Operation Storm

In the summer 1995, Croatia carried out a large scale military operation called Oluja -- Storm -- the objective of which was to reclaim areas of Croatia held by rebel Serb forces. The operation officially lasted four days and effectively eliminated the wartime "Republika Srpska Krajina". It was the largest military operation in Europe since World War II.

Battle figures

According to a Croatian sourcehttp://www.kakarigi.net/croatia/news/dossier/eng/komentar.html:

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Croatian forces and allies

Croatian army:

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• 250,000 strong
• 80,000 soldiers in brigades, 70,000 in home guard regiments (domobranske pukovnije)
• 2nd echelon, 50,000
• 3rd echelon, 25 brigades
• 350 tanks
• 3000 heavy artillery pieces
• 45-50 rocket launchers
• 18 MiG-21 "Fishbed" fighter jets (20 more used for spare parts)
• 38 Mi-8 "Hip" transport helicopters
• 12 Mi-24D "Hind" attack helicopters

Armija BiH:

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• 5th Corps

USA/NATO:

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Limited tactical air support provided by US, Dutch & French warplanes under the aegis of the concurrent "Operation Deny Flight" (begun 1993.) A year and a half before "Storm," Croat forces had received valuable assistance in attending workshops on military budgets, real-time processing information and non-commissioned officers training, organized by US defense contracting firm, Military Professional Resources, Inc. (MPRI.) and a specialist team from French Foreign Legion.

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Serbian forces and allies

Serbian Krajina army

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• 50,000 strong
• 10,000 1st echelon
• 20,000 2nd echelon
• 20,000 3rd echelon
• 200 tanks
• 350 heavy artillery pieces
• 20-25 rocket launchers

Forces of Fikret Abdi? from Western Bosnia

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• 10,000 strong (?)