WTNH News Channel 8 / News / Crisis in Kosovo

	YUGOSLAVIA AIR DEFENSES OVERVIEW: American and Allied NATO pilots involved in the Yugoslavia strikes are at risk against dozens of surface-to-air missile batteries which make up a much more threatening defense system than they faced in Bosnia in 1995. The Pentagon calls Serbia's air defense system "substantial, well trained and broadly deployed." A Defense Department spokesman says the US stands ready to take those risks. The Yugoslavian air defense has been engaged in extensive training in recent weeks. Yugoslavia's air defense weaponry includes: difficult-to-target shoulder-launched missiles some 2,000 anti-aircraft guns many back-up systems Among the most effective of Yugoslavia's weapons is the Soviet-made SA-6 surface-to-air missile. An SA-6 brought down an Air Force F-16 in Bosnia in June 1995. Captain Scott O'Grady survived and was rescued by a Marine Corps team several days later. YUGOSLAVIA FORCES DEPLOYMENT: (SOURCE: PENTAGON) As many as 14,000 to 18,000 Yugoslav troops are in Kosovo itself Perhaps another 20,000 are in place around the perimeter of Kosovo The Yugoslav army has also deployed tanks into Kosovo. ANALYSIS OF YUGOSLAVIAN FORCES: (SOURCE: PENTAGON) Yugoslavia's armed forces are well-equipped and number more than 100,000. The army has 90,000 troops, and 1,300 tanks. The navy has 7,500 sailors, four submarines and four frigates. The air force has nearly 1,700 personnel, 80 MiG fighters and eight anti-aircraft battalions. Main forces are backed up by a paramilitary force of 60,000, as well as some 100,000 reservists. NATO COMMANDER US Army General Wesley Clark is the supreme allied commander in Europe. He's confident in the ability of his forces and has promised strikes will be "swift and severe." He says NATO knows not only what Serb capabilities are, but also what Serb vulnerabilities are. NATO FIREPOWER Much of NATO's punch comes with Tomahawk cruise missiles directed by satellites. The cruise missiles are aimed in large part at destroying air defenses for allied planes that follow. Among the first US planes to face Yugoslavia's air defense forces -- Air Force F-117A Nighthawks. Those stealth fighter-bombers target Yugoslavia's command bunkers and ammunition depots. There are a dozen F-117A planes at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Among the other US warplanes in action: F-15E strike planes at Aviano and Cervia, Italy F-16CJ jets armed with anti-radar missiles F-16CGs carrying precision-guided munitions for ground-attack missions Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B electronic warfare planes a J-Stars surveillance aircraft that uses a radar-imaging system to pinpoint targets on the ground such as mobile air defense weapons. Eight Air Force B-52 bombers in Europe armed with air-launched cruise missiles,for use in initial attacks Five B-1 long-range bombers are preparing to fly to Europe to join the operation. The B-1's are based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The B-2 stealth bomber made its combat debut on the opening day of the campaign, March 24th, dropping two-thousand-pound satellite-guided bombs on targets in Yugoslavia. The mission came more than a decade after the bat-winged plane first rolled out into public view. NATO-STRATEGY The first aim of the NATO attack has been to heavily damage Yugoslavia's air defense network. That is a priority because it increases the effectiveness of -- and reduces the risk of losses in -- a wider air offensive. The initial NATO onslaught relied heavily on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from B-52 bombers and from four Navy ships -- plus two attack submarines -- in the Adriatic. Cruise missiles are the US military's weapon of choice against fixed targets such as command centers and radars. The latest models of both the sea- and air-launched cruise missiles are satellite guided and also contain computerized terrain-following programs that guide the weapon to the target area. Once launched, small jet engines carry the 18-foot-long winged tubes to their targets as far as 1,500 miles away, at a pace approaching the speed of sound. Army General Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says detailed information on targets and outcome of NATO airstrikes will be withheld to protect NATO pilots and to avoid aiding Yugoslav forces. Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH-TV A LIN station.

YUGOSLAVIA AIR DEFENSES

OVERVIEW: American and Allied NATO pilots involved in the Yugoslavia strikes are at risk against dozens of surface-to-air missile batteries which make up a much more threatening defense system than they faced in Bosnia in 1995. The Pentagon calls Serbia's air defense system "substantial, well trained and broadly deployed." A Defense Department spokesman says the US stands ready to take those risks.

The Yugoslavian air defense has been engaged in extensive training in recent weeks. Yugoslavia's air defense weaponry includes:

difficult-to-target shoulder-launched missiles
some 2,000 anti-aircraft guns
many back-up systems

Among the most effective of Yugoslavia's weapons is the Soviet-made SA-6 surface-to-air missile.

An SA-6 brought down an Air Force F-16 in Bosnia in June 1995.
Captain Scott O'Grady survived and was rescued by a Marine Corps team several days later.

YUGOSLAVIA FORCES

DEPLOYMENT: (SOURCE: PENTAGON)

As many as 14,000 to 18,000 Yugoslav troops are in Kosovo itself

Perhaps another 20,000 are in place around the perimeter of Kosovo

The Yugoslav army has also deployed tanks into Kosovo.

ANALYSIS OF YUGOSLAVIAN FORCES: (SOURCE: PENTAGON)

Yugoslavia's armed forces are well-equipped and number more than 100,000.

The army has 90,000 troops, and 1,300 tanks.

The navy has 7,500 sailors, four submarines and four frigates.

The air force has nearly 1,700 personnel, 80 MiG fighters and eight anti-aircraft battalions.

Main forces are backed up by a paramilitary force of 60,000, as well as some 100,000 reservists.

NATO COMMANDER
US Army General Wesley Clark is the supreme allied commander in Europe. He's confident in the ability of his forces and has promised strikes will be "swift and severe." He says NATO knows not only what Serb capabilities are, but also what Serb vulnerabilities are.

NATO FIREPOWER
Much of NATO's punch comes with Tomahawk cruise missiles directed by satellites. The cruise missiles are aimed in large part at destroying air defenses for allied planes that follow.

Among the first US planes to face Yugoslavia's air defense forces -- Air Force F-117A Nighthawks. Those stealth fighter-bombers target Yugoslavia's command bunkers and ammunition depots. There are a dozen F-117A planes at Aviano Air Base in Italy.

Among the other US warplanes in action:

F-15E strike planes at Aviano and Cervia, Italy
F-16CJ jets armed with anti-radar missiles
F-16CGs carrying precision-guided munitions for ground-attack missions
Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B electronic warfare planes
a J-Stars surveillance aircraft that uses a radar-imaging system to pinpoint targets on the ground such as mobile air defense weapons.
Eight Air Force B-52 bombers in Europe armed with air-launched cruise missiles,for use in initial attacks
Five B-1 long-range bombers are preparing to fly to Europe to join the operation. The B-1's are based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.
The B-2 stealth bomber made its combat debut on the opening day of the campaign, March 24th, dropping two-thousand-pound satellite-guided bombs on targets in Yugoslavia. The mission came more than a decade after the bat-winged plane first rolled out into public view.

NATO-STRATEGY

The first aim of the NATO attack has been to heavily damage Yugoslavia's air defense network. That is a priority because it increases the effectiveness of -- and reduces the risk of losses in -- a wider air offensive.

The initial NATO onslaught relied heavily on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from B-52 bombers and from four Navy ships -- plus two attack submarines -- in the Adriatic.

Cruise missiles are the US military's weapon of choice against fixed targets such as command centers and radars. The latest models of both the sea- and air-launched cruise missiles are satellite guided and also contain computerized terrain-following programs that guide the weapon to the target area.

Once launched, small jet engines carry the 18-foot-long winged tubes to their targets as far as 1,500 miles away, at a pace approaching the speed of sound.

Army General Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says detailed information on targets and outcome of NATO airstrikes will be withheld to protect NATO pilots and to avoid aiding Yugoslav forces.

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