Slatina Air Base ( sq, Aeroporti Sllatina; sr, Аеродром Слатина / Aerodrom Slatina), located at

Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari Prishtina International Airport Adem Jashari ( sq, Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës Adem Jashari, ), also referred to as Pristina International Airport ( sq, Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës), is an international airport in Pristina, ...

, contained the second largest military

underground hangar An underground hangar is a type of hangar for military aircraft, usually dug into the side of a mountain for protection. It is bigger and more protected than a hardened aircraft shelter (HAS). An underground hangar complex may include tunnels cont ...

complex in the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. After the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

, the airfield was used by

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

. Before the Yugoslav military withdrawal, Slatina was home to the

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� ...

and its 123rd and 124th squadrons. These squadrons were equipped with MiG-21 Bis and MiG-21 UM aircraft.

Historical value of the air base

During the NATO's operation against Yugoslavia 83rd fighter squadron of Yugoslavian Air Forces was based in Slatina. It did not perform any sorties and suffered no losses from NATO aircraft during the 1999 bombings. Every single aircraft remained intact. The Slatina air base was a strategically important base which NATO had planned to use for airlifting of much of their military units in support of the UNSF Resolution 1244. Control over the airport was to be established on 12 June 1999 though on that first night the air base was seized by a battalion of Russian paratroopers. The air base is featured in the 2019 action film ''

The Balkan Line ''The Balkan Line'' (russian: Балканский рубеж, Balkanskiy rubezh; sr, / ) is a 2019 Russian–Serbian action film directed by Andrey Volgin, depicting the Russian military's secret operation to capture Slatina Airport in Kosovo ...

''.The Balkan Line (2019) - IMDb
/ref>

References

Airports in Kosovo Yugoslav Air Force bases Military installations of Yugoslavia Aircraft underground hangars in Europe Subterranean buildings and structures {{Kosovo-airport-stub

Historical value of the air base

See also

References