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'Allied Force' Applied to Serbia
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GREG SEIGLE
JDW Staff Reporter According to NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe US Gen Wesley Clark, the air campaign is designed to "destroy" the Yugoslav military unless President Slobodan Milosevic ends his offensives in Kosovo and agrees to a peace plan for the separatist province. "We're going to systematically and progressively attack, disrupt, degrade, devastate" Serb military targets, Gen Clark said on 25 March from NATO HQ in Brussels. "Ultimately, unless President Milosevic complies with the demands of the international community, we're going to destroy his forces." Initial damage reports indicate more than 60 targets were struck in the first two days of the air strikes, including airfields, command-and-control centres and air-defence systems. Also hit were Yugoslav Serb arms depots and barracks housing troops in Kosovo. The Serb air-defence system was notably quiet, only sporadic anti-aircraft fire. Two SAMs, fired from mobile Soviet-era SA-6 sites, missed a US Air Force (USAF) F-15 and a Canadian Forces CF-18 after the pilots took evasive action. On the first night of the attack, Belgrade scrambled three MiG-29s, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's most modern and capable fighter aircraft. The MiGs were shot down by two USAF F-15Es and one Dutch F-16, NATO officials said. The air strikes began after an initial wave of Tomahawk cruise missiles - at least 20 of which were fired from the USS Gonzalez and four from the USS Philippine Sea. An unconfirmed number of Tomahawks were fired from the UK Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid. The cruise missile strikes were followed by USAF B-2s and F-117s, and radar-jamming EA-6Bs. The second wave included F-15Es, F-16s and B-52sÐ the latter of which carry 20 AGM-86Bs, air-dropped cruise missiles. USN and USMC F/A18C/Ds also took part in the raids. The Serbs, according to US DoD spokesman Ken Bacon, "have been moving their military assets. Dispersion is a standard defensive tactic, and the Serbs are very good at dispersion". USAF A-10s might be called in for tank-busting missions, USAF officials said. About 20% of the NATO targets were the Yugoslav Army or ministerial special police. "These are the forces that are being used to attack the Kosovar Albanians, and we will continue to focus on those targets," Bacon said. The carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on 26 March set sail from the USA for the Adriatic Sea. Jane's Defence Weekly |
NATO forces involved: | |
 USA Italy (Aviano
AFB):
According to a Russian industry source, one reason for the lack of a concerted Serbian air defence response is that none of Serbia's S-75 Dvina (SA-2), Perchora-M (SA-3a), and 2K12 Kvadrat (SA-6) SAM batteries are equipped with thermal night-vision equipment. Such a capability would allow limited, but passive, engagement against enemy aircraft without having to "paint" the target with radar emissions. During NATO raids, few SAMs were fired, presumably due to the fact that either radars were knocked out initially, or were kept turned off to avoid attack. Rozvoorouzhenie announced last week that, if given the go-ahead by the Russian government, it could immediately supply Serbia with updated systems, including the S-300 (SA-10). The Yeltsin government has to date limited itself to diplomatic support to the Serbian government. An industry source told JDW that Serbia does not currently possess any S-300 series SAMs. The industry source claimed that prior to hostilities, Serbia possessed 60 SA-2 launchers, 60 SA-3a launchers, and 68 SA-6 launchers. - Clifford Beal JDW Editor |
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