The London, UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies has published its annual Military Balance report for 2003, which, in particular, appraises the Ukrainian Armed Forces' personnel as 295,500-strong, and the number of reservists at about one million.

According to the report, the Ukrainian Army is 148,000-strong. The Ukrainian army's current organization incorporates three Operational Commands, one of which is subject to disbanding by late 205.

Also, the army corps headquarters, except one, will cease to exist. One army corps will be turned over to the Navy in late 2003.

One engineers brigade and one brigade of sappers are immediately subordinate to the Defense Ministry. The Ukrainian Army incorporates, among other units, a division of surface-to-surface missiles (three brigades, armed with SS-21 missiles, codenamed the Tochka, or "point," and Tochka-U.

According to the report's authors, the Ukrainian Army Western Operational Command incorporates four brigades (a missile brigade, a sappers brigade, an engineers brigade, an air mobile brigade) and one air defense regiment.

The 1st Army Corps with the 1st Mechanized Division (three mechanized regiments, one tank regiment, an artillery regiment and an air defense regiment) incorporates three mechanized brigades, an artillery brigade, an engineers regiment, air defense regiments an self-propelled artillery regiments, two artillery brigades, a mechanized division (three mechanized regiments), a tank regiment, an artillery regiment, an air defense regiment, and artillery brigade, two mechanized brigades (each consists of a mechanized regiment, a brigade artillery group).

The Southern Operational Command consists of a mechanized brigade, one airmobile brigade, two engineers brigades an air defense regiment.

One of the Command's Corps consists of a tank division (three tank regiment, a self-propelled artillery regiment, an air defense regiment).

The other corps incorporates two mechanized brigades, one artillery brigade, an engineers regiment, an artillery regiment, an air defense regiment. The air mobile division consists of a mechanized brigade, an air mobile brigade, an  air defense regiment. The artillery division consists of two artillery brigades and one self-propelled artillery brigade.

The Northern Operational Command consists of a tank brigade, a mechanized brigade, an engineers brigade, an SSM brigade.

Besides, the NOC incorporates an army corps with two mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade, an army aviation brigade, missile brigades, self-propelled artillery regiments an air defense regiment and an engineers regiment. The tank division incorporates three tank regiments and a self-propelled artillery regiment.

The Ukrainian Army has 3,784 basic tanks, including  12 T-55 tanks, 2,215 T-64 tanks, 1,180 T-72 tanks, 271 T-80 tanks, six T-84 tanks, as well as about 600 BRDM-2 armored recce vehicles, 1,008 MBP-1 APCs, 458 BRM-1K APCs, 1,434 BMP-2 APCs, four BMP-3 APCs, 61 BMP-2 APCs, 176 BTR-60 APCs, 1,026 BTR-70 APCs, 456 BTR-80 APCs. 44 BTR-D APCs.

The Ukrainian Army has a total of 3,705 pieces of artillery, including 1,145 tracked guns. Of these 122-mm guns number 443 D-30 pieces, three M-30 pieces, 216 D-20 pieces, 185 2A65 pieces, 289 2A36 pieces, seven M-1937 pieces.

There are 1,298 self-propelled artillery pieces, including 122-mm. 152-mm. and 203-mm. guns. There are 638 122-mm 2S1 guns, 496 152-mm. 2S5 guns, 40 152-mm. 2S19 guns, and 100 203-mm. 2S7 guns.

The Ukrainian Army's missile component is represented by 72 Scad B missiles, 50 Frogs, 99 SS-21 missiles (Tochka and Tochka-U), 100 S-125, "Osa" ("Wasp"), S-200, S-300 SAMs.

The Army is equipped with 205 MI-24 gunships, 42 MI-6 transport helicopters and 315 MI-8 helicopters.

The Ukrainian Navy's personnel is appraised at abut 13,500 including 2,500 servicemen with the naval aviation units, one brigade of marines numbers about 3,000 personnel.

The Ukrainian Navy has one 641 class submarine, which is currently inoperative, the cruiser Ukraine in the process of rigging, two frigates of the Nikolayev class, the Hetman Sahaidachny fast frigate, one patrol boat, one missile boat, two torpedo boats, five mine sweepers, five assault landing ships, nine auxiliary vessels.

The Navy's aviation component consists of 13 gunships, eight AN-26 planes, one AN-24, five AN-12, one IL-18, one TU-134, 11 BE-12 ASW aircraft, two KA-27E ASW aircraft, five MI-6 transport helicopters.

The UAF's personnel is 49,100-strong and has 499 combat planes, including 32 TU-22Ms, 100 SU-24s, 63 SU-25s, 217 MIG-29s, 60 SU-27s, 20 SU-17s.

The UAF's transport aviation has 60 IL-76s, tankers (AN 12/AN-24/AN-26/TU-134/IL-78), 111 MI-2 transport helicopters, 26 MI-6 transport helicopters, and 17- MI-8 transport helicopters.