Yugoslavia March 1999 Team Effort

Yugoslavia March 1999 Team Effort

Code One Magazine July 1999

SEAD aircraft are usually the first on the scene to provide force protection for subsequent strike packages. The Block 50 F-16s fly in both air-to-air and air-to-surface modes. Equipped with the AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, these "Viper Weasels" have a unique capability to destroy enemy radar sites. The ultimate responsibility of the SEAD mission is to ensure that no allied aircraft is shot down by surface-to-air missiles. The Block 50 F-16s also carry HARM Targeting Systems, which provide sensor coverage over target areas for strike aircraft. They arrive early and build a picture before the strike aircraft get close so that the strikers can adjust routes accordingly.

A Block 50 F-16 pilot from Shaw’s 78th Fighter Squadron achieved the first USAF F-16 air-to-air kill of the Kosovo war when he shot down a Yugoslav MiG-29 near Belgrade on 4 May. The F-16 was one of four Block 50 aircraft heading for a tanker after a SEAD mission. The MiG-29 took off from Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade and was detected by a NATO E-3 AWACS. The F-16s were immediately vectored to engage the threat. Five minutes later, one of the F-16s locked onto the MiG and fired two AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles. A few seconds later, the MiG exploded.

A USAF press release quoted the Shaw pilot, identified as "Dog," after the flight: "We have the world’s finest multirole aircraft in this squadron, and we proved it," he said. "We took off with a primary mission of suppressing ground and air-to-air threats, and we showed the flexibility and the training of US and allied pilots."

The F-16 pilot also stressed the team effort involved with every mission. "My flight members and crew chief, and the weapons and munitions folks, make sure I have equipment that works," he said. "Frankly, if one of my fellow F-16 pilots hadn’t made the first call stating he’d heard the AWACS communications, I might not have turned around and gotten the successful engagement. Of course, the AWACS controller got me there, so it was a team effort from start to finish."