Tito's Underground Air Base

Tito's Underground Air Base

Author: Bojan Dimitrijevic

Publisher:

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781913118679

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The air force of Tito's Yugoslavia has had many different peculiarities - from a unique Cold War position of having operated a mix of US, Soviet, and indigenous aircraft and equipment, to the changeable strategies in case of war.One such feature was an entire underground air base constructed inside a hill near the town of Bihac, in western Bosnia. 'The Object' was the core, the heart, of this air base: it housed four MiG-21 squadrons for nearly 25 years, until the civil war tore Yugoslavia apart.'The Object' was built as the outcome of Yugoslav military efforts to build up its independent defence capabilities, especially the air force which was regarded as the strategic tool in keeping Tito's Yugoslavia's independence from both Cold War blocks. There were a few other underground shelters built at Yugoslavia's air bases, but Bihać underground air base remained the only underground facility which was permanently used.Bihać Air Base was constructed directly on the border between two former federal states of Yugoslavia, now two independent countries: The Republic of Croatia, and The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Indeed, their post-independence border runs between the former taxiways and underground entrances. Nowadays, its ruins are a place of pilgrimage by many aviation and military enthusiasts, and is known as 'Zeljava', after a nearby village on the Croatian side.In its five chapters this book provides an in-depth account of the design and construction of the air base and its 'underground object', and a detailed account of the activities of its MiG-21 squadrons and everyday operations in the period between 1968 and 1991. The book concludes with an exhaustive description of combat operations during the final year of the existence of the Bihać Air Base in 1991-1992, under the conditions of the civil war.Drawing upon exclusive archival sources - many of them classified until very recently - the authors have expanded the emerging story through interviews with dozens of officers and other ranks that served at this 'underground aircraft carrier', thus managing to fill the gaps in usage not covered by the documentation.'Tito's Underground Air Base' is lavishly illustrated with a huge collection of exclusive photographs collected from numerous archives, museums, and private collections, and a set of authentic colour profiles and diagrams. It is a unique source of reference about one of most fascinating projects related to underground military facilities constructed during the Cold War.


Silver Birds Over the Estuary

Silver Birds Over the Estuary

Author: Bojan Dimitrijevic

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06-19

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781913118693

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The Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-21 has been built in greater numbers than any other combat aircraft since 1945. It also saw service with more air forces than any other type manufactured over the last 70 years.Locally designated the 'L' (for Lovac or fighter), for more than half a century over 260 MiG-21s in 12 different versions and sub-variants formed the backbone of the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defence Force (JRV i PVO) and later the Serbian Air Force (RV i PVO).Entering service at the peak of the Cold War, the MiG-21 quickly replaced the US-supplied North American F-86E and F-86D Sabres in the Yugoslav inventory. The first version, MiG-21F-13, was followed by the MiG-21PFM in 1967, and MiG-21M/MF in 1970. Serving with the 204th Fighter Regiment, the task of these fighters was the air defence of Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia.Whenever a new and more advanced variant became available, older types were handed over to other units. This is how the 117th Fighter Regiment came into being, based at the famous underground air base outside the town of Bihac. The Pristina-based 83rd Fighter Regiment followed in 1972.In Tito's Yugoslavia, the MiG-21 was also deployed for strategic reconnaissance. In 1968-1969, the JRV i PVO introduced the MiG-21R to service, which became the primary photo- and electronic reconnaissance platform of the entire military. The importance of the fleet was further increased in 1984, when US-made Fairchild KA-112 LORAP containers were added to their arsenal.The final and most widely used version became the MiG-21bis, delivered to Yugoslavia in the 1977-1983 period. By the time of the dissolution of the country, in 1991-1992, it formed the backbone of the fleet and saw intensive combat service as a fighter-bomber during the conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of particular interest during this period was the widespread use of diverse ordnance of native and NATO-origins.While operated by the RV i PVO, MiG-21s did not fly any combat sorties during NATO's campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of 1999 - better known as the 'Kosovo War'. Nevertheless, it was intensively targeted by NATO's air power, resulting in destruction of nearly half the fleet.Although subsequently considered 'obsolete', and operated in continuously declining numbers, the MiG-21bis continued soldiering on with the RV i PVO, and even maintained quick reaction alert duty until late 2015, when officially retired. The final handful of two-seat conversion trainers is still in service as this volume is prepared.The book is based upon the author's extensive research in Serbian and Croatian archives, museums and interviews with veterans that flew this type. Most of the photos in this volume have never been published before.


The Ash Warriors

The Ash Warriors

Author: C. R. Anderegg

Publisher: Department of the Air Force

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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In November 1991 the American flag was lowered for the last time at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. This act brought to an end American military presence in the Philippines that extended back over 90 years. It also represented the final act in a drama that began with the initial rumblings in April of that year of the Mount inatubo volcano, located about nine miles to the east of Clark. This book tells the remarkable story of the men and women of the Clark community and their ordeal in planning for and carrying out their evacuation from Clark in face of the impending volcanic activity. It documents the actions of those who remained on the base during the series of Mount Pinatubo' s eruptions, and the packing out of the base during the subsequent months. This is the story of the Ash Warriors, those Air Force men and women who carried out their mission in the face of an incredible series of natural disasters, including volcanic eruption, flood, typhoons, and earthquakes, all of which plagued Clark and the surrounding areas during June and July 1991.


Beacons in the Night

Beacons in the Night

Author: Franklin Lindsay

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 9780804725880

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Franlin Lindsay (f. 1916) beretter om sine oplevelser som agent for OSS i Jugoslavien fra maj 1944


We Were Never There

We Were Never There

Author: Kevin Wright

Publisher: Europe@War

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 9781914377129

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This book examines early CIA U-2 operations looking at the missions flown and the sensors carried and describes how the imagery and electronic intelligence captured produced thousands of images and tape recordings that were used to produce high quality intelligence on the USSR's most secret military and scientific activities.


Klaxon!

Klaxon!

Author: Lindsay Peacock

Publisher: Europe@war

Published: 2021-08-15

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9781914377112

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From 1957 until 1991, the Strategic Air Command of the US Air Force (SAC) fought a war of deterrence. Every single day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thousands of men, women, and hundreds of aircraft were kept on alert, armed with nuclear weapons, ready to attack pre-determined targets on short notice.


Tito, mount Gola's secrets

Tito, mount Gola's secrets

Author: Rhys Ryan Evans

Publisher: Rhys Ryan Evans

Published: 2023-04-11

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 1515210421

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It was 1992, Jack and his specialist team within the regiment was put on an emergency posting to Bosnia in the Balkans, former Yugoslavia, The mission was: to stop all ethnic cleansing by the Serbs, the Muslims and the Croats in the area and to clear some fortified mountain of any other factions and some more stuff. There was an old factory that the British army had taken over a few years ago and fortified as a stronghold base, The teams would be stationed here along with the usual support agencies such as: medical teams, engineers, transport and some other sneaky people that only the military know about!


Spomenik Monument Database

Spomenik Monument Database

Author: Donald Niebyl

Publisher: Fuel Publishing

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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Spomenik - the Serbo-Croat/Slovenian word for monument - refers to the pioneering abstract memorials built in Josip Tito's Yugoslavia between the 1960s and the 1990s, marking the horror of occupation by Axis forces and the triumph of their defeat during World War II. Through these imaginative creations, a forward-looking socialist society, free of ethnic tensions, was envisaged. This publication brings together more than 80 examples of these stunning brutalist monuments. Each has been extensively photographed and researched by the author to make this book the most comprehensive survey available of this obscure and fascinating architectural phenomenon. A fold-out map on the reverse of the dust jacket shows the exact location of each spomenik using GPS coordinates.


The Tito–Stalin Split and Yugoslavia's Military Opening toward the West, 1950–1954

The Tito–Stalin Split and Yugoslavia's Military Opening toward the West, 1950–1954

Author: Ivan Lakovic

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2016-07-14

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1498539343

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Yugoslav military cooperation with West emerged after the country’s split with the U.S.S.R. and its allies in 1948. It came as a surprise for many, since Yugoslavia used to be one of the staunchest followers of Soviet politics. However, faced with possible military escalation of the ideological, political, and economic worsening of relations with the East, the Yugoslav leadership quickly turned to their former “class enemies.” For the United States, it presented an opportunity to acquire many unexpected political benefits. Yugoslav alienation from the Kremlin provided territorial consolidation of the southern flank of NATO, denial of direct approach to the Adriatic Sea and Northern Italy to Soviet troops, and dealt a strong political blow to the homogeneity of the Eastern bloc. While not insisting on changing the ideological nature of Yugoslav state, the United States provided much needed material and financial aid, developing the base for entering into sphere of military cooperation. It had two main categories—direct support for Yugoslav forces through shipments of military equipment, as well as Yugoslavia entering into defensive, military alliance (the Balkan Pact) with Greece and Turkey, already full members of NATO. Such trends, aiming towards closer Yugoslav bonding with Western military and political structures, ended in the mid-1950s with Stalin’s death, the outbreak of the Trieste crisis, and Tito’s reconciliation with Soviet leadership. Developing the new policy of non-alignment with either of the confronting blocs, Yugoslavia stepped out from the program of Western military aid, while the Balkan Pact slowly faded in growing animosity between Greece and Turkey.