THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110042
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF, WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
The Norfolk-based cruiser Normandy fired 13 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Bosnian Serb anti-aircraft missile sites Sunday in northwestern Bosnia, NATO and U.S. military officials said.
The effect of the missile attack by the Normandy, located in the Adriatic Sea - followed by bombing strikes from the Norfolk-based carrier Roosevelt - wasn't immediately known, said NATO spokesman Maj. Panagiotis Theodorakidis.
The missiles were launched from 2:43 to 2:48 (EDT) Sunday. They hit targets around Banja Luka between 3:25 and 3:29 p.m., according to a Navy spokesman in Washington.
By expanding the bombing campaign to northwest Bosnia, the base of heavily defended and therefore more dangerous Serbian-held air defense networks, NATO military commanders said they were trying to break the will of the recalcitrant Bosnian Serb military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic.
``What we've done in the southeast has not captured Mladic's attention, so we picked a different area where he has a very extensive system of air defenses,'' said a senior NATO military commander. ``It's clearly up to Mladic as to what's next. But we haven't seen any positive movement on his part.''
Sunday's raid occurred after a meeting between Mladic and Lt. Gen. Bernard Janvier, the commander of U.N. forces in the Balkans.
Until now, much of NATO's firepower has been aimed at about 35 targets in southeast Bosnia. The Normandy's missiles targeted about 10 radio relay stations, antennas and other communication sites at Lisina near Banja Luka.
After the Tomahawk attacks, Bosnian Serbs said the missiles killed and wounded many civilians and struck water supplies and power plants. NATO officials denied assertions that bombs were aimed at other than military targets. They said that they had no information on possible casualties but that deaths and injuries are always a risk in these attacks.
Allied Forces Southern Europe released a statement saying the use of the Tomahawks does not represent a change in the mission or in the types of targets being hit by NATO. The statement said the use of the missiles was requested by the NATO commander, in consultation with the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
That request was made because of the proven accuracy of the missiles and their ``all-weather capability.''
Minutes after the missiles were launched, a wave of FA-15 jet fighters took off from the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, carrying 2,000-pound ``smart bombs,'' according to NATO officials in Naples, Italy.
U.S. Air Force F-15E and Navy FA-18 fighter bombers hit the same targets with about a dozen precision-guided bombs, and F-16's attacked with Maverick missiles.
Commanders on Sunday night were awaiting reports from reconnaissance flights to determine whether the bombs hit their mark.
It was the first use of cruise missiles in NATO's 12-day-old campaign to force the Serb rebels to pull their artillery and other heavy weapons away from Sarajevo, and to ease their pressure on other U.N. ``safe areas'' such as Tuzla.
The Navy last fired cruise missiles, which cost $1.3 million each and carry a 700-pound warhead, against Iraq's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in June 1993. The missiles navigate by following pre-set terrain features or by satellites that guide the missile to its target.
Military commanders wanted to launch the cruise missiles on Saturday, but had to wait 24 hours until all NATO political representatives were notified that they would be used.
``What we're trying to do is stand off out of SAM range and take down their integrated air-defense system without exposing our pilots to unnecessary risks,'' said a senior NATO official.
On June 2, Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady was shot down by a Serb missile near Banja Luka, while he was on a NATO mission to enforce the ban on flights over Bosnia. He was rescued six days later.
``If we're proving anything to the Serbs, it's that we can have accurate strikes at all times and all weather and with no pilots,'' said Capt. Jim Mitchell, the chief spokesman for NATO.
He said there could be more attacks if NATO pilots still consider Serb anti-aircraft systems to be a threat, Mitchell said.
``If we need to use the Tomahawks again we will,'' he said in Naples.
In addition, a senior Air Force official said Sunday night that the Pentagon was considering sending F-117's Stealth bombers to Bosnia.
Also Sunday, Bosnian Serbs shelled the U.N.-controlled Tuzla airport and NATO retaliated swiftly with airstrikes, destroying rebel positions near the northeastern city.
In an attempt to end the standoff with the Serbs, President Jacques Chirac of France said Sunday he demanded NATO suspend its attacks for several hours to let the Serbs agree to withdraw their guns. He didn't say when the suspension would take effect.
Despite morning cloud cover, NATO warplanes also carried out airstrikes Sunday in other parts of Bosnia, said Franco Veltri, a NATO spokesman in Naples, Italy.
A NATO plane, believed to be an unmanned surveillance plane, came under sustained fire from Bosnian Serb anti-aircraft guns near Poljine, northeast of Sarajevo, but wasn't hit, said Maj. Guy Vinet, a U.N. spokesman.
Since Aug. 30, NATO has carried out heavy attacks against a broad array of Serb targets across Bosnia, including ammunition depots and command and communication centers.
Following a telephone conversation with Chirac, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, under apparent Western pressure, gave guarantees that his troops would not launch an offensive in the Sarajevo region if the Serbs withdrew their heavy weapons.
Igor Ivanov, Russia's first deputy foreign minister, was quoted by Moscow's ITAR-Tass news agency as saying that Mladic had no plans to pull back his weapons.
Ivanov, who met with the Bosnian Serb commander on Saturday in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, said Mladic told him the weapons were needed to defend Bosnian Serb civilians. MEMO: This story was compiled from The Associated Press and The New York
Times. Staff writer Dale Eisman also contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
13 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles were launched Sunday from the
cruiser Normandy, based in Norfolk. They were fired at Bosnian Serb
radar and surface-to-air missile sites near Banja Luca, in northwest
Bosnia.
Does this mean the fight has escalated?
The use of shipborne missiles does not represent any change in the
mission or in the types of targets being hit by NATO, said the
Allied Forces Southern Europe. Their use minimizes the danger to
NATO pilots who otherwise would have to hit these sites from the
air.
What were the targets?
Sites were targeted that launch SA-6 missiles, the type believed to
have been used to bring down Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady earlier
this year. These radar guided missiles have been a big concern of
NATO pilots and commanders in recent operations.
What about the Normandy?
The Ticonderoga Class AEGIS cruiser is part of the carrier America
battle group and arrived on station off Bosnia on Saturday. It has
122 missile tubes for Tomahawks and other missiles. The ship served
in the Persian Gulf War, firing 26 Tomahawks on Iraqi positions.
What about the missiles?
Tomahawks cost $1.3 million each, making the cost of Sunday's
launchings almost $17 million.
Which U.S. ships are in the Adriatic?
Carriers America and Theodore Roosevelt (which is scheduled to
return home later this month).
Cruisers Mississippi, Normandy, Monterey; one submarine ;
other logistical ships.
by CNB