The Air Force of Serbia and Montenegro ( Serbian: Ратно Ваздухопловство Србије и Црне Горе, РВСиЦГ; ''Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo Srbije i Crne Gore'', RVSiCG, ), also known as the Air Force of Yugoslavia (JRV; Serbian: Југословенско Ратно Ваздухопловство, ЈРВ; ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo'', ) from 1992 to 2003, was the air force of the former

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

. It had around 300 fighter aircraft, ground attack aircraft, and other aircraft. The air force, in 1998, had about 16,000 personnel. The air force was disbanded when Montenegro voted to secede from the ex-FRY in 2006. The bulk of it was inherited by the

Serbian Air Force and Air Defence The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence ( sr-Cyrl, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздухопловна одбрана Војске Србије, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije, Wa ...

History

Creation and consolidation

Reorganization

Operation Allied Force

Around 50 Yugoslav aircraft were lost during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

when

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

aircraft attacked FRY forces in 1999. Six MiG-29s were destroyed in dogfights against F-15s,

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

s, and

F-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...

s. Other MiG-29s were destroyed on the ground when NATO forces attacked the FRY's Batajnica Airfield.

Casualties

The commander-in-chief of the Air Force said that Air Force and Air Defense had 40 killed and 110 wounded personnel in combat. Air Force and Air Defense used innovative tactics to counter technologically more advanced and numerically superior opponents. AF & AD C-in-C

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Spasoje Smiljanić was promoted to the rank of

Colonel General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

and awarded Medal of War Flag - First Degree. Deputy of C-in-C Supreme Command Headquarters for the AF

Ljubiša Veličković was awarded the Medal of War Flag - First Degree. General Veličković was killed in combat.

=Air combat

= The first Yugoslav planes in the air were the Knights of the 127th LAE (127th Fighter Squadron) with their

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...

s (they were the only unit operating them). Based on publicly released data one could conclude that three MiGs were scrambled from

Batajnica Air Base The Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base ( sr, Војни аеродром пуковник-пилот Миленко Павловић, Vojni aerodrom pukovnik-pilot Milenko Pavlović), commonly known as Batajnica Air Base ( sr, Војни ае ...

with

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Ljubiša Kulačin,

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Nebojša Nikolić and Major Milorad Milutinović in the cockpits and two (Lieutenant Colonel Dragan Ilić, Major Iljo Arizanov) from Niš Airport. Since Germany had the same type of MiG-29 for a decade, NATO was expected to be successful in jamming radar and communication with GC center. Bearing that in mind and the fact that great numbers of enemy aircraft were in the air backed by four AWACS planes, Yugoslav pilots applied new tactics. They abandoned the usual leader-wingman formations and used fast solo dashes near ground to stay out of sight and then, when close enough to fire their R-73s (AA-11 Archer air-to-air missiles), engage in a vertical climb trying to get a firing solution with their KOLS laser - IR rangefinder/homing system. The following pilots were awarded Bravery Medals and promoted to higher ranks: * Major Nebojsa Nikolić * Major Slobodan Perić (killed in car accident 30 May 2010) * Major Predrag Milutinović * Major Iljo Arizanov * Captain, 1st class Zoran Radosavljević, killed in combat Other pilots that flew combat missions (based on data gathered so far): * Colonel General Ljubiša Veličković * Colonel Milenko Pavlovic, commander of 204. Fighter Aviation Regiment, killed in combat * Lieutenant Colonel Ljubiša Kulačin * Lieutenant Colonel Dragan Ilić * Major Abdul Emeti * Major Bora Zoraja * Major Dragan Milenković

List of awarded units

250. Rocket Brigade AD received the Order of the National Hero medal, the highest military medal for their exceptional service during the war. 126. VOJIN Brigade received the Order of the National Hero medal, the highest military medal for their exceptional service during the war.

List of awarded members

* Lieutenant Colonel Zivota Duric, Bravery Medal and promotion to higher rank. He was killed in combat when he tried to ram enemy aircraft with his badly damaged

J-22 Orao The Soko J-22 Orao ( sr-cyr, text=Oрао, translation=eagle) is a Yugoslav twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in ...

. * Colonel Kis Bela, Bravery Medal * Colonel Ostojic Goran, Bravery Medal * Lieutenant Colonel Sreto Malinovic, Medal of Honor * Major Vukicevic Srđan, Bravery Medal * Major Milenkovic Sava, Bravery Medal * Major Nikcevic Rade, Bravery Medal * Major Milovanovic Aleksa and Captain, 1st class Jovanovic Srđan got Distinguished Service Medal's for rescuing downed pilot under enemy fire * Captain, 1st class Abrt Emilijan, Bravery Medal * Captain, 1st class Mrvljevic Nebojsa, Bravery Medal * Captain Bulatovic Nenad, Bravery Medal * Captain Spasic Nenad, Bravery Medal * Senior Sergeant, 1st class Vukovic Dragan, Bravery Medal * Sergeant, 1st class Aksic Milos, Bravery Medal * Sergeant, 1st class Komazec Zdravko, Bravery Medal * Sergeant, 1st class Djurcic Dragan, Bravery Medal

List of destroyed aircraft

Organization

Structure

1992–1994

*Air Force and Air Defense Command ***333rd Engineering Battalion ***322nd Signal Battalion ***138th Transport Aviation Brigade ***280th Center for Electronic Reconnaissance and Jamming ***Flight Test Center **Aviation Corps *** 83rd Aviation Brigade ***172nd Aviation Brigade ***204th Aviation Brigade ***98th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment ***97th Helicopter Regiment ***119th Helicopter Regiment **Air Defense Corps ***210th Signal Battalion ***126th Air Surveillance/Intelligence and Guidance Brigade ***

250th Air Defense Missile Brigade The 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade ( sr, 250. ракетна бригада за протвваздухопловна дејства, translit=250. raketna brigada za protivvazduhoplovna dejstva) is a joint tactical unit of Serbian Air Force an ...

***450th Air Defense Missile Brigade ***60th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***230th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***240th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***310th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***311th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment

1994–1996

*Air Force and Air Defense Command ***138th Transport Aviation Brigade ***280th Center for Electronic Reconnaissance and Jamming ***Flight Test Center **Aviation Corps ***333rd Engineering Battalion ***172nd Aviation Brigade ***98th Aviation Brigade ***119th Helicopter Regiment **Air Defense Corps ***359th Engineering Battalion ***210th Signal Battalion ***

83rd Fighter Aviation Regiment The 83rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (''Serbo-Croatian: / 83. ловачки авијацијски пук'') was an aviation regiment established in 1944 as 1st Yugoslav Fighter Regiment (''Serbo-Croatian: / 1. југословенски вазд� ...

***204th Fighter Aviation Regiment ***126th Air Surveillance/Intelligence and Guidance Brigade ***

***450th Air Defense Missile Regiment ***60th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***230th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***240th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***310th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***311th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment

1996–1999

*Air Force and Air Defense Command **** 353rd Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron "Sokolovi" **** 677th Transport Aviation Squadron "Rode" **** 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron "Pegazi" *** 280ceio

280th Center for Electronic Reconnaissance and Jamming *** Flight Test Center ** Aviation Corps ***333rd Engineering Battalion *** 172nd Aviation Brigade *** 98th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment *** 119th Helicopter Brigade ** Air Defense Corps *** 359inz

359th Engineering Battalion *** 210bataljon_veze

210th Signal Battalion ***

*** 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment *** 126th Air Surveillance/Intelligence and Guidance Brigade ***

*** 450th Air Defense Missile Regiment *** 60th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 230th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 240th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 310th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment ***311th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment

1999–2002

*Air Force and Air Defense Command **** 353rd Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron "Sokolovi" **** 677th Transport Aviation Squadron "Rode" **** 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron "Pegazi" *** 280ceio

359th Engineering Battalion *** 210bataljon_veze

210th Signal Battalion *** 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment *** 126th Air Surveillance/Intelligence and Guidance Brigade ***

*** 450th Air Defense Missile Regiment *** 60th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 230th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 240th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 310th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment

2002–2006

*Air Force and Air Defense Command **** 353rd Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron "Sokolovi" **** 677th Transport Aviation Squadron "Rode" **** 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron "Pegazi" *** 280ceio

359th Engineering Battalion *** 210bataljon_veze

210th Signal Battalion *** 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment *** 126th Air Surveillance/Intelligence and Guidance Brigade ***

*** 230th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 240th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment *** 310th Air Defense Self-Propelled Missile Regiment

Branches and services

Ranks of the ''RV i PVO SRJ/SCG''

Inventory

Successors

The successors are the

Serbian Air Force The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence ( sr-Cyrl, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздухопловна одбрана Војске Србије, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazduhoplovna odbrana Vojske Srbije, Wa ...

and the

Montenegrin Air Force The Montenegrin Air Force ( cg, Vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana, italics=yes; ''V i PVO'') is the air arm of the Military of Montenegro. The aircraft marking of the Montenegrin Air Force consist of a red-on-gold roundel, currently bein ...

References

{{Armed Forces of Serbia and Montenegro Military units and formations established in 1992 Military units and formations disestablished in 2006 Military of Serbia and Montenegro Disbanded air forces