Until yesterday, the president of the Serbian Progressive Party and Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, boasted that the Serbian Army, with 14 MiG 29 aircraft, was the strongest air force in the region. And then comes his triumphant statement that he has been negotiating with France for a year about the acquisition of 12 modern Rafal fighters, and with another country about 12 more used ones.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had 255.804 square kilometers, and the JNA had 15 official military airports - Pula, Cerklje, Zagreb, Bihać, Zemunik (near Zadar), Mostar, Tuzla, Batajnica, Sombor, Ponikve (near Užice), Lađevci (near Kraljevo). , Prishtina, Niš, Skopje and Golubovci near Podgorica (plus various auxiliary ones, such as Udbina or Sjenica). Various types of aircraft were stationed at those airports, but the most modern ones, the MiG-29, acquired in 1987, were only at one airport - Batajnica. There was a proposal by some "geniuses" to demolish the entrances at the best military air base, Željava near Bihać, in order to "suit" them for stationing MiG-29s, but the then leaders of the Air Force and Defense Forces rejected it because it would mean that it would be "more expensive a gift than a measure" - demolishing the entrances that were made to withstand even atomic strikes, constructed exclusively for the "filigree" entry of the MiG-21, would really have been missed investment.
That SFRY, with that area and that economic power, acquired a squadron of 16 MiG-29 aircraft. It had more than 22 million inhabitants, and therefore a "critical mass" of young men who applied to become pilots - ten thousand candidates applied for a few hundred places in the Military Aviation Gymnasium in Mostar and the Aviation Military Academy. Then it was easy to find psychophysically above-average young men to be admitted to those positions, after severe tests (some would say not at all humane, but useful in practice).
The then SFRY bought 16 MiG-29 aircraft from Russia, and today's Serbia, with an area of 88.361 square kilometers (without Kosovo, 77.474) and with three military airports in operation (Batajnica, Lađevci and Niš), currently has 14 MiG-29 fighters and a lot of which can only be used for training, such as the Supergaleb G4, or whose resources are running out, such as the "eagle" fighter-bombers (J-22). The Ministry of Defense has been announcing their modernization for years, for the purposes of media promotion, but none of these overhauled aircraft have yet left the "Moma" overhaul institute in Batajnica, as announced by the "guru" of modernization, Acting Assistant Minister of Defense Nenad Miloradović Baća. He even, for the purposes of TV promotion, announced the installation of a radar in the nose of the "Eagle", to which the pilots were baptized, even those who are staunch communists. This is simply not physically possible, except in Baća's imagination.
WE NEW, AND THESE SECOND-HAND
Why such an introduction and comparison with the former JNA? Well, until yesterday, the president of the Serbian Progressive Party and Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, boasted that the Serbian Army, with 14 MiG-29 aircraft, was the strongest air force in the region. Because if the JNA had 16, it is logical that the people will really believe it. And then there is the "but" - Vučić, Miloradović and others from the top of the army are a little "wandering" about the level of modernization of those aircraft. Four domestic ones, overhauled before the arrival of the SNS authorities, six allegedly donated by Russia and four from a donation from Belarus. The overhaul of those four (out of a total of five, one fell during preparations for the air show) cost about 25 million dollars, the overhaul of the five donated Russian ones was 185 million euros (official statement of Miloradović), and no data is known about the price of the overhaul of the Belarusian donation.
photo: tim felce...TO "RAFALA": A. Vučić and Serbia
And then comes Vučić's triumphant statement after the Army's day-night exercise in the Pasuljanski meadows last weekend, that he has been negotiating with France for a year about the purchase of 12 modern Rafal fighters, and with another country about another 12 second-hand ones. Good news for the ears of the average consumer of state and parastate media, but what would the legendary Mica Trofrtaljka say in the cult film Beautiful Village, Pretty Flame: "Do you guys have money for this hike?"
This, however, did not reach the tabloids in Serbia - the next day headlines appeared that "Serbia is acquiring 'rifles'". Procedure, technique, technology, training, who else is asking about it, it is important that Vučić "triumphs" and opposes Croatia, which ordered those aircraft, and then stands out - "Used ones, but we have new ones"!
Croatia, known for the "honesty" of its military personnel, such as the former general with the most decorations (even more than Tuđman) Vladimir Zagorec, paid 12 billion euros for the purchase of 1,55 used "bursts", with the fact that they should be delivered by the end of 2023 . year. Probably as a complexed fan, who bragged about how he went to Red Star matches against Hajduk and Dinamo, Vučić decided to buy new "bursts" according to the "I can do better" system, and that perhaps the French manufacturer of those aircraft, "Dassault Aviation", did not he doesn't know about it. Because if ordered now, the new aircraft can, at best, be delivered in 10 years. And not all, but at most six.
The Greek Air Force is the best example for a somewhat honest business, without a large "incorporation" of their companies like the local SDPR. They contracted 12 used and six new Rafal planes for 1,92 billion euros, plus 400 million for refitting, and another six new ones this year (price still unknown). The word "furnishing" contains all kinds of things.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THE MIGs
"Rafali" in Serbia - what does it mean, even if they are delivered in the next couple of years? What to do with the MiG 29s, their crews, mechanics and other technical personnel? Where to put them?
"Planes are not tractors that pull them to the parking lot, so you can cover them with a tarp and let them stand outside. Each one costs more than 100 million euros and it needs to be protected from the weather somewhere, and where should it be done in Batajnica or Kraljevo, Niš? The 'eagle' that Baća (Miloradović) presented seven or eight years ago as a prototype for modernization, has been lying and soaking in the meadow of the Batajnica runway for years. Ask them if they have hangars to accommodate 'bursts' - but now they don't have any for those 14 MiG-29s either", says the interlocutor of "Vremena", a former high-ranking aviation officer.
Another interlocutor, a former pilot in Niš, pointed out that in 2000, after the bombing, parts of air defense units, not airplanes, were placed in the remaining hangars that were not destroyed. Danilovgrad near Podgorica is the third story, Lađevci near Kraljevo is the fourth... Conclusion - how can you acquire aircraft without adequate logistical support?
photo: ap photoONCE GIVES, WITH BOTH TAKES: A. Vučić and E. Makron
And then comes the continuation: "Do you know how the Russians blackmailed us during the time when those five MiG-2008s were overhauled since 29 - you have to buy and pay for new ore for towing the plane and new stairs for climbing. And that ore, an ordinary piece of iron, can last for hundreds of years, just like metal stairs. It doesn't matter, it's part of the contract and must be respected. What will happen to the French conditions?", ironically asks the interlocutor, who also does not believe that even if a contract is signed, the value of which will not be known, the delivery of the aircraft will take place in the next 10 years.
MAINTENANCE, RIDERS, AIRPORTS...
Another "Vremena" source, from the aviation-technical profession, points to a fact that the pro-regime tabloids overlook - that maintenance and servicing of an asset cannot be "conquered" overnight, training is required for that, and not for a month or two. "The mechanic signs the readiness of an asset for flight, if it is correct, he answers. Without sufficient training no normal person will do that. His signature, along with the pilot, is crucial," he says.
That source indicates that there is currently a shortage of mechanical and aviation military-technical personnel in the Serbian Army in general, and that the question is how to find new people for training on the "bursts" when there is a lack of them for the MiG-29 as well. Not to mention the overhaul of "eagles" and "seagulls" at the "Moma" institute - one aircraft is worked on for six months at best.
A retired pilot, a colonel, talks about another aspect for "Vreme". "Now that they are sending lieutenants to train for the MiG-29, what will happen to the 'bursts'?" I was a captain of the first class, a pilot on a MiG-21, as the people say, 'to pull the ox's tail' and, suddenly, I applied for the MiG-29. And I fail the first test on the simulator, it turns black before my eyes," he says.
As he points out, since 1988, different times have come, the "machines" are more and more demanding, and the pilots are in increasingly poor health and condition. "At that time, no one below captain went to Russia for MiG-29 training, today lieutenants or second lieutenants go. We graduated from the Air Force Academy with 350 flight hours, they are now retiring with that flight", he claims.
Airports are a special story, where to place them and what capacities they have. "None," says one former pilot. "Do you know what caponiris are - they are kind of garages for aircrafts. In the NATO aggression, they demolished everything in Batajnica and none of them was rebuilt. Not even in Nis, Kraljevo. Renovated a couple of hangars on Batajnica to show. Not even 14 MiG-29 planes can fit in those hangars, and where will the 'bursts' come from? And what will those pilots of ours be trained on before they come to the 'burst'? From 'laste 95' to 'rafal', that doesn't work even in the worst army in the world. G-2 is gone, resources have run out, G4 is leaving, the eagles...", he states.
The problem the pilots point to is the mechanical staff - they should spend years preparing and learning for a certain type of aircraft, not because they don't know how to do it, but they need to get a license from the manufacturer.
"Aviation mechanics leave the Army and the 'Moma' institute because they have better jobs thanks to their knowledge. Who better than them to maintain and repair water scooters or speedboats, motor kites. They have it in their little finger," explains one of their former colleagues, a "mechanic-flyer" by formation function, in translation one who is practically a co-pilot in a helicopter and has all the training as a pilot, except for completing the Military Academy.
His colleague, a MiG 29 maintenance mechanic, says that it is not easy for middle-aged people, who are the majority, to accept retraining from MiG 29 maintenance to "burst" because they are two different systems. "It's still somewhat easy for us on the motorbikes, but I wonder how it will be for gunners, radar operators, meteorologists, computer engineers, they have to "switch over", he states.
And then the question arises - what about the people from the "second plan", on whom those aircraft depend? These are professional masters, trained for years, and then they are told that they have to "retrain".
"My, unfortunately, late friend, a pilot, used to tell me: 'Once in Zemunik you are predestined for a certain type of aircraft, you are finished, you don't have to complain'. And that means fighter, combat or transport aviation. They knew that categorization among themselves. The same applies to helicopter pilots - it is known who can fly a Gazelle, who can fly a Mi-8. Then the 'Mi-17' appeared, and when asked what the difference is, because the aircraft are the same and why retraining is needed, the answer was: 'Do you know what the tail rotor on the left and on the right means?'", says the interlocutor. "Time".
Who will maintain the "bursts" is a more crucial question than who will pilot them in 10-12 years. And how much will the state of Serbia pay for the training?
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