Pivka Park of Military History
# Pivka Park of Military History

The Pivka Park of Military History (Slovene: Park vojaške zgodovine Pivka) is a military museum in the town in Pivka, Slovenia. It is operated jointly by the Municipality of Pivka and the Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces.

The museum's exhibits mainly date from the late WWII era and the Cold War, the timeframe of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The core collection consists of a large number of armored vehicles and artillery; there is also a small aviation collection, with five fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters. The museum's most popular exhibit is the Zeta, an ex-Yugoslav Una-class infiltration submarine.

## History

The complex was built by the Italian army as a frontier barracks during the interwar period, when much of what is presently southwestern Slovenia was part of the Kingdom of Italy. A fortress of the Alpine Wall, built to guard the Italian side of the pre-1941 Rapallo border, is an annex of the museum grounds and is accessible by hiking trail. After WWII, the Pivka barracks were successively inherited by the militaries of Yugoslavia and Slovenia. In 2004, the facility was transferred from the Slovene Ministry of Defense to the Municipality of Pivka, with the understanding that it would be converted into a military museum. The initial exhibit (the tank and artillery pavilion, with exhibits transferred from the Military Museum of the Slovene Armed Forces) opened in September 2006.

## Exhibits

| Exhibit | Origin | Manufactured | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Combat aircraft |||||
| Supermarine Spitfire F.IX | United Kingdom | 1943 | fighter | partial wreckage of Royal Air Force fighter, salvaged from the Ljubljana Marsh in 2019 |
| F-84G Thunderjet | United States | 1953 | fighter-bomber | Ex-Yugoslav Air Force, supplied to Yugoslavia after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split. Acquired 2013; the museum's first fixed-wing aircraft placed on display. Formerly a gate guard at Brnik airport. |
| IF-86D Sabre | United States | late 1950s | reconnaissance aircraft/ fighter | Ex-Yugoslav Air Force, supplied to Yugoslavia after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split. Uncommon Yugoslav-modified reconnaissance variant. Acquired 2014; formerly a gate guard at Brnik airport. |
| MiG-21 / Aero S-106 | Soviet Union / Czechoslovakia | 1965 | fighter | Ex-Czechoslovak Air Force. License-built version of the MiG-21. Acquired 2011. |
| IAR-93 Vultur | Romania / Yugoslavia | 1980s | fighter-bomber | Ex-Romanian Air Force. Joint design with Yugoslav SOKO J-22 Orao. Acquired 2014; gift of Romania. |
| Trainer aircraft |||||
| Soko 522 | Yugoslavia | late 1950s | advanced trainer/ light attack | Ex-Yugoslav Air Force. Unrestored. |
| Utva 66 | Yugoslavia | late 1960s | STOL/ utility trainer for J-20 Kraguj/paratroopers/ light attack | Ex-Letalski center Maribor remote located at LJCE airport inside the Air Base |
| UTVA Aero 3 | Yugoslavia | late 1950s | basic trainer | Ex-Yugoslav Air Force. Unrestored. |
| Helicopters |||||
| Soko Gazela | France / Yugoslavia | 1979 | utility | TO-001 VELENJE. Ex-Yugoslav Air Force, ex-Slovenian Air Force. License-built Yugoslav version of the Aérospatiale Gazelle. Acquired 2012; Slovenia's first military aircraft, the pilots having defected from the Yugoslav Air Force during the Ten-Day War. |
| Mil Mi-8 | Soviet Union | | transport | Ex-Polish Air Force. Acquired 2019 in a barter arrangement with the Military Museum of the Polish Armed Forces. |
| Agusta-Bell AB 212 | United States Italy | 1980 | police | Ex-Slovenian National Police Force. Acquired 2022 upon retirement. |
| Maritime |||||
| Una-class | Yugoslavia / Croatia | 1987 | special-operations submarine | P-913 Zeta. Ex-Yugoslav Navy, ex-Montenegrin Navy. Acquired 2011; gift of Montenegro. |
| Avionautica police speedboat | Italy | 1994 | fast patrol boat | P-111. Ex-Slovene Police. Acquired 2021. |
| Tanks |||||
| M3 Stuart | United States | 1940s | light tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, First Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. Examples of M3A1 and M3A3 variants. |
| M4A3 Sherman | United States | 1940s | medium tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. |
| T-34-85 | Soviet Union | 1940s | medium tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, Second Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. |
| SU-100 | Soviet Union | 1940s | tank destroyer | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M47 Patton | United States | early 1950s | main battle tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M36 Jackson | United States | 1944 | tank destroyer | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| T-55 | Soviet Union | 1950s | main battle tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| PT-76 | Soviet Union | 1950s–60s | amphibious light tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| T-72 | Soviet Union | 1970s | main battle tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M-84 | Yugoslavia | 1980s | main battle tank | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. Improved Yugoslav-built variant of the Soviet T-72. |
| Armored Personnel Carriers |||||
| M8 | United States | 1940s | armored car | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. |
| M3A1 Scout Car | United States | 1940s | armored car | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. |
| Bren Gun Carrier | United Kingdom | 1940s | armored personnel carrier | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army, First Partisan Tank Brigade. Supplied to Yugoslav resistance forces during WWII. |
| BMP-1 | Soviet Union | 1970s–80s | infantry fighting vehicle | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| BVP M-80A | Yugoslavia | 1980s | armored personnel carrier | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| BOV | Yugoslavia / Slovenia | 1980s | armored personnel carrier | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. Examples of military and police (BOV M-86) variants. |
| BTR-80 | Soviet Union | late 1980s | armored personnel carrier | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Artillery |||||
| Schneider MLE 1937 | France | 1930s | anti-tank gun | Ex-Royal Yugoslav Army, ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Bofors gun | Sweden United States United Kingdom | 1930s | anti-aircraft autocannon | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Flak 30 | Germany | 1940s | anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Flak 38 | Germany | 1940s | anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Flak 88 | Germany | 1940s | anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Flakvierling 38 | Germany | 1940s | anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Wehrmacht, ex-Yugoslav People's Army. Acquired 2022; gift of Northern Macedonia. |
| M1937 howitzer-gun | Soviet Union | late 1930s – early 1940s | howitzer-gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M1942 divisional gun | Soviet Union | early 1940s | field gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M1 Long Tom | United States | early 1940s | field gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M7 Priest | United States | 1940s | self-propelled artillery vehicle | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M-48 B1 | Yugoslavia / Serbia | 1940s | mountain gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| ZSU-57 | Soviet Union | late 1950s | self-propelled anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| ZSU-57 | Soviet Union | 1963 | self-propelled anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M53/59 Praga | Czechoslovak Socialist Republic | 1960s | self-propelled anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M84 | Yugoslavia / Serbia | | gun-howitzer | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| M-63 Plamen | Yugoslavia / Serbia | 1960s–70s | multiple rocket launcher | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| 2S1 Gvozdika | Soviet Union | 1970s–80s | self-propelled howitzer | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Zastava M55 | Yugoslavia / Serbia | 1970s–80s | automatic anti-aircraft gun | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Roland 2 | Germany / France | 1980s | surface-to-air missile system | Ex-Slovenian Army. |
| Auxiliary |||||
| M5 Tractor | United States | 1940s | artillery tractor | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| MT-LB | Soviet Union | | auxiliary armored tracked vehicle | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| BTM-3 | Soviet Union | 1963 | trench-digging vehicle | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| MT-55KS | Czechoslovak Socialist Republic | 1970s–80s | bridge-laying vehicle | Ex-Yugoslav People's Army. |
| Transportation |||||
| Class 52 Military Locomotive | Germany | early 1940s | Baureihe 52 No. 33-110 / JŽ 33 (Yugoslav designation) | Ex-Deutsche Reichsbahn, ex-Yugoslav Railways. Acquired 2016. |
| Harley-Davidson WLA | United States | 1940s | motorcycle | Military version of civilian WL model. |
| Mercedes Benz 230-BINZ | Germany | 1971 | ambulance | In service during the Ten-Day War. Donated by Velenje Medical Center. |
| Yugo | Yugoslavia | 1980s | four-door hatchback | Displayed being crushed by a tank in a diorama of the street barricades raised by civilians during the Ten-Day War. |

## Gallery

* Aérospatiale/SOKO Gazelle
* F-84G Thunderjet
* F-86D Sabre-Dog
* Mig-21 Fishbed
* M4A3 Sherman
* M36 Jackson
* M47 Patton
* M3A3 Stuart
* M2 155 mm Long Tom
* M3A1 Scout Car
* M8 Greyhound
* P-913 Commando Submarine
* 20mm Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun
* T-55 bridge layer
* M-84
* Armor collection
