- 3 weeks ago
Nga Lufta ne Kosove
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
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Short filmTranscript
00:00...to wage this air campaign until we're satisfied that we have sufficiently degraded and damaged his military capability.
00:08NATO showed off before and after pictures as evidence Serbia has been hit hard.
00:12Here you'll see the arrows depicting the targets, and now quite clearly you'll see those targets very effectively taken out.
00:20But that has not stopped the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, and probably won't until aircraft like this A-10
00:26start hitting not just ammo dumps and headquarters buildings, but the troops that are doing the killing.
00:32They'll feel the heat as quickly as we can apply it to them, believe me.
00:36And then hopefully we'll start seeing a difference.
00:39The only other way to stop the killing would be to send in ground troops,
00:43and U.S. officials said again today they have no intention of doing that.
00:47Even if they did, Pentagon officials say it would take a month to move troops into Kosovo.
00:52John?
00:52David Martin at the Pentagon, thanks.
00:54The pilot of the stealth fighter that went down was picked up by an elite search and rescue team
00:59on hot standby any time U.S. planes fly into harm's way.
01:03Tom Fenton at the Aviano Air Base in Italy reports pilots' lives are very often in their hands.
01:09Tom?
01:11John?
01:12Well, here at the center of the operation, the pace of the aerial campaign has not been affected by the loss of the plane.
01:18Pilots here are undaunted by the loss of the stealth and relieved at the rescue of their fellow pilot.
01:24The pictures of the wreckage of the downed stealth fighter are a grim reminder of how much worse it could have been.
01:31Aboard every plane launched from Aviano tonight was a pilot with heightened awareness not only of this mission's danger,
01:39but also of the capabilities of an extraordinary unit standing by should the worst occur.
01:44The search and rescue teams have a single focus, locate downed air crew and bring them home alive.
01:51As seen in this Defense Department training video, the men are equipped with small arms, first aid gear,
01:57and electronic means to home in on the pilot's radio signals.
02:01What the video doesn't show is the extreme danger of operating behind lines in a race against the enemy to find a single man.
02:09The stakes couldn't be higher.
02:12Failure last night would have meant a captured American pilot on display, if not something far worse.
02:19Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady was rescued in a similar mission after being brought down over Bosnia in 1995.
02:25They are the true heroes, from the rescue team especially, and then also the medical corps team that took care of me.
02:33They're just unbelievable.
02:34The search and effort in Gloucestershire were involved. All the planes have now returned safely.
02:41Yugoslav television has been showing what it says are pictures of explosions in Kosovo's regional capital, Pristina.
02:47NATO has denied the Serb claims that a plane was shot down.
02:51Sixty NATO jets took part in the latest attacks.
02:54RAF Harriers have arrived at Joya del Collier airfield in the south.
02:58Tornadoes are on standby on airfields in Germany, and four more U.S. B-52s are due to arrive at RAF Fairford later today.
03:08President...
03:08...during the 15-hour flight to Kosovo.
03:10This is the first time B-2s have been used in combat.
03:13The Air Force says the $2.2 billion Batwing bombers are nearly invisible to radar,
03:18and each was capable of dropping satellite-guided bombs on as many as 16 different targets.
03:24The previous two days, on this occasion, assisted the pilots.
03:29It's thought that Serbian surface-to-air missile systems attempted to lock on to the six Harriers taking part.
03:36Low cloud made it harder for them to do so, and all pilots returned safely to base.
03:42It marks a clear step into what's being termed Phase 2 of this NATO offensive,
03:48and one where the British Harriers will come into their own.
03:51Targeting specific Serbian tank, artillery and ground units,
03:56responsible for what NATO describes as an imminent humanitarian disaster in Kosovo.
04:02James Fallon, Sky News, at the Gioia del Colo Air Base in southern Italy.
04:07We can't say how many are going to be in this sortie,
04:12where they're likely to go in the Balkans,
04:15and indeed when they're likely to arrive,
04:17because they don't necessarily go there in a direct line,
04:21but they sometimes head for the Adriatic and launch their cruise missiles
04:25from a kind of box that is marked on their maps.
04:29Even as additional Harrier jets arrived,
04:39the existing pilots at this southern Italian airbase
04:42were being prepared for their most dangerous mission yet.
04:46It came just ahead of the visit here by Defence Secretary George Robertson.
04:51Despite encountering the fiercest resistance so far
04:55from Serbian anti-aircraft defences,
04:58senior officers claimed the Harriers hit a number of targets overnight,
05:02and dubbed the mission a success.
05:04With extra men and equipment, they said, similar missions would follow.
05:08The fact that we've got more people and aeroplanes come out
05:10is really a matter of enabling us to sustain that.
05:13We're just watching with interest as political events unfold,
05:17and clearly our working day will continue
05:19as it's been doing for the last two or three days,
05:21but the extra assets will enable us to contribute more
05:24than we've been doing until now.
05:26The weather, which had prevented combat missions
05:29for the previous two days,
05:30on this occasion assisted the pilots.
05:33It's thought that Serbian surface-to-air missile systems
05:36attempted to lock on to the six Harriers taking part.
05:40Low cloud made it harder for them to do so,
05:43and all pilots returned safely to base.
05:46It marks a clear step into what's being termed
05:49phase two of this NATO offensive,
05:52and one where the British Harriers will come into their own,
05:56targeting specific Serbian tank, artillery and ground units,
06:00responsible for what NATO describes
06:02as an imminent humanitarian disaster in Kosovo.
06:07James Forlong, Sky News,
06:09at the Gioia del Colo airbase in southern Italy.
06:13Certainly within the last hour here at RAF Fairford,
06:16we've had four different B-52s take off
06:19and head into the distance,
06:21although it is our belief from sources here on the ground
06:24that in fact they're not involved in a bombing mission at this stage,
06:27but in fact are returning to the United States,
06:29possibly though to collect more cruise missiles
06:31to bring in here to Fairford
06:33to arm the bombers on bombing raids.
06:35And can you tell us any more about the landing last night?
06:40We saw the pictures earlier of a B-52 landing
06:43and all did not seem to be well.
06:46There was certainly a problem,
06:48as was evident from the amount of activity on the ground
06:50involving the emergency services,
06:52but we've had no confirmation of exactly what the difficulty was
06:55from the US Air Force.
06:56As the pictures showed,
06:58the aircraft came in listing quite heavily to the right-hand side,
07:01quite characteristically different
07:03from all the landings that we've seen before.
07:05And as the plane touched down,
07:06although it did so, it appears in safety.
07:09It was chased by fire engines with their lights flashing,
07:12and as soon as the plane came to a halt,
07:14a man in a fireproof suit hastily ran
07:17to the underside of the plane and made an inspection.
07:20But whatever they found there seemed to satisfy them
07:22because the alarm then quickly died down,
07:25and the plane was taken away to a servicing area
07:27where engineers began to look at it.
07:29So, obviously, there was some sort of difficulty,
07:32whether it's perhaps suffered any damage in the air
07:34through contact with the enemy
07:35or maybe it was a technical malfunction, we don't know.
07:38But these are, in fact, very old aircraft,
07:40and though constantly updated,
07:41they are subject to mechanical and technical problems.
07:45Martin, as you say, four have taken off now,
07:47although you think they may have gone back to Louisiana.
07:50Do you expect or could there be any more action?
07:53How many other B-52s are there at the base?
07:55There are still five here on the ground.
08:00One does have an engine problem and is out of service,
08:03but we understand that there are four fully armed,
08:06fuelled and serviceable aircraft
08:07which could take off more or less at any time.
08:10We also believe that there are more B-52s
08:12being brought here from America, Serbia,
08:15so the crews on board are kept relatively safe
08:19and away from the possibility of air interception
08:22or anti-aircraft fire from the ground.
08:24So this, we believe, certainly while the air war is continuing,
08:29will be an element which will be intensified.
08:32...organisations and forces
08:34in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
08:37We continued our attacks
08:38against the integrated air defence systems,
08:41thus helping to protect our pilots,
08:43but as I agreed with our allies on Friday evening,
08:47the tempo of operations is getting faster
08:49and the focus of our operations is shifting decisively
08:53towards actions against the forces
08:55implementing Milosevic's policy of repression in Kosovo
09:00and the infrastructure behind them.
09:03So far as the United Kingdom effort was concerned,
09:06last night Royal Air Force Harrier GR-7 aircraft
09:10attacked an ammunition storage site.
09:13You will recall that this facility
09:16at Pristina's stores ammunition
09:18used by the Serbian Interior Ministry Police,
09:22the MUP,
09:23who are at the forefront of Milosevic's
09:25repression campaign
09:28against the Kosovo Albanian population.
09:32I'm now going to ask Group Captain Parkinson
09:34to take you through what happened.
09:38I've got three videos to show you shortly
09:39of our very successful attack last night
09:41against the Pristina Weapon Storage Facility.
09:44The Harriers last night conducted
09:45what we call self-designating attacks.
09:48That is, each pilot and each aeroplane
09:50operated autonomously in the target area.
09:53Here he's responsible not only for identifying the target
09:56and launching the weapon into the basket
09:59from which it can be guided by the laser beam,
10:01but additionally he has to locate the target
10:04with the laser designator pod
10:06and track the desired point of impact
10:10throughout the attack,
10:11so guiding the weapon onto its precise impact point.
10:16There's just about 90 seconds
10:18from when the Harrier pilot takes his weapon aiming
10:21until he successfully completes the attack.
10:24And during that time,
10:25he not only is responsible for weapon aiming,
10:27but also he has to safeguard his aeroplane
10:29and balance his many priorities.
10:31He has to be aware of attack
10:34both from the air and from the ground
10:36by missile or by AAA.
10:40Before I show you the three video clips,
10:42I'd like to show you a reconnaissance photograph
10:44of the target that was attacked last night.
10:47Can I have the first slide, please?
10:52This is a reconnaissance photograph of the target,
10:55and it would have been one of the photographs
10:56which the Harrier pilots would have used
10:58during their planning and target study
11:00for last night's attack.
11:03You can see in the centre of the area,
11:06buildings, these are used for both the processing
11:08and storing of weapons,
11:11of ammunition for a variety of weapons.
11:14I'd like to note also,
11:15to the right-hand side of the target,
11:17the prominent wooded feature
11:18and the wooded feature up in the top right-hand corner
11:21of the photograph.
11:21Each pilot is allocated a specific aiming point.
11:28Can I have the next slide, please?
11:30And you can see here
11:31the targets that each pilot was nominated.
11:36Can we take the next slide, please?
11:38So this, then, was the target for the first pilot.
11:42Can we run the first film?
11:47We're starting about seven or eight miles out.
11:49You can see the pilot already has the target area
11:51centred in his screen.
11:54If you look to the right of the box
11:55in the centre of the screen,
11:56you can see the prominent wooded area
11:58and in the top right-hand corner,
12:00the wooded area which you saw
12:01from the reconnaissance photograph.
12:02This sort of picture gives the pilot
12:04enormous confidence
12:05that he has selected the right target area.
12:10You'll see this is a thermal imaging picture.
12:13As he runs further in,
12:15he can now break out the individual buildings
12:17and you can see there
12:18he has selected his nominated impact point.
12:22And he'll be using the shape of the roads
12:23and the shape of the other buildings
12:25to ensure he has got the right target.
12:27The picture's jumped through 90 degrees now.
12:40This is because he's self-designating
12:41and after he's released the weapons,
12:43he's manoeuvring his aircraft
12:44but the pod is still following the target
12:46automatically.
12:50He's tracking the target continuously
12:52while he's manoeuvring away from the target
12:53and you'll shortly see weapon impact.
12:56And there we have a very successful attack.
13:02Can I have the next slide, please?
13:05This is target two.
13:06I've rotated the reconnaissance picture here
13:08because this is the aspect
13:08that you'll see on the film.
13:11You can see there marked target two
13:13is the right hand of three buildings
13:16and you'll also notice off to the left
13:18these other three prominent buildings
13:20which will figure in the picture.
13:22Could we run the next video, please?
13:23So the weapon is already in flight here
13:28and the pilot is designating the target.
13:31You can see the third building there
13:34in the centre of his aiming box,
13:36the two buildings off the left of it
13:37and the distinctly other three buildings
13:39on the left-hand side of the picture.
13:41All that ensures that he knows
13:43he has the right target.
13:44tracking the target
13:51as the weapon approaches impact
13:52and another successful attack.
14:00Can I have the next slide, please?
14:04This is the target for the third Harrier
14:06and you'll remember
14:08that if you look slightly to the right of that
14:10and above it,
14:10you'll see the target
14:12which was just attacked by the second Harrier.
14:14We were dropping two bombs
14:18on each of these targets last night
14:19and on this particular attack,
14:22one of the bombs guides accurately
14:24towards the nominated target.
14:25The other one fails to guide precisely
14:27but impacts in the target area
14:29just to the left of the target
14:32and you can see it's in open ground.
14:34and you'll see that clearly on the film.
14:37Can you run the film, please?
14:42Here we have our pilot
14:43who has selected the right target
14:44which you can see
14:45already in the centre of his aiming box.
14:47If you look up and right from the target,
14:49you'll see the explosion
14:50that's from the second attack
14:52and you can see that building
14:53is completely destroyed.
14:54The weapon which doesn't guide precisely
15:04impacts bottom left
15:06in this area here
15:07and you will see it distinctly
15:08in just a few seconds.
15:09There's the one that didn't impact properly
15:23but the second weapon guided precisely
15:26onto the target
15:26so that target was also destroyed.
15:28Thank you.
15:30This was a very successful laser designated pod.
15:33It would be carried under the centre line
15:35of one of the Harriers.
15:36He would find the targets,
15:39pick them up,
15:40lock the laser on
15:41whereas his wingman
15:42would have paveway bombs
15:44underneath both wings
15:46two 1,000 pounders
15:47and he would launch the bombs
15:49onto this person's laser marking.
15:52What we have seen in the last night
15:54is each aircraft
15:56carries a tiled pod
15:57under the centre line
15:58to designate the target.
16:00They also carry their own bombs
16:02and they do all their own work.
16:05Now, you have to say
16:06the amount of coordination
16:07these pilots have got to do.
16:09They've got to fly the aircraft.
16:11They have got to check on things
16:13like the electronic warfare.
16:14Is someone trying to target
16:16surface-to-air missile on them?
16:18If there's any flack in the area?
16:19And we do know...
16:21...Albanians.
16:22The attacks appear to have been
16:23concentrated on targets
16:25in and around Pristina
16:26as we've seen.
16:27Pristina is taking the full force
16:35of the attacks now
16:36which are concentrated on Kosovo
16:37although targets in the rest of Yugoslavia
16:39are still being hit.
16:41Sky.
16:44Residents cowered in the shelters
16:45during the raids
16:46and daylight showed
16:48the extent of the damage.
16:50The state news agency
16:51said three police stations
16:52were later attacked
16:53by the KLA units
16:54in the confusion
16:55and that three policemen killed.
16:57We have no independent
16:58confirmation of this.
16:59Out in the countryside
17:00NATO's planes are seeking out
17:02troop and armor concentrations.
17:04The Russian government
17:05is today claiming
17:05that the bombing
17:06has killed a thousand civilians
17:07and a hundred military personnel.
17:09It also said
17:10that the US stealth fighter
17:11which crashed at the weekend
17:13was brought down
17:14by a Russian-built
17:15surface-to-air missile.
17:17Elsewhere in Yugoslavia
17:18there's been damage
17:19to a factory in Chachak
17:20and in Belgrade
17:22where the air raid sirens
17:23have again been sounding today.
17:25A target near the civilian airport
17:26was hit
17:27damaging many of the windows
17:29at the airport itself.
17:31There's partial cloud cover
17:32over the capital today
17:33which limits
17:34but does not prevent
17:35further NATO action here.
17:37Tim Marshall, Sky News, Belgrade.
17:41...mission as a success.
17:43In the words of one pilot
17:45it ran like it was on rails.
17:48Yet all those who took part
17:49were also shocked
17:51by the intensity
17:52and ferocity
17:53of anti-aircraft ground fire
17:55they encountered.
17:57A reminder
17:57if one were needed
17:58that Yugoslavian air defences
18:00should not be taken lightly
18:02even though NATO losses
18:04at this stage
18:05remain relatively light.
18:07That could now change
18:09as the aircraft based here
18:10must now be prepared
18:12for the possibility
18:13of low-level
18:14and daylight missions.
18:16There isn't a single sortie
18:18that is flown
18:19where...
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