Narrative History:

By early 1945, Yugoslav Partisan forces under Marshal Tito had liberated a large portion of Yugoslav territory from the occupying forces. The NOVJ partisan army included air units trained and equipped by Britain (with Spitfires and Hurricanes) and the Soviet Union (with Yak and Il-2 aircraft) and a number of ad-hoc units equipped with captured aircraft.

On 5 January 1945 the various air units of the NOVJ were formally incorporated into a new Yugoslav Air Force (Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo - JRV). At the same time, a Yugoslav fighter group which had been under Soviet instruction at Zemun airfield became operational. From 17 August 1944, when the first Yugoslav Spitfire Squadron became operational, until the end of the war in Europe, Yugoslav aircraft undertook 3,500 combat sorties and accumulated 5,500 hours operational flying. Thus, when peacetime came, the JRV already possessed a strong and experienced nucleus of personnel.

On 12 September 1945 the Military Aviation Academy in Belgrade was established to train future pilots. The development of the JRV was further helped in late 1945 with the creation of the Aeronautical Union of Yugoslavia (Vazduhoplovnni Savez Jugoslavije - VSJ). This comprised six aeronautical unions - one for each constituent republic - with the joint aim of promoting sport flying and aeronautical techniques amongst the nation's young people. In June 1947 the first VSJ flying school at Borongaj (near Zagreb) started training pupils. Many future air force personnel were former members of the VSJ.

The organisation of the post-war JRV was based on the Russian pattern of Divisions, Regiments and Squadrons. Virtually all of the initial equipment was supplied by the Soviet Union - the aircraft captured during the war had quickly been retired. By the end of 1947 the JRV had reached a strength of some 40 squadrons of aircraft, and had become the most powerful air arm in the Balkans. In June 1948 Yugoslavia broke off relations with the Stalinist Soviet Union. The country was immediately subjected to extreme political pressure from the Soviet Union and it's Balkan neighbours, and the JRV's previous sources of aircraft, spares and fuel were cut-off. The possibility of an invasion was taken serously. The serviceability of JRV aircraft fell rapidly, with some aircraft being cannibalised to provide spares for the remainder. Renewed efforts to expand the small domestic aircraft industry met with some success - the Aero 2 and Type 213 Vihor trainers were followed into service by the S-49A single-seat fighter.

However, the first-line strength of the JRV was still declining, so in 1951 the Yugoslav Chief of Staff, Colonel General Popvic visited the United Kingdom to discuss the situation. It was agreed that a substantial shipment of aircraft would be forthcoming. In October 1951 the first de Havilland Mosquito F.B.6 fighter-bombers were supplied. The following year, 150 Republic F-47D Thunderbolt fighter-bombers were delivered from the USA under a Mutual Assistance Pact.

The first jet aircraft to be operated by the JRV, Lockheed T-33A jet trainers, arrived on 10 March 1953 and were soon followed by the first of some 200 Republic F-84G Thunderjet fighter-bombers. At the same time, a number of Yugoslav pilots underwent jet flying training in Germany. These deliveries substantially improved the combat effectiveness of the JRV. Ten Westland Dragonfly helicopters were obtained in 1954, and in 1956, after numerous delays due to political considerations, Canadair Sabre interceptors were delivered.

In 1959 the JRV was merged with the air defence units operated by the Army and became known as the Air Force and Air Defence (Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo i Protivvazdushna Odbrana - RViPVO). Relations with the Soviet Union had drastically improved after Krushchev became Soviet leader, and in September 1962 this lead to the first MiG-21F interceptors being delivered. The various versions of the MiG-21 have remained a key element of the RViPVO fighter force down to the present day. Subsequently, transport aircraft and helicopters were also obtained from the Soviet Union.

The domestic industry achieved some notable successes during the 1960s with the Soko G-2 Galeb and J-1 Jastreb jets and UTVA-66 utility aircraft. The rather disappointing J-22 Orao, developed in cooperation with Romania entered service in 1980, but needed further development before it could become really useful. In contrast, the G-4 Super Galeb proved an excellent advanced jet trainer from the start, entering service in 1978. In 1986 the RViPVO underwent a limited reorganisation which saw its operational units grouped into three regional Corps instead of the five Corps used previously.

During the summer of 1991 the deep rooted grievances that had been threatening the unity of the Federal state for some time finally came to a head when Slovenia initiated moves towards independence. At the end of June 1991 the RViPVO was tasked with transporting soldiers and federal police to Slovenia. The Slovenes resisted this re-imposition of central control, which rapidly escalated into an armed conflict. Two air force helicopters were shot down, while the RViPVO launched air strikes on TV transmitters and Slovenian territorial defence positions. After a political agreement, the federal forces left Slovenia and took all RViPVO equipment with them.

Meanwhile, armed conflict had broken out between Croatian and Serbian forces in Vojna Krajina. The RViPVO flew several low passes in a show of force, but when fired upon launched a number of counter-strikes. In August 1991 the Federal government began a war campaign against the Croats. The RViPVO was active providing transport and close air support missions to ground forces, but was gradually forced to abandon air bases outside of ethnic Serbian held areas. The hostilities were ended by a truce on 3 January 1992. During this time the Croats had shot down 23 aircraft and helicopters of the RViPVO.

Armed conflict spread to Bosnia and Hercegovina in March 1992. The RViPVO attacked various troop positions but lost six aircraft in the process. On 19 May 1992 Federal forces were ordered to withdraw from Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina. All bases west of the Drina river were abandoned by the RViPVO, and some of its equipment passed to local Serb forces.

The new smaller Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now comprising just Serbia and Montenegro) controlled almost 85 per cent of the aircraft it had started the civil war with. This was excessive for the reduced defence needs of the country and so a quantity of older aircraft were retired from service. The remaining aircraft were reorganised into two Corps with specialised roles - an Air Defence Corps controlling all interceptors, SAM and AAA units; and an Aviation Corps controlling all tactical aviation elements and support units. At the same time the old red star national insignia was replaced by a roundel of horizontal blue, white red stripes.

The Dayton Peace Agreement resulted in a limitation being placed on the size of the RViPVO aircraft inventory, and so in 1996 a large quantity of surplus aircraft were sold off, destroyed or given to museums.

In March 1998 the RViPVO began assisting in anti-guerilla operations in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Clashes between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian police forces were rapidly escalating, and several reconnaissance missions were flown to try and keep track of the rebels. A helicopter detachment at Slatina maintained communications and transported troops as required.

The behaviour of Serbian Interior Ministry forces towards Kosovan civilians in this campaign aroused considerable international concern and in June 1998 NATO was authorised to carry out a military exercise called 'Determined Falcon', aimed at putting political pressure on the Yugoslav Government. Under an agreement signed on 25 October 1998 the Yugoslav Army withdrew from Kosovo some of its forces. The agreement did not cover Interior Ministry forces, who stepped up their campaign of terror against the local population.

Early in 1999 the International Community's threat to use military force to stop the 'ethnic cleansing' of Kosovo looked increasingly likely to be carried out. On 15 February 1999 the RViPVO was ordered to prepare for war - aircraft were dispersed and missile units moved to their firing positions. On 24 March 1999 NATO forces attacked the air defence system and air bases of the RviPVO, under Operation Allied Force.

In the first few days of the war MiG-29s attempted to intercept Nato aircraft, but they were all shot down and further interception missions were only carried out occasionally. Meanwhile, attack and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions at rooftop height in support of Serbian ground forces. None of these missions were intercepted by NATO aircraft. However, persistent NATO attacks on hardened aircraft shelters destroyed many aircraft and virtually all runways were put out of action. The SAM network launched 96 missiles but only managed to bring down two NATO aircraft. Sloppy mission planning by NATO combined with intelligent use of radar data resulted in the first-shoot down of an F-117A stealth aircraft on 26 March 1999.

When the war ended on 12 June 1999, the RViPVO had lost 50 combat aircraft destroyed, all its hangars and three quarters of all the maintenance workshops. Many more damaged aircraft had to be scrapped due to the lack of spare parts or facilities to repair them. In the first months after the war the RViPVO restored a number of airfields to usable condition. Other air bases were more heavily damaged and runways at Nis and Batajnica were still undergoing repairs in 2003.

In December 2001 a plan was agreed for the modernisation of the Yugoslav armed force - a smaller and better equipped force was envisioned but lack of funds meant that progress would be slow. As part of the modernisation, on 27 February 2002 the various Army, Air Force and Navy commands were combined into an armed forces general command. A realistic modernisation plan for the RViPVO was published in December 2002, which forsees gradual re-equipment with a single multi-role combat aircraft obtained from the west and the adoption of NATO operating procedures at all levels.