Serbian Air Force and Air Defence
The first aviation pioneer in Serbia was Lieutenant Kosta Miletić (1874–1953), trained as a balloon pilot at the Technical Aeronautical School in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from 1901 to 1902.[3][4] On the recommendation of Miletić, the Royal Serbian Army posed messenger pigeon stations and bought two free spherical and one tied kite balloon from the August Ridinger company from German city of Augsburg.Air support for this formation was assigned to the newly established Coastal Airplane Squad, the first Serbian air combat unit, with 4 airplanes (Blériot XI one-seater, Blériot XI two-seater, Deperdussin TT and Farman HF.20) and 5 pilots under the command of Major Kosta Miletić.In March 1913, this combat air unit was relocated near the frontline at a newly built auxiliary airfield in the village of Barbalusi.[4] The next day, pilots Lieutenant Živojin Stanković and Sergeant Miodrag Tomić successfully completed their first reconnaissance flights, and in the following days, pilots Miloš Ilić, Stanković and Tomić dropped a number of small bombs and conducted reconnaissance flights.During one flight above Kriva Palanka, Tomić encountered a Bulgarian plane in the air, but neither one had weapons and they just greeted one another by hand waving.[6] Serbian pilots who were actually skilled and experienced from the Balkan Wars had succeeded to give the valuable information about the number, the movements, and the position of the enemy troops.After the conquest of Serbia by the Central Powers in the autumn of 1915 and the great retreat of the Serbian army to the Greek island of Corfu, the Salonica front was formed.During the invasion on Serbia in October 1915, Manfred von Richthofen ("Red Baron") was commenced its first combat flight as a pilot.With the establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, an Army Aviation Department was formed out of Serbian and ex-Austro-Hungarian (Croatian and Slovenian) personnel.In 1930, the Aviation Command was renamed the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo).In spite of huge logistic difficulties and acts of treason (proclamation of the puppet-state Independent State of Croatia on 10 April 1941) the Royal Yugoslav Air Force fulfilled its duties with honor.At the beginning of 1960s Soviet supersonic fighter MiG-21 was introduced, followed by intensive growth of Yugoslav aviation industry in that period.In June 1991 the Slovenes resistance to re-imposition of federal control over Slovenia rapidly escalated into an armed conflict with Yugoslav People's Army.In addition other bases (Jakovo, Zuce, Pančevo, Kragujevac, Novi Sad) house air defence units.
SerbiaAir forceAerial warfareAerial defenceSerbian Armed ForcesBelgradeSerbianromanizedBalkan WarsWorld War IWorld War IIYugoslav WarsChief of the Air StaffLieutenant generalWarrant officer 1st classRoundelFin flashAttackFighterMiG-29HelicopterGazelleTrainerLasta 95TransportSerbian ArmyYugoslavHistory of the Serbian Air ForceaviatorsRoyal Serbian ArmyballoonFirst Balkan WarballoonsRadomir Putnikpigeon postairbaseOttoman EmpireShkodraAdriaticBlériot XIDeperdussin TTFarman HF.20reconnaissance flightMihajlo PetrovićMiodrag TomićSecond Balkan WarDorand ARNieuport 24Cer MountainKolubaraair superiorityAustro-Hungarian Aviation TroopsCentral PowersSalonica frontManfred von Richthofenmedical transportMilan StefanikThessalonikiKragujevacFarmanKingdom of YugoslaviaRoyal Yugoslav Air ForceWestern DesertApril WarIndependent State of CroatiaGreeceBattle of Cretewar flagNo. 230 Squadron RAFDornier Do 28Yugoslav Air ForceMiG-21Soko G-2 GalebJ-21 JastrebG-4 Super GalebSoko J-22 OraoTen-Day WarSloveniaWar in CroatiaRepublika Srpska Air ForceWar in BosniaAir Force of Serbia and Montenegro1999 war between Yugoslavia and the NATO coalitionUnited States Air ForceMiG-29sfriendly fireF-117 Nighthawkstealth aircraftBatajnicabrigadesbattalionsBatajnica Air BaseMurtenicaPančevo204th Air Brigade252nd Training Squadron98th Air Brigade241st Fighter-Bomber Squadron353rd Reconnaissance Squadron250th Air Defence Missile BrigadeJakovoNovi Sad126th Air Surveillance, Early Warning and Guidance BrigadeRussiamultiroleSoko J-22YugoslaviaDassault RafaleFranceAirbus C-295HelicoptersMil Mi-24Mil Mi-17utilityAirbus H145Aérospatiale GazelleTrainer AircraftSoko G-4Utva Lasta 95CASC RainbowUtva PegazAD OrbiterIsraelSoko J-21 JastrebAntonov An-26Pantsir