NATO authorities said the latest 24-hour phase of the air campaign drew 33 surface-to-air missile attacks on allied planes, more than at any time since the airstrikes began in late March. One pilot reported that a missile exploded so close to him that his plane shook.
"A sense of desperation is setting in as they make a last determined stand to shoot down at least one of the NATO planes, because they want one last victory," said German Air Force Maj. Gen. Walter Jertz, a NATO military spokesman. In more than 27,000 NATO missions since the start of the air campaign, the Yugoslavs have downed only two planes, and no NATO pilots have been killed or captured.
During the first weeks of the air war, NATO strategists were puzzled by the absence of antiaircraft fire from Yugoslav defenses. They concluded that air defense operators were hunkered down in a "survival mode" to protect themselves from being attacked once they turned on their radar systems to track allied planes.
"That's when we realized that nobody wanted to eat a HARM missile for [Yugoslav President] Slobodan Milosevic," said Lt. Gen. Michael Short, NATO's top air war commander, in an interview last week at his headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. He was referring to the highly accurate anti-radiation missiles carried by many NATO aircraft to neutralize ground radar systems.
While recent clear weather has made it easier for NATO pilots to identify their targets, it also has helped Yugoslav antiaircraft operators track incoming planes without having to turn on radar that would betray their locations.
29 May 1999 STRIKE 5--DOWNTOWN WITH BUZZARD ONE!
I was the Mission CC of Strike 5. The strike included 4 x F-15 Es , 4 x M2000Ds, 4 x CF 18s, and my 4 x F-16 CGs. The targets were all located in and around Belgrade and our package was supported by 8 F-16 CJs and 2 x EA 6 Bs. It was a great plan. Basically a two arm push with simultaneous TOTs with short windows and one reattack window. Our specific target was a well-defended weapons storage area just south of the city. Our weapons were GBU 24s and we had 8 DMPIs available.
Everything was going great right up until the weatherman reported lightening within 5 miles of the airfield and all work on the flight line was stopped. The Mission Director called and asked me what I needed to make it happen and I requested a 1-hour rollex. Meantime we mass briefed and got ready to fly. Great plan with a double trombone attack to get 8 DMPI’s with our GBU 24 in mode 2. We were to pre-strike tank, hold jump, strike and strike again, then egress. The rollex was approved and we continued to wait for the weather to clear so the maintainers could load, gas and preflight the jets. Then it happened--off weather hold.
Wow! The Buzzard maintainers moved mountains! The jets were loaded, gassed and prepped in what seemed to be no time at all. Cracko, Kermit, Shlem and I got the jets running and made our no-later-than take off time by two minutes….An incredible feat by the 510th Fighter Squadron!
We skipped pre-strike refueling. I called Money 74 (the tanker) en route to the jump point and told him we would need gas post strike. He said "good luck, we’ll be right here"…I had hoped luck would not play in this mission, but little did I know it would. We then turned East toward our jump point. We were a little early now; I did not want to take a spin in holding so I slowed way down. The weather was perfect except for a full moon. You could see well without NVGs and with the "gogs" you could see forever. An on time jump and a big weave to get the formation together. We were in NVG fluid 4 enroute to Belgrade. Running in at about .87 Mach, looking at the radar for that wayward Mig and looking out the window for any AAA or SAMS. We turned north and put the target on the nose. Forty miles to fly and the target area was clear. Then the fun started; "Nova 4 Sam launch left 9"…"One’s talley"…"Nova 3, second launch left 9"…I saw them both and they looked a little out of range, but I still watched both carefully. "Nova 2 AAA off the river left 11 low"…Well they knew we were here and I think my friend the moon had helped them find us. Everything seemed to be optically launched and our jets were not indicating any kind of guidance. That however did not matter. The second of the first two SAM launches began to no longer move on the canopy (this is how you know you are on a collision course) so I decided I needed to do something with the flight. There was more AAA in front of us and to the right. I check the formation into the SAM nearly sure that it would run out of energy. It did and we started back on course. There were air bursts all around us and another SAM launch from the city which was now on our nose for 15 miles. There seemed to be desperation in the SAM launches and in the AAA firing. (That did not bother me) I found my target area and called "capture, one’s data is slightly long"…"How long?" asked Nova three. "Just past the road"…"Nova 3 capture, two’s capture, four’s capture"…Perfect I thought, we will make them pay for shooting at us! "Nova 1 ready Pickle"…Clunk and the jet got significantly lighter on one side. My single GBU 24 was now enroute all by itself to the target as was my wingman’s. I checked hard left as I watched three check hard right and continued to locate my specific DMPI. The relative peace was again broken. A giant explosion from my left 5 o’clock position, RIGHT WHERE MY NUMBER TWO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. "Airburst, ya OK 2?" "Uhhh…unknown"…..I let about two seconds passed as I starred into the targeting POD, then outside as the AAA exploded all around, above, and below the jet. I was not sure what my next radio call was going to be or what I was going to do if the answer was not a good one. I wanted that bomb of mine to hit the target. "Did it hit ya?" I asked. "Something hit me"… "Three’s bombs away"…There was no panic in his voice so I figured everything was working and there was still 40 seconds lased time left. I again let some time pass as I watched the show in Belgrade and had to ask the obvious question. "Is it running?" He responded "Everything is working". Relieved and satisfied we were going to be able to finish lasing these two $80,000 bombs, I said "OK stay with it…Two is with you". I watched as my bomb guided perfectly to my assigned DMPI and was disappointed that number two’s bomb was no where to be seen. Off, target we check away from Belgrade and slightly behind and above number three and four. I had to decide if we were going back in to get the other DMPI’s with our remaining GBU 24s. I watched the AAA and another SAM launch and decided to continue with the briefed plan. Three called in at 8 miles and I turned so as to be line abreast one more time. Four more GBU 24s in the air and this time 4 DMPIs destroyed. We egressed above 30,000 feet and headed for the tanker. We were all grateful to be out of Serbia and on our way home! Upon reviewing the tapes we destroyed 6 DMPI’s with our 4 ship and concluded that the AAA headed for number two’s jet was intercepted by aGBU 24 on its way to the target. Yes, we were lucky.
