The Air Force and Air Defense of Yugoslavia entered the civil war divided into three corps, armed with about 800 aircraft and helicopters, of which more than 100 MiG-21 and MiG-29 fighters, more than 100 combat and transport helicopters, organizationally consolidated into three aviation corps.
In addition to fairly modern technology, the Yugoslav Air Force had well-trained flight personnel. This is how the chief pilot of the OKB im. A. I. Mikoyan, who helped the Yugoslavs to master the MiG-29: "They have excellent technique, they have very strong personal training and technical skills. The Yugoslav Air Force has very high requirements for personnel and their fighting qualities." The annual flight time of the JNA Air Force pilot reached a very impressive figure - about 200 hours.
Ten-day war in Slovenia
The military operation against Slovenia began at 5 a.m. on June 27, when units of the Yugoslav People's Army moved to encircle the capital of the rebellious republic of Ljubljana, seize the capital's international airport, and occupy border posts on the borders with Austria, Hungary and Italy. In turn, the Slovenes blocked the JNA military camps located in their republic.
By the end of June 27, it became clear that the operation was developing extremely unsuccessfully. The JNA units and subunits that began to advance were stopped, as they met strong and organized resistance. Then there were reports that even during the preparation for the introduction of troops, it was not without "information leakage." For example, the Croat Stipe Mesic was the chairman of the Presidium of Yugoslavia (in fact, the president of the country), who practically paralyzed his activities. Later he moved to Croatia, saying: "I have completed my task - Yugoslavia is no more."
As a result, the Slovenian leadership was able to familiarize itself with operational plans in advance and use this information to organize effective countermeasures. Only by the end of June 29 did the federal army manage to break through the Slovenian barriers and transfer reinforcements to the Yugoslav-Austrian border.
The main role in the confrontation with the JNA was played by the Territorial Defense Forces (TO) of Slovenia. They were armed with a sufficient number of anti-aircraft guns and MANPADS "Strela-2M" of both Soviet and local production, which could not but affect the losses of the federal aviation.
Soldiers of the Slovenian TO with a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun M-75 and MANPADS "Strela 2M"
In total, the Slovenes announced six downed helicopters (mostly Mi-8).
Slovenes inspecting the wreckage of a downed JNA helicopter (presumably Mi-8)
The Yugoslavs admitted the loss of three cars. I am aware of the circumstances of only two losses. The first victim of the Balkan air war was the transport Gazelle. On the evening of June 27, 1991, a helicopter with a purely peaceful cargo (bread) appeared over the Slovenian capital Ljubljana in search of a suitable landing site. This cargo was intended for the Yugoslav garrison, blocked by local residents. However, the MANPADS missile launched directly from the city street did not leave the helicopter pilots a single chance.
Residents of Ljubljana, looking at the wreckage of the JNA Gazelle helicopter shot down on June 27, 1991
On July 3, a Yugoslavian Mi-8 made an emergency landing in the southeastern part of Slovenia. The helicopter pilots and the Mi-8 were immediately captured by local residents. Since the device was in a non-flying state, it was transported to a sports airfield. Here they painted it heartily, took off those spare parts that they considered necessary and … forgotten.
After the end of hostilities, the Slovenian leadership decided that they did not need a helicopter of this type (since it was decided to form the Air Force on Western-made aircraft). Then it officially asked to pick up the Mi-8. Several Yugoslav technicians arrived at the airfield, assessed the extent of the damage and organized field repairs, after which the helicopter was driven to the nearest Yugoslav airbase.
Mi-8 from the 780th helicopter squadron of the JNA Air Force, captured by the Slovenes on July 3, 1991. and later returned to the Yugoslavs
The Slovenes had a number of light-engine aircraft requisitioned from local flying clubs. These devices were used to transport weapons, weapons purchased illegally in Europe. Federal aviation tried to fight them and the MiG-21 pilots even went up to intercept several times. However, there is no reliable information on the results of flights to date. The Slovenes also had some trophy equipment: for example, on June 28, 1991, a serviceable Gazelle, on which they drew Slovenian identification marks, fell into their hands (according to some sources, its pilot simply deserted), on which they painted Slovenian identification marks and put them into operation. The car was crashed in a training flight on June 6, 1994. Currently, it is being demonstrated at the place of permanent deployment of the 15th brigade (this brigade, in fact, is the Slovenian Air Force), the date of its formation is October 8, 1991. Several more civilian helicopters, Slovenes illegally bought abroad.
Helicopter "Gazelle" JNA, captured by Slovenes on June 28, 1991
The Yugoslav command widely used aircraft in combat operations, including the J-21 Hawk, G-4M Super Galeb, J-22 Orao, MiG-21. The attack aircraft "Orao" and "Yastreb" acted in the interests of the army, "pushing" the columns of armored vehicles deep into the republic. Several dozen bomb strikes were noted, in particular at the Ljubljana airport (where the A-320 airbus was destroyed), as well as border posts on the border with Austria and Italy.
Thus, a pair of MiG-21bis attacked Slovenian obstacles on the Ljubljana-Zagreb highway with British BL-755 cluster bombs. However, once, by mistake, a bomb attack was carried out on its own troops, which lost three killed, thirteen wounded, one M-84 tank and two M-60 armored personnel carriers were destroyed, three more M-84 and four M-60 were damaged. Helicopters were widely used for supply, as well as for airlifting small airborne forces and special forces.
However, air supremacy alone could not ensure victory. The locations of the JNA units in Slovenia were still blocked by the forces of the Slovenian armed formations and their situation was rapidly deteriorating every day due to lack of food.
A Slovenian TO fighter with a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun M-75 is watching the JNA garrison
At the same time, the exacerbation of the internal political situation in Croatia threatened the communications of troops in Slovenia, which was already remote from the main group of the JNA. On July 3, an order was given to withdraw troops to their places of permanent deployment, and on July 4, active hostilities in Slovenia practically ceased. On July 7, 1991, a peace agreement was signed through the mediation of representatives of the European Union.
War in Croatia
Fighting between the formations of the Serbian militia and the Croatian National Guard (ZNG - Zbor Narodnoj Garde) began in May, but the JNA units did not openly intervene in the clashes between local Croats and Serbs at first.
However, further events began to develop according to the "Slovenian scenario": the Croats began the "war of the barracks". In fact, most of the garrisons located in Croatia were in a blockade. By the end of September, the Croats were able to establish control over 32 military towns of the JNA. As a result, a large number of anti-aircraft weapons appeared in the Croatian National Guard: 180 anti-aircraft guns of 20-mm caliber, 24 ZSU M-53/59 "Prague", 10 ZSU-57-2, 20 anti-aircraft machine guns.
Soldiers of the Croatian National Guard with 14, 5-mm ZPU-4 and MANPADS "Strela-2M"
The response to the actions of the Croats was the offensive of the JNA and very soon a full-scale war unfolded with the widespread use of tanks and artillery on both sides. Yugoslav aviation has become an important means of supporting army units and Serb militias in the main theater of operations (in Eastern Slavonia, Western Srem and Baranja).
In addition to performing the tasks of close air support, the JNA Air Force also played the role of a "long arm" capable of reaching the Croats far from the front line. The main target for such strikes was the Croatian capital Zagreb. For example, on October 7, the Presidential Palace was hit by guided missiles. And at that moment there was President Franjo Tudjman himself, who was not injured. In Western sources, this raid is attributed to the MiG-29 fighters using the AGM-65 Maverick UR with a thermal imaging guidance system. However, the MiG-29 delivered to Yugoslavia (product "9-12 B") could only use unguided weapons against ground targets, so this version is highly questionable. In addition, the choice of weapons designed primarily for the destruction of heat-contrasting targets seems strange. Probably, the attack was carried out by J-22 Orao or G-4M Super Galeb attack aircraft, capable of carrying Maverick missiles previously acquired by the Yugoslavs in the United States.
Yugoslav fighters were also active, trying to fight the flow of smuggled weapons, which were transferred to the rebellious republic, mainly by air. They also achieved certain successes, the loudest of which came on August 31, 1991, when a pair of MiG-21s forced a Boeing 707, which had a Ugandan registration, to land at the Zagreb airport. After the search, the federal authorities confiscated 18 tons of South African-made military ammunition: R4 rifles, ammunition, rifle grenades and more.
By the way, this operation was carefully prepared, but the intelligence was not able to find out for sure on which plane the illegal weapons were being transferred, so several civilian vehicles were planted by the fighters. Besides Boeing, the MiG pilots intercepted Tu-154 of the Romanian airline TAROM and two Adria Airways - DC-9-30 and MD-82 (one more such aircraft was "served" by "Galeba").
With the beginning of large-scale hostilities, the Yugoslav authorities from September 28, 1991, completely closed the airspace over the western regions of the country for flights. It soon became clear that the Croatian secret services used the Mi-8 belonging to the Hungarian army for the smuggling of Igla and Stinger MANPADS. The crews of the helicopters knew the weak points in the air defense system of Yugoslavia: they used "blind spots" in the radar field or built a route so that if a helicopter was discovered, there would be no time left for interception by fighters.
On January 7, 1992, an unidentified aerial target entered a closed area over Croatia. The Yugoslavs did not receive any notifications or requests for permission to fly, so the pilot Emir Sisich, who was on combat duty, was taken into the air on a MiG-21bis fighter. The fighter was launched to the group target, and the pilot launched the R-60 missile launcher. One target - (helicopter Agusta-Bell AB 205A, owned by the Italian Air Force) was shot down and fell. The second target (helicopter AB 206B) made an emergency landing and thus escaped. It turned out that the downed car belonged to the European Commission and was flying with a "monitoring mission". All on board (an Italian lieutenant colonel and three sergeants, as well as a French naval lieutenant) were killed
The Yugoslavs were accused of deliberate "group murder and destruction of the property of the European Commission," since the helicopter was allegedly painted white and bore clearly visible identification marks, and the Yugoslav authorities seemed to have been aware of the impending flight in advance. In 1993, the Croatian authorities sentenced Sisic in absentia to 20 years in prison, and the Italians put him on the international wanted list. Sisich continued his career as a pilot of the An-26 military transport. On May 11, 2001, when the seriously ill Sisic went to Hungary for medicine, he was arrested and transferred to Italy, where, after a seven-day trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. It is significant that the trial was held behind closed doors … The Italian court did not take into account that the pilot acted strictly in accordance with the orders and shot down a helicopter that violated the airspace of Yugoslavia without permission. Later, the life sentence was changed to 15 years in prison. In 2006, Sisic was handed over to Serbia to serve his sentence, and on May 9, 2009, he was released after seven years in prison for the honest fulfillment of his military duty. Sisic himself is convinced that he shot down a Croatian Mi-8 filled with military cargo - the helicopter's explosion was too strong after being hit by a missile, which, in his opinion, was flying in the radar shadow of an EU helicopter. He claims that in court documents he found information about the landing of a second EU helicopter, which confirms the presence of a third aircraft of unidentified identity. According to Sisich, the rocket hit the third helicopter, the explosion of which damaged the tail boom of AB.205, as a result of which the helicopter fell, and the members of the EU mission were killed. By the way, there were no traces of fire on the bodies of the dead members of the EU mission (required for an explosion), and this suggests that those on board AB.205 died when the helicopter hit the ground, and not as a result of an explosion.
Unlike Slovenia, the losses of the JNA Air Force in Croatia were very significant - 41 downed aircraft by November 1991 (according to Croatian data). By mid-1992, the Serbs had acknowledged the loss of 30 aircraft and helicopters. Such a high level of losses is explained, first of all, by a much more powerful air defense system: for example, in addition to the Arrows, the Croats also had the Stinger and Mistral MANPADS "carefully" supplied by the West.
A fighter of the Croatian National Guard with the Strela 2M MANPADS of Yugoslav production
They were armed with much more anti-aircraft guns (captured in the JNA garrisons), the calculations of which actually claim the lion's share of victories.
Croatian 20-mm anti-aircraft gun "Hispano-Suiza" M-55A4V1 in a firing position near the city of Dubrovnik
Thus, the Strela-2M and Igla MANPADS, along with small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, became the "backbone" of the air defense of the Croats, who at first did not have either fighter aircraft or the Air Force in general.
Croatian SPAAG BOV-3, captured from JNA
However, do not discount information leaks. Scheduled flight schedules of the Yugoslav Air Force were often not a secret for the Croats.
It is not possible to give a complete list of losses of the JNA Air Force, since only fragmentary data got into the press. Only a few facts can be noted:
- On July 16, the G-4 Super Galeb attack aircraft was shot down.
Fragment of the Super Galeb wing, shot down on July 16
- On August 21, the MiG-21bis did not return from a combat sortie.
- August 24, 1991 shot down by anti-aircraft fire J-21 "Hawk". The pilot ejected.
- On August 25, during landing (probably due to combat damage), a MiG-21bis crashed, the pilot was killed.
- On September 16, 1991, J-21 "Yastreb" was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The pilot ejected.
- On September 17, the Galeb was shot down.
On the same day, the J-21 Hawk and the modern G-4 Super Galeb attack aircraft were shot down. The pilots ejected.
- On September 18, two MiG-21bis became victims of Croatian air defense. The first MiG came under fire from Croatian anti-aircraft guns after several consecutive approaches to the target. His pilot tried to "pull" his wrecked car to the side in order to put it on the "belly" in the field between the Serbian and Croatian positions. However, on approaching it, the plane touched trees and exploded on impact on the ground. On impact, the pilot was thrown out of the cockpit (the ejection seat may have triggered spontaneously), and the Croats found his body. Photographs from the crash site of this MiG were subsequently published in both the Croatian and Western press.
The second MiG-21bis was shot down by a MANPADS missile, the pilot was able to eject, but was captured.
- On September 19, 1991, the NJ-22 Orao was shot down. The pilot ejected and was captured
- On September 20, MANPADS missiles shot down two planes at once: "Galeb" and "Yastreb". The Hawk's pilot was killed.
Wreckage of the Yugoslavian "Hawk", shot down on September 20
- On October 17 the J-21 "Hawk" was shot down. The pilot died in the ejection.
- in October (the exact number has not been established) the MiG-21bis was shot down. There is no information about the fate of the pilot.
- On November 4, J-21 "Hawk" was shot down, which crashed in territory controlled by the JNA. The pilot ejected.
- On November 8, another Galeb was shot down. The pilot was killed. On the same day, the MiG-21R was shot down, the pilot ejected and survived.
- On November 9, 1991, the MiG-21bis was shot down. The pilot ejected and was captured. G-4 Super Galeb was shot down on the same day. Both pilots ejected.
The wreckage of a MiG-21bis of the Yugoslav Air Force, shot down by the Croatian air defense on November 9, 1991. Museum of the Croatian War of Independence
- On November 12, a J-21 Yastreb was shot down by a MANPADS missile. The pilot ejected and was captured.
- On November 15, another J-21 "Hawk" was shot down over the sea. The pilot was ejected and rescued by the Yugoslavian Navy.
However, according to the experience of combat operations, the same "Super Galeb" has shown itself to be a completely reliable vehicle, capable of "sustaining" combat damage. So, on September 21, G-4 "caught" a Strela-2M MANPADS missile in the tail section. Nevertheless, the plane remained in the air and the pilot was able to land it at the airfield. It is significant that later the car was restored in the field, and its tail section is now in a museum.
The tail section of the damaged G-4 "Super Galeb" at the Aeronautics Museum in Belgrade
The combat use (or not use) of MiG-29 fighters in Croatia raises many questions. Western sources are full of references to the participation of the "twenty-ninth" in the unfolding events. Moreover, the Croats claim one downed MiG-29. According to them, the plane was heavily damaged by anti-aircraft artillery fire, but the pilot was able to pull the front line and ejected over Serbia. On the Yugoslav side, this is not confirmed, but the fact that by the beginning of the NATO aggression in 1999, the Yugoslavian Air Force had only 13 MiG-29s out of 14 received in 1988 suggests some reflections.
During the hostilities, the JNA actively used helicopters. "Gazelles" using ATGM 9M32 "Baby" were involved in the destruction of Croatian armored vehicles. Mi-8s were used as transport, as well as search and rescue. Despite the fact that the flights took place mainly in the front-line zone, nevertheless, the Croats shot down only one helicopter - on October 4, 1991.
With the beginning of the war, the Croats also took certain steps to create (or as they preferred to say "revival") their own air force (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo - HRZ). They were headed by Imra Agotic, who had previously served with the rank of colonel in the radio engineering units of the JNA Air Force. Naturally, in the newly created army, he became a general.
Since, after the tendencies towards the disintegration of the state became evident, the Yugoslav authorities took control of all aircraft on their territory, there were several sources of aircraft equipment for the new Air Force. One of them was the desertion of Croatian pilots on their own planes and helicopters. Thus, Croatia eventually acquired three MiG-21s. The most famous was the flight of Captain Rudolf Pereshin. On October 30, 1991, he flew on a MiG-21R reconnaissance aircraft to Austria, landing at the airport in Klagenfurt. Pereshin explained the reason for his desertion as follows: "I am a Croat and I will not shoot at Croats!" The Austrians detained the plane until the end of hostilities, but did not hold the pilot. Four days later, Peresin joined the Croatian Air Force.
The plane remained at the Austrian airfield. Not knowing what to do with it, the Austrians, in the end, with the help of specialists from the former GDR, dismantled it and stored it at a tank base. For the exhibition, he was once again assembled, nothing is known about his further fate.
Subsequently, Pereshin became the commander of the first Croatian fighter squadron, in May 1995, during an offensive in Serbian Krajina, he was shot down by the Serbian air defense and died. Now the Croatian Air Force Academy is named after him.
The Croats received their first helicopter on September 23, 1991, when a wounded pilot of the Yugoslavian Mi-8 made an emergency landing on their territory. The helicopter received its own name "Stara Frajala" (old lady). After a simple refurbishment, the car was adopted by the Croatian Air Force. On November 4, this G-8 again made an emergency landing - the helicopter was mistakenly fired upon by the Croatian infantry. After this incident, a large Croatian "shakhovnitsa" was painted on the fuselage and tail boom of the helicopter. "The Old Lady" flew with the Croatian Air Force until 1999.
"Old Lady" - the first Croatian Mi-8T
The first fighter of the Croatian Air Force was the MiG-21bis, hijacked on February 4, 1992. In HRZ, the plane received a new number - 101.
In addition to MiGs, deserter pilots flew one Mi-8 and one Gazelle to Croatia. However, this technique did not participate in hostilities, partly because of its small number, partly because of the difficulties in providing spare parts, partly so as not to create problems for their anti-aircraft gunners, who, without much hesitation, are used to shooting at any MiG that appears in their field of vision. or "Gazelles".
While the MiG, carefully hidden from the Yugoslavs, played the role of a kind of "psychological weapon", completely different machines went into battle. The first attempt to make up for the lack of material was the adoption on September 3, 1991 of a resolution by the Croatian government on the registration of all aircraft in the republic that could be used for military purposes. The Bell 47J helicopter was even removed from the museum collection and restored to flightable condition.
The Croatians mobilized all the "aeroclub" aircraft, the bulk of which were UTVA-75. But the "first fiddle" was played by numerous agricultural aviation. It was based on a detachment of agricultural aviation, where there were about ten An-2.
Croatian An-2
All this "splendor" is supplemented by several "sesna" of various modifications: A-180 Ag-Truck, A-186 Ag-Wagon and Pipers RA-18.
Piper PA 18-150 Croatian Air Force
The planes were urgently armed: "Sesny" and "Pipers" received a suspension for small-caliber bombs (which sometimes used 3-kg mortar mines), and from "maize" they dropped homemade bombs and containers with fuel through the side door manually. Some An-2s were equipped with GPS satellite navigation system receivers for night operations. One of the An-2 Croatian technicians (there is evidence that specialists from Great Britain helped) turned into a "mini-AWACS", having installed radio reconnaissance equipment and a radar on it.
All this "aviation" flew exclusively at night, since during the day the sky belonged to the Yugoslav Air Force. There is no exact information on the number and results of flights. For example, only An-2 made 68 night flights during the period from November 3 to December 2. The effectiveness of their bombing left much to be desired and special losses, most likely, the Serbs did not suffer. But An-2 pretty much "spoiled the blood" of the Yugoslavs, so they tried to fight them.
On November 11, 1991, An-2 collided with wires, the crew escaped with bruises. On January 26, 1992, another An collided with power line wires, five of the six people on board were killed.
Despite their more than solid age and outdated technical data, the aircraft turned out to be a "tough nut to crack" for the Serbian air defense. MANPADS missiles turned out to be ineffective, since the weak thermal signature of the piston engine did not allow the homing head to reliably capture the target. The press described a case when the pilot of the Croatian An-2 got away from 16 (!) Missiles fired at him. The 2K12 Kvadrat medium-range air defense radar in automatic mode was also not designed to track such low-speed air targets. They say that in some parts of the JNA, armed with "Squares", conscripts were given a leave of absence for escorting An-2 in manual mode - this work was considered much more difficult than escorting jet aircraft. Still, on December 2, 1991, the calculation of the Kvadrat air defense missile system was able to hit one Croatian An-2 with a rocket. All four crew members were killed (both pilots, in the past, were pilots of the JNA Air Force, piloting the MiG-21 and MiG-29 jet fighters). Another An-2 was shot down by anti-aircraft gunners. No other aircraft were hit.
On September 8, when attacking the airfield by Galeb attack aircraft, one An-2 was destroyed, and a week later, several more.
Let's go to battle and training UTVs. At least two M79 Osa 90-mm RPGs were suspended under the wing consoles on at least two aircraft. Armed in this way, they took part in several night attacks on Serbian positions, with the pilots flying in night vision goggles.
Under the most powerful political pressure from the West (by that time the USSR had collapsed, and the new Russian rulers had no time for Balkan problems), Belgrade had to stop its troops and in the spring of 1992 agreed to a truce. According to the signed agreement, UN troops were sent to Croatia for three years. However, in a third of the territory of Croatia (in which the Serbs lived) remained in the hands of the Yugoslav military, the Republic of Serbian Krajina was proclaimed. Under the same agreement, federal troops were to leave Croatia. Naturally, most of the military stocks of the JNA were not evacuated to Serbia, but transferred to the armed formations of the Serbian Krajina. At the same time, the "Air Force" of this republic arose.
According to the agreements, the Serbs could not have an army, only a police. Therefore, the aviation element received the official name of the Krajina Militia Helicopter Squadron. The day of foundation of this unit is considered April 5, 1992. Both the unit commander and the entire flight crew were represented by immigrants from Krajina who served in the JNA Air Force. They also provided equipment: about a dozen Gazelles and several Mi-8s. These helicopters received a white and blue police color and their own identification marks. The main task was determined by patrolling the border in order to prevent the penetration of Croatian commandos. Naturally, the command used the unit for transportation and communications.
Light multipurpose aircraft of the Air Force of the Serbian Krajina PZL.104 Wilga
Croats also did not sit idly by, and in record time acquired a completely modern air force. Again, it was not without desertion. Another two MiG-21bis were hijacked from an airfield in Serbia by Croatian pilots.
Yugoslav fighter MiG-21bis, hijacked to Croatia on May 15, 1992
Croatian officials were like water in their mouths when they were asked where the rest of the MiG-21, the Mi-24 combat helicopters, as well as the Mi-8 and Mi-17 transport helicopters came from. In May-June 1992, Croatia acquired 11 Mi-24D and Mi-24V combat helicopters. Their origins also remain mysterious. During the war, Croatia was also able to purchase 6 Mi-8T and 18 Mi-8MTV-1 (however, only 16 survived until the end of the war). After the end of the war, all Mi-8Ts were decommissioned, and Mi-8MTVs were assembled in two squadrons. Later they were replaced by more modern Mi-171Sh. The Croats also received the world's best short-range air-to-air missiles, the R-60, at that time. Their training was carried out by pilots and technicians who had previously served in the 8th Fighter Squadron of the former GDR Air Force. In order to conceal the number of aircraft in service with the Croatian Air Force, tail numbers until the end of the 1990s. were applied only in the niches of the main landing gear. The planes flew "anonymous".
According to the official version, all 24 MiG-21 bis fighters were assembled by Croats from spare parts and abandoned aircraft at an aircraft repair plant in Velika Gorica. At the suggestion of German journalists, the version was widely circulated that most of this equipment, before entering Croatia, bore the insignia of the National People's Army of the GDR. However, in reality, only one An-2TP got to the Croats from Germany, besides, the Air Force of the NNA of the GDR did not have any "crocodiles" of the Mi-24V modification. Probably, the Croatian arsenals were replenished with aviation equipment inherited by the "newly formed" countries that arose on the wreckage of the Soviet Union. Most often, in this regard, Ukraine is mentioned, the state structures of which have never suffered from special "complexes" in the choice of clients when selling weapons …
