Through the history of Yugoslavia, the defence ministry which was responsible for defence of the country was known under several different names: the Ministry of the Army and Navy for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1941, the Federal Secretariat of People's Defence for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992 and the Ministry of Defence for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later known as Serbia and Montenegro) from 1992 to 2006.

† denotes people who died in office.

The Federal Secretary of People's Defence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian: Savezni sekretar za narodnu odbranu SFRJ, Cyrillic: Савезни секретар за народну одбрану СФРЈ) was that country's defence minister during its existence from 1945 to 1992. He was the head of the Federal Secretariat of People's Defence (Savezni sekretarijat za narodnu odbranu - SSNO) and it was the most effective military person, while the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army (which was the formational part of SSNO) was the most professional and staff body.

It was the part of the Federal Executive Council (Federal Government).

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the secession of four out of six constituent republic in the SFR Yugoslavia the remaining two (Serbia and Montenegro) established a federation in 1992 called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FR Yugoslavia). This lasted until 2003 when it was reconstituted as a state union called Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 both countries declared independence and parted ways.