democratic freedoms.

• to maintain order and security inside the country.

• to render assistance in the case of natural catastrophes and disasters of exceptional magnitude.

Equipment

See also: List of former equipment of the Austrian Army
The Austrian military has a wide variety of equipment. Recently, Austria has spent considerable amounts of money modernizing its military arsenal. Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Ulan and Pandur infantry fighting vehicles, C-130 Hercules transport planes, S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopters, and Eurofighter Typhoon multi-purpose combat aircraft have been purchased, along with new helicopters to replace the inadequate ones used after the 1999 Galtür Avalanche.

Austria's current equipment includes:

Infantry weapons

• Glock 17 (Pistole 80) sidearm

• FN FAL (StG 58) service rifle, only used by Austrian Guard Company

• Steyr AUG (StG 77) service rifle

• Steyr SSG 69 sniper rifle

• MG 74 machine gun

• FN MAG machine gun (only used on Leopard 2A4 tanks, ULAN tanks and Black Hawk helicopters)

• Browning M2 (üsMG M2) heavy machine gun

• BILL 1 Anti-tank guided weapon (PAL 2000 "Bill")

• Carl Gustav recoilless rifle (PAR 66/79)

• L16 81mm Mortar (mGrW 82)

• Hirtenberger M12-1111 120mm heavy mortar (GrW 86)

Only used by Special Forces:

• Steyr TMP submachine gun

• FN P90 submachine gun

• Remington 870 shotgun

• Steyr HS .50 anti-materiel rifle

• Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle

Vehicles

• Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks - 114

• SK-105 Kürassier tank destroyers - 48 (+71 in storage)

• ULAN infantry fighting vehicles - 112

• Schützenpanzer A1 armored personnel carriers - 261 (+ 106 in storage)

• Pandur I armored personnel carriers - 71

• Pandur II armored personnel carriers - 128

• Dingo 2 protected vehicles - 35

• Iveco LMV - 150

• Puch G 4x4

• Pinzgauer

• M109 A2/A5Ö self-propelled artillery - 80

• Bergepanzer M 88A1 armoured recovery vehicle

• Bergepanzer Greif armoured recovery vehicle

• M578 Light Recovery Vehicle

• Pionierpanzer A1 armoured engineer vehicle

• Bandvagn 206 tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier

• Unimog - 268

• Steyr 12M18 truck - 1000

• ÖAF SLKW truck

Air Defence Systems

• 20 mm Fliegerabwehrkanone 65/68 (FlAK 65/68)

• Zwillingsflugabwehrkanonen 35 mm (ZFlAK 85)

• Mistral missile

Aircraft

• Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role fighters - 15

• Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft - 3

• Saab 105 training aircraft - 28

• Pilatus PC-6B Porter transport aircraft - 13

• Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer training aircraft - 16

• Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk transport helicopters - 9

• Bell OH-58 Kiowa Reconnaissance helicopters - 11

• Agusta Bell 212 Twin Huey transport helicopters - 23

• Agusta Bell 206 JetRanger training helicopters - 11

• Alouette helicopters - 24

Structure

International Operations

Currently (August 10, 2009) there are Bundesheer forces in:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• * EUFOR (former SFOR)

• * 106 personnel

• * since 2 December 2004 under European Union Command

• Chad

• * United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT)

• * 126 personnel

• Golan Heights

• * United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone (UNDOF)

• * 380 personnel

• Kosovo

• * KFOR

• * 555 personnel

Traditions

Some of the traditions of the old Austro-Hungarian Army continue to be carried on in Bundesheer. For example, the most famous regiment in the Bundesheer is the "Hoch und Deutschmeister Regiment", now known as Jägerregiment Wien based in "Maria Theresien Kaserne", named after Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Also nearly every other regiment of the Bundesheer carries on traditions of the famous Austro-Hungarian regiments like "Kaiserjäger", "Rainer", etc.

Austrian commando frogmen

Austria's combat frogmen are part of the commando group of the Austrian Armed Forces—the Jagdkommando. The commando group is available for special operations in multinational operations, and for operational clearing-up in remote reconnaissance employments and in military protection of individuals abroad.

They use the Dräger LAR-V oxygen rebreather, which weighs 11 kg and has a 1.5 liter oxygen cylinder and allows a dive 3 hours long.

Beyond that they have special tasks within the range of combat frogmen, the paratroops, and personal guards.

See also

• Jagdkommando

• Austrian air defense

• Heeresgeschichtliches Museum

• Heeresnachrichtenamt

• Theresian Military Academy

• Austrian Military Police - Kommando Militärstreife & Militärpolizei (Kdo MilStrf&MP)