Air War, Central Europe The breakup of Yugoslavia into its various republics will soon lead to a number of potential conflicts. Already the newly independent Republic of Croatia has announced its intent to form a combat Air Force to defend itself from air attacks by neighboring countries. Yugoslavian Air Force jets have continuously attacked cities and bridges inside Croatian territory with little risk except for light AAA and the occasional shoulder fired missile. The foundation of the Croatian Air Force is said to be several hundred former MiG pilots of the Yugoslavian Air force who have gone AWOL and returned to their homeland. Croatia is reportedly seeking combat aircraft, preferably MiGs to shorten training time, from several different countries. At the present it has zero aircraft and it will also require a safe haven in which to train its pilots. Germany or possibly Sweden has been mentioned in the news. One could also suppose that room for mercenary aircraft and pilots might be made. MG-17s' KG-21s and MiG-23s are available in the world arms market so there is a fair potential of this happening within a year or two. MiG on MiG fights may soon occur in Central Europe. Source: CNN and various free press articles. Flankers Over China China has received the first 8 of 22 Flankers that it ordered from the former Soviet Union. The following 14 will be delivered in early 1992. A single air defense unit will be formed around theseaircraft and it will be based on Hainan island off the coast of Vietnam. Apparently there are still strong feelings of mistrust between mainland China and the Vietnamese. This is a considerable relief to the Taiwanese who will not have to contemplate facing the Flankers for the moment, although it would be a simple matter for China to transfer them to the Formosan Strait in the vent of a conflict. The Soviets also offered MiG-29s and Su-25s to the Chinese but the status of these offers is unknown. The Taiwanese, for their part, are still seeking new combat aircraft to supplant their aging F-5s and F-4s, (gosh, do they still use Starf ghters, Mark?). A deal to acquire up to 95 Kfir C2s and C7s from Israel may yet occur despite lack of approval from the U.S. and considerable political heat from mainland China. The indigenous Taiwanese fighter, the AIDC Ching-Kuo, under development for several years, has suffered another setback with the recent crash of the second prototype which killed the senior program test pilot. The Ching-Kuo is a single-seat fighter resembling a cross between the F-16 and F-5. Source: World Air Power Journal, Volume 8. Warbird Theft in Israel Flyable World War Two fighters are extremely rare these days and fetch high prices among collectors. Apparently the high value of such aircraft proved too tempting to an Israeli Air Force reserve pilot, 51 year old Major Israel Yitzhaki, who was recently convicted of stealing a P-51 from the Israeli Air Force museum and selling it to an unknown collector in Sweden for $331,000 plus. The officer removed the aircraft from the museum, supposedly to have it cleaned and repainted. Instead, he flew it to Sweden and quietly sold it. The long arm of Israeli law caught up with him but not the Mustang which remained in Sweden under a new civil register. A typical Mustang in good condition in the USA will fetch $550,000 plus on the auction table. Source: Air Classics Magazine Volume 28, no. 6. AV-8B-Plus Harriers to serve in Italy The Italian Naval Air Arm, the "Aviazione per la Marina Militare", has become the newest operator of the AV-8B Harrier II. They have forty pilots in training in the U.S. and have two TAV-8Bs in Italy. A sixteen plane squadron of AV-8B+ jets will be formed for use on the carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi". The Harrier-Plus has not yet entered production but will have an APG-65 radar in the nose with full air to air functions. The load lifting ability will be uprated by 4,000 lbs to 13,200 due to the use of the more powerful Pegasus 11-61 engine having 2,000 pounds more thrust than that on the current AV-8Bs. A side note: in England all Harrier Gr.MkSs were grounded for a short time following a series of electrical system failures which plauged several jets, causing one to be lost. Source: World Air Power Journal, Volume 8. F-22 Lightning II Prototype Destroyed The only flying prototype of the F-22 crashed on landing during a test flight early in 1992 and was destroyed. No details on hand. Delay to program unknown. Pilot error suggested. Source: CNN Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 20 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com