European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 01, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday september 1, 1995 bosnian crisis the stars and stripes Page 5 a of o a Allied surveillance Effort made Quick response possible by Art Pine los Angeles times Washington the Allied bombing Campaign launched this week against the bosnian serbs is part of a Broad plan designed to cripple their fighting Arsenal and leave them vulnerable to further attacks if Nec Essary. The Waves of Allied planes that took off wednesday set their sights on the rebel serbs air defense systems radar Sites and communications centers both to Blunt their ability to shoot Down nato warplanes and to Lay Bare their artillery tanks and other heavy weapons to follow on attack. The next stages of the Campaign plotted to continue for several Days if needed have focused on destroying a Broad array of strategic targets from com Mand centers and ammunition dumps to tanks and howitzers which the nationalist serbs have used to maintain their Edge Over bosnian government troops. The operation also is designed to deliver another message to the rebel serbs that despite nato s seeming paralysis during most of the Long bosnian War the allies now Are United enough to mount a serious threat and have the capability to inflict serious damage the pin prick strikes that the allies had launched previously had Given the serbs the impression that nato s threats weren t believable said Robert Gas Kin a former Pentagon planner who is familiar with the Allied strategy this is intended partly to dissuade them from that the nato and . Attack Force included dozens of aircraft both from air bases in Eastern Italy and from the . Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt along with artillery units from the new British French rapid reaction Force set up to protect . Peacekeepers in . Sends More planes to Aid nato with strikes Washington a the Penta gon on thursday sent More warplanes tothe Balkans to add punch to nato s air assault on serbian positions in Bosnia even As the Clinton administration presses serbian leaders to talk peace. Twenty five air Force and Navy planes were singled out wednesday for possible deployment but Only about 20 Are being sent a senior . Military official told Pentagon reporters thursday. The official said 10 air planes from . Bases including electronic warfare air Craft tankers and command and control planes were being sent. An unspecified number of those arrived in the area thurs Day he addition roughly 10 other . Planes from Europe were being sent he said. He did not give an exact figure or describe what types of planes were going from planes already in the Region com prise the bulk of a nato air contingent that began successive Waves of air attacks in Eastern Bosnia mainly around the Cap ital of Sarajevo on wednesday morning. Airstrikes continued thursday and there was no setup in appeared the military Campaign could help president Clinton preserve his veto of legislation to lift the ban on arms sales to the bosnian government. I am willing to consider postponing Senate action on the veto override if the a serb ammunition depot Burns wednesday after a nato bombing. Thanks to sophisticated spy equip ment the allies were Able to put together a list of targets almost As soon As the United nations decided to Autho Rize the raids. The Region. One key to the allies Success so far has been their wide array of sophisticated intelligence gathering equipment from satellites and u-2 spy planes to recon Naissance aircraft drones and ground sensors enabling them to photograph targets Home in on radar and intercept radio traffic. As a result the allies had enough up to Date information about bosnian serbian military Sites and their coordinates to be Able to put together a list of targets almost As soon As the United nations decided to Autho Rize the raids. They also were Able to take intelligence snapshots flight deck Crew members walk wednesday on the deck of the . Aircraft Carrier Theo Dore Roosevelt from which nato warplanes took off to assault serbian positions. Recent Western attacks prove to be part of a new and effective policy Senate majority Leader Bob Dole r-kan., said while campaigning in new Hampshire for the gop presidential nomination. Dole added however that one Day of military action does not make up for three years of passivity and adm. William a.,Owens, vice chair Man of the joint chiefs of staff would not say How Many or what kind of planes were being sent but other defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity provided some details. Among the aircraft placed on standby for possible deployment were four of the air Force s dec Iso transport planes two based at Davis Monthan fab ariz.,equipped with communications hammers and two in a different configuration that allows them to serve As airborne Battle Field command and control centers. Also alerted were f-4g wild weasel radar Hunters based at Nellis fab Nev. Ea-6b prowler electronic Jammer aircraft based at Nas Whitbey Island in Washington state. And one air Force ac-130 spectre gunship. After every raid to Tell pilots precisely which targets have been destroyed and which Are still standing a technique that reduces unnecessary duplication and helps albeit pilots to which serbian weapons still pose a danger. The allies relatively Quick response the attacks were launched barely Ivy Days after the bosnian serbs were blamed for a shelling attack on Sarajevo killing at least 37 people and injuring 80 others was made pos sible by months of detailed planning and painstaking cataloguing of potential targets while nato has been enforcing the United nations no Fly zone Over Bosnia. The surveillance that s been going on has really been extraordinary retired . Marine corps it. Gen. Bernard e. Trainor now a military analyst at Harvard University s Kennedy school of government in Cambridge mass., said wednesday. They the Al lies have had a pretty Good picture of what the serbs had. All they had to do is put together the right kind of package. And Given our experience even that was Al most enforcing the no Fly zone also enabled nato pilots to become familiar with Bosnia s harsh terrain and weather. At least some of the techniques being used during this week s attacks were heightened As a result of the Downing in june of the . F-16 piloted by air Force capt Scott f. O Grady who was rescued eventually by the marines. A High level investigation found that the air Force Pilot might Bave avoided being shot Down if he had been warned of serbian missiles in time. Accordingly . Officials moved to Speed the transmission of fresh intelligence to pilots who were about to Fly Over Bosnia. Authorities also ordered special radar jamming planes to accompany All fighters flying Over Bosnia. While fighters such As o Grady s have some ability to pinpoint and destroy enemy missile Sites they Are not As effective As the ef411as or the ea-6bs. As a result when the allies began their attacks Early wednesday they were Able to launch More than 60 air Cra Lon double and triple sorties without suffering any casualties for 12 hours when a French Mirage 2000c fighter was shot Down. Old timer sr-71 May get new life in Bosnia raids Sacramento Calif. A America s Premier spy plane the sr-71 Blackbird has been brought put of retire ment after six years because it flies so fast and High it can elude missiles Over hotshots such As Bosnia Justin Murphy a spokesman for lock heed the plane s manufacturer said wednesday that . Air Force Crews training to Fly the sr-71 had looked at potential routes Over Bosnia. The air Force refused to say whether sr/71s will be used in Bosnia. But capt. Nori Larue of the 9th recon Wing at Beale fab Calif., said military strategists think the sr-71 which is More than 30 years old would have higher survivability than other planes in High threat areas where there Are surface to air missiles. U-2 spy planes Are much slower and Fly at lower altitudes making them More vulnerable to missile attacks Larue said. Satellites Are expensive hard to Reposi Tion and can be fooled because they pass overhead at regular intervals. Sr-71s were retired in 1989, even though they were the fastest highest Fly ing planes in the world largely because of the High Cost of operating them. U-2s have been in Britain since april supporting the nato operation to exclude military aircraft from bosnian skies. Earlier this year Congress directed the air Force to prepare two sr-71s for mis Sions by today. A third sr-71 will be used As a Trainer. But it does not appear the air Force will make the deadline because it is behind schedule in training pilots to Fly the sr-71
