okopanja Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 24.03.1999 - Mig-29 combat flight - Ljubiša Kulačin Pilot: Lt. Col. Ljubiša Kulačin Airplane type: L-18 (MIG-29 9.12b) Airplane ID: 18105 Time: March 24th 1999, 20:37 (20:40 according to some sources) Take off: Airbase Batajnica Landing: Surčin airport, near Belgrade Flight length: 20 minutes Aircrew Interview: Interview with Mike "Dozer" Shower on the F-15C Eagle 1st video segment at 24:21 24:21 Remark: The encounter with Ljubiša Kulačin did occur in follow up of the previous shot down of Nebojša Nikolić's Mig-29 during the same flight. You can find that part of an interview in the dedicated section. 24:21 Mike Shower: So... But I watched that one and it came off that we're back to back, as my CAP, you know, and we came back around, watched the next guy take off. 24:29 Mike Shower: I am like: "Oh boy, here we go again". Now the strike package is around us. 24:32 Mike Shower: This looked exactly like first and I did everything the same, except that this guy went into that kind of, that sideways maneuver, that beam very early. 24:40 Mike Shower: And, I now was up at high altitude, because the strike package is below me, we are not (really) supposed to dive down, as someone "Uuuuh, ok". 24:47 Mike Shower: So I kind of stayed, and looked it down low, and can't fulfill all the ID requirements at the time. 24:51 Mike Shower: And this was something I found out after the sortie was over. 24:54 Mike Shower: I was screaming on the radio to folks, you know about ID, like a friendly, some of the electronic stuff. 24:59 Mike Shower: And F-16s and F-15s were looking at this guy as well as my other two Eagles were... 25:04 Mike Shower: And nobody could get an electronic ID, there were F-16s could not, lack of friendly, you know looking for the IFF codes on them. 25:04 Remark: It appears the F-16 did not have a working IFF interrogator. 25:11 Mike Shower: We could! And right, I was listening to the F-16s, because I knew two of the guys on the radio, and they were say... they were asking for that call. 25:19 Mike Shower: And I made that call like 5 times on my radio. 25:21 Mike Shower: You listen to my tape, the radio is like making squelching sound. It was jamming itself. 25:21 Remark: It appears he referes to the listening of the tape recordings after the mission. 25:25 Mike Shower: And so, about 75% of my COMM that I put out that night nobody heard. 25:30 Mike Shower: Which I had no idea, right. They've just being quiet I guess or everything is all calm and good. 25:34 Mike Shower: And so, all of the eagles and vipers, I end up right over the top of the guy like at 35,000 feet he's at 10, with my 2-ship. 25:34 Remark: 35,000 feet = approx. 10,668 meters, 10 feet = approx. 3 meters. Ljubiša Kulačin is really hugging the ground. 25:40 Mike Shower: And I am like: 25:43 Mike Shower: And everybody else had to turn around and run away, because nobody could ID him, to get ID there, and you can not ID him at night in terms somebody, so... 25:48 Remark: Either the intakes were not in line of sigth for F-15Cs, or the Mig-29 was near other blue aircraft. There are 4 F-15Cs and 4 F-16s in the strike package, as well as 10 F-117s. 25:48 Mike Shower: This one little Mig-29 is like everybody's running away from, all 8 of us, right, trying to get a separation. 25:54 Mike Shower: One of the F-16s got a SPIKE, may or may not have been for the Mig-29, turned around and ran up for a while. 25:59 Mike Shower: Anyway, so... I kind of get over the top of them, I kind of do a spin. AWACS tells me there's another Mig-29 to the south, like... 26:05 Mike Shower: "Son of a gun!". You know that: "Where they are coming from?" 26:05 Remark: The Mig-29 in question is not Ljubiša Kulačin, but Predrag Milutinović, taking off from Ponikve airbase. 26:07 Mike Shower: So I turn around and this whole package with that Mig-29 keep going north and we drive right over the northern edge of Belgrade. 26:07 Remark: Batajnica airbase where Ljubiša Kulačin took off is just at the north edge of Belgrade. 26:07 Remark: This confirm that F-16s were actually over the city of Belgrade which tallies Nikolić's statement about being shot at on take off as well as my personal observertion. 26:13 Mike Shower: Nothing... on the radar, at all. We can not see a thing. 26:16 Mike Shower: I kind of find out later, AWACS is pretty infamous for calling ground traffic, because they have filters. 26:21 Mike Shower: And if they have the filters set to low... and you know BMW doing 100 on the highway, could pop up as an aircraft and they call it out, you know... 26:21 Mike Young: Yeah, right... 26:27 Mike Shower: I am not... It happens. You know, they are getting excited in the moment when things happen and so... 26:31 Mike Shower: The were calling a Dallas traffic and they were, they said the 29. 26:35 Mike Shower: And I am like: "Ahhh!". I turned around, nothing there. 26:38 Mike Shower: We are at Belgrade, getting in the SAM range like that. That's it! We area heading north. 26:41 Mike Shower: The F-16s and F-15s had turned around at that time, they said: "Hey Dozer!", they did not realy use that, my callsign... They said my actual callsign at a time. 26:48 Mike Shower: They said: "There's a hostile, you know blah, blah, blah, BULLSEYE...". I am like turn around like... 26:52 Mike Shower: Ouh, he's right of the nose, 20 miles away. 26:53 Mike Shower: As soon as I turn around, one sweep of the radar there he is. I lock him. 26:57 Mike Shower: Immediately get all the ID stuff, withing seconds that I need to declare, that he is a bad guy, except that now I don't know where everyone else is. 27:05 Mike Shower: So, I'm still a pilot 7000 feet, this dude's at 10 and I drive, I start diving for the deck now. 27:05 Remark: 7000 feet = approx. 2133 meters, Ljubiša Kulačin is still at 10 feet = approx. 3 meters. 27:11 Mike Shower: And... And I know their stuff, but at some point I got to get down here, you know, get into appropriate place shoot him... 27:15 Mike Shower: And while this is happening, I am screaming on the radio. Asking everybody for their posit where they're at. 27:20 Mike Shower: Nobody hears the thing, because my radio is not working and I have no idea. 27:21 Mike Shower: "I am hostile", I am saying "Here he is", and I am asking them, and nothing! 27:26 Mike Shower: And this is happening fast, since we are beak to beak, started like 18 miles, it doesn't take long. 27:26 Remark: 18 nautical miles = approx. 33.34 kilometers. 27:31 Mike Shower: I get to 5 miles and I'm at like 20000 feet dive in, and I am like: "Screw it! I can't wait anymore". 27:31 Remark: 20000 feet = approx. 6096 meters (likely atitude difference of dive). 5 nautical miles = approx. 9.26 kilometers. 27:36 Mike Shower: I don't know here he is, I figure out I am 5 miles, I am close enough, there is probably on other airplane between us, and I shoot another AIM-120. 27:36 Remark: Interesting, Kulačin dodged the AIM-120 at even closer range than Nikolić. This missile was pitbul on launch. 27:43 Mike Shower: Made a mistake: I only shot one. 27:44 Mike Shower: Second mistake: I did not offset, I just drove right at him. If I've give myself some room, I could have pull in behind him and continued to shoot, if he did not blow... 27:52 Mike Shower: So I stake the one (AIM-120?) because I'm screaming on the radio and really I'm behind, I am not paying attention. 27:56 Mike Shower: And that dude! I am watching that dude. That guy, I am watching the missile and I see a little kind of pop, like a little explosion. 28:06 Mike Shower: I go "Ughhh!", no fireball though. 28:08 Mike Shower: I mean, I don't know if did it go by the aircraft and detonate? Did it hit the ground? I have no idea, since the time dilation. 28:13 Mike Shower: So I see that, and I look: "No fireball!", and come back in to shoot again, since he's almost underneath me now. 28:18 Mike Shower: And the radar's flashing, like he is about to gimble of the bottom, because I didn't do that little intercept and pull my... (myself?) 28:22 Mike Shower: "Son of a...", so I did a full split-S at 9 rev, and ended up right on top of the guy, somewhere that brought me very close, couple thousand feet away. 28:30 Mike Shower: And of course he drops off the radar, right in the middle of it, like... 28:33 Mike Shower: "Son of a gun!", so now I gotta probably a live MIG, below me, right there... 28:38 Mike Shower: Nobody, have no idea and this is all happening with me now. I have no time to talk to anybody, tell them what's going on, this is happening... 28:43 Mike Shower: I threw this auto-guns-radar mode, I am trying to find the guy. I give it a little bit, like "Ssssss!", no NVGs and I can't see anything, but this is not a good place to be. 28:43 Remark: NVG - Night Vision Goggles 28:51 Mike Shower: So I just basically start doing a 360 spin to come back around, try to catch him. 28:55 Mike Shower: Well in the meantime I look up on the spin, I see this guy up in the contrails, and that's my wingman, who'd stayed up there the whole time and... 29:01 Mike Shower: He was locked to him, found this after the sorties was over. 29:03 Mike Shower: He's locked to him, everything's good, but he gets no idea, the only guy that gets an ID, and he doesn't hear me say "Hostile!". He doesn't hear me saying "FOX 3". 29:11 Mike Shower: He does not hear any of the stuff that I'm doing. Nobody does. 29:13 Mike Shower: And so I looked down after I'm chasing this guy doing the spin and get back round the corner and I see him (wingman) still headed in the direction of the MIG. 29:20 Mike Shower: 'cause he's locked to him whole time, he has no idea... 29:24 Mike Shower: And I say: "Hey team! Confirm heading!", he's like "South", I am like "Come north!", he's like "OK", does not tell me he's locked the guy. 29:30 Mike Shower: He is a brand new wingman! Man who had like 150 hours in the jet, or other wingman behind squadron commander, who was my number 3, so our number 4, who had like 90 hours in the jet. 29:40 Mike Shower: Brand-new guys, heading on first night in combat, at night! And so man just does what his weapon officer tells him "Ok!". 29:46 Mike Shower: So he breaks lock, doesn't say a word, he just spins and follows down behind me. 29:50 Mike Shower: And so I do the spin, he is... he gets behind me. The whole thing and we figured out all this all after is over, right. 29:55 Mike Shower: So, I've basically... As soon as I swing the corner, I get a lock, you know, I don't know 7-8 miles away. 30:01 Mike Shower: It's the same, its the MIG, I know it is. Same guy, same altitude, same heading, everything. 30:05 Mike Shower: Although he started to slow down, descend a little bit. 30:07 Mike Shower: So I ask: "Hey!", say like, "OK, help me out here Boys!", because its the... It's the NATO AWACS. And I am: "Declare BULLSEYE, blah, blah". 30:14 Mike Shower: And they go: "Ahh, Ahh, Friendly!". I am like: "What?!". He he... 30:19 Mike Shower: So I: "Did I just shoot a friendly?! Holly Crap!". So your stomach kind of gets a sinking feeling. 30:23 Mike Shower: And I figure out. So what happened? We know what happens... 30:26 Mike Shower: When, when plots merge on AWACS scope, they'll often go get the same ID and they'll transfer and go out of it, because they do not know who is who now. And depending on how the things are picked up. 30:35 Mike Shower: So when they merge since the plots separate, they just see I am the friendly, and my wingman is friendly and merge with that MIG, they would they did not know what it was. 30:43 Mike Shower: Actually, they would have all of them together, so they would just have a friendly track marching of, right. 30:46 Mike Shower: So Mike, "Son of a gun!". So I break lock and go: maybe there is an F-16 or somebody around? That's what I was trying to get that earlier COMM to ask where people where at. 30:54 Mike Shower: And, so I'm... After I break lock, I do full radar scope, I'm climbing back up to get back into and ability to shoot him again, get close enough. 31:02 Mike Shower: And so, nobody is home, nothing on the scope at all, except for one radar blip, no friendly, no nothing. 31:08 Mike Shower: So I lock him up again. He is a bit lower, a little bit slower, head back towards Batajnica. 31:12 Mike Shower: And I go: "Declare BULLSEYE! Blah, blah, blah, blah...". AWACS goes: "Friendly!". I go: "Holy Crap!". I am like... I know it's a bad guy, but now I kind on a bow, there's nothing I can do. 31:22 Mike Shower: I can't shoot at something that just said "Friendly", 'cause may, what if it is, right? 31:25 Mike Shower: Even though my hearts I know its not, I can't break that rule. 31:29 Mike Shower: And we had no other means at the time to electronically identify them ourselves. 31:34 Mike Shower: So I am kind of stuck now and I follow for a little while. 31:37 Mike Shower: We get close to the you know the edge back, over the edge of Belgrade, the surface-to-air missiles, you know the rings and stuff, like: "Screw this this, this is stupid, we are out of here." 31:37 Remark: Around Belgrade only 2 SA-3 SAMs were at firing positions, which could have gone active. All rest were on the move from the peace time positions. 31:43 Mike Shower: So I break the lock, turn back, go back to the CAP and hang out for, you know, how much longer it was? Another 10-15 minutes till the strike package is over and their base kind of pulling their way out heading back north and leaving. 31:57 Mike Shower: So it was a pretty chaotic night. 32:00 Mike Shower: I was the only guy at north, that got to do shooting, and I ended up shooting 4 missiles of the jet by myself, and I was in the middle of whole thing and there's F-16s, F-15s. 32:08 Mike Shower: It's like: I am the guy right smack in the middle. 32:11 Mike Shower: So that tough, that luck in that timing thing, right. I mean, anybody else could have been, would or should've, depending... 32:16 Mike Shower: I was the guy in the middle to fight the whole time time shooting back and forth, so... 32:19 Mike Shower: I just had that knack for being in the right place at the right time on that one, and... 32:23 Mike Shower: I could have done some things a lot better, definitely missed a chance to do it right and shoot down that second aircraft. 32:28 Mike Shower: I'm glad, it sounds weird but I'm glad the guy that I did shoot ejected, yeah, because I have no desire to kill anybody. 32:34 Mike Shower: It's just one of those things it's just another... 32:36 Mike Shower: They're putting two men, you know, two pilots making them face each other in combat and you know you are alive, so you do your job. 32:44 Remark: Mike Shower continues with description of events to the south... Reconstructed flight The provided map is based on interview and publicly known information. No flight paths are provided this time, since no azimuths are provided. Ljubiša Kulačin Flight statements Ljubiša Kulačin gave only one brief statement to the Army newspaper "Vojska" in 1999. Unfortunately I was not able to obtain that article. Based on some of the 2nd and 3rd level statements found on the internet, he appears to have said that he took off around 20:30, faced the enemy, and that he felt he could have done more. Since Nikolić took off at 20:30 and based on an interview with Mike Shower, Kulačin likely took off around 20:37 (reported by soldier at Batajnica in source 3) or later. It appears that Ljubiša Kulačin is a very private person, since he has avoided the media and gave no further interviews. Also the dismissal and follow-up court case of Major Slobodan Perić, who was the first one to give an interview to the public may have influenced his decision to stay silent, and avoid the media even when the pilots were permitted to talk about the incidents. If any of the readers have access to the article from "Vojska" or have any other non-classified information, please contact me. Thank you. Analysis of Ljubiša Kulačin Flight and the Aftermath We know that he took off several minutes after Nebojša Nikolić from Batajnica airbase. The very beginning of the war marked the destruction of 4 active radars belonging to the Primary EWR network. One of the destroyed radars was P-14 Lena, located near Pančevo. Secondary EWR network may have been already online shortly before or after his take off, so he likely had better situational awareness than Nebojša Nikolić. This would explain the decision of the Air Defence Operational Center to scramble Kulačin, although he may have acted on prior orders for Nikolić takeoff. The airbase Batajnica had been already under attack by F-117s, so it is assumed that Kulačin took off, while ground targets they have hit were already burning, with smoke covering a greater area of the airbase. By this time F-117s may have already left the area. Due to the limited load they carry, there was no reason for them to loiter and they likely completed their mission in a single pass. Kulačin was upon take off right in the middle of the strike package, consisting of an F-15C CAP group located some 20-40nm (37-74km) to the north of Belgrade and 4 F-16s. The F-16s were likely above Belgrade and/or possibly South and East of it. Mike Shower indicates that he made an early beaming maneuver, which might be the indication that Kulačin initially headed for the F-16s since one of them got SPIKE-ed. At the same time Mike Shower gets alerted about a second MiG-29 to the South, which is likely Predrag Milutinović, taking off from Ponikve airbase, located 124km south of Batajnica. This may have triggered the complete F-16s group to flee North, as Mike Shower and his wingman headed to the direction of Kulačin and Belgrade. With F-16s in between of the F-15Cs and Kulačin, the F-15Cs did not launch their missiles at maximum range, but waited for the F-16s to clear the airspace. Mike Shower launched his AIM-120 at the close range of just 5nm (9.26km), which missed Kulačin, and found himself in a close merge. Shower's split-S likely brought him to face north and completely lose the sight of MiG-29, while Kulačin was in close proximity below him. In the following minutes it appears that Mike Shower managed to get some 7-8nm (13-15km) away from Kulačin. Due to most of the package escaping to the North, Kulačin was likely ordered to land at Surčin (civilian) airport, near Belgrade. The airbase Batajnica was covered with fire and smoke, so his nearest option was Surčin. Meanwhile, Mike Shower had completed his turn and locked Kulačin again, but could still not get the permission from AWACS to shoot. At the end Mike Shower has disengaged (perceived SA-3 SAM and SHORAD threat in the form of Ericsson's GIRAFFE/BOFORS and Manpads) and headed north. Upon landing, Ljubiša Kulačin taxied and parked his MiG-29 under the tail of JAT's civilian airliner. This is supported by the NATO satellite image taken in the morning of March 25th 1999, published on April 1999, showing the MiG-29 parked under the tail of the airliner. The hiding improvisation clearly shows that landing at Surčin airport was not a planned action. Nobody was prepared to receive the aircraft or help hide it in one of the large nearby hangars. Over the following days, the MiG-29 18105 was being moved around the airport to conceal its location. On March 25th this airplane took off again, this time pilot being Gen. Veličković who wanted to personally verify the conditions of the airplane, due to the large number of equipment failures (Radar, SPO (RWR), Navigational System) which were reported by pilots on the first evening of war. It should be noted that both Kulačin and Veličković were in the group of the first trained MiG-29 pilots in Yugoslavia. As such Veličković has flown these aircrafts at the time when they were properly maintained. His flight plan was Surčin - Novi Sad - Bečej - Batajnica - Surčin. Possible explanation for the silence around Kulačin's flight is that landing of MiG-29 at Surčin airport was not in line with some kind of prior agreement or to avoid damage to civilian airport. Caricature and additional information about Ljubiša Kulačin Major Ljubiša Kulačin, popularly known as "Bata", is one of the older pilots of the first generation on the MiG 29. He took off directly after Major Nebojša Nikolić, in the direction of Bečej, on 24.03.1999 at 20:40, at the moment when the first cruise missiles hit the hangars of the Batajnica airport. The radar of his MiG 29 (ser.no. 18105) was not working, but the radar radiation indicator (SPO-15) was working and alerted him to the attack. At that moment, Kulačin's plane was followed by American RV fighters on their radars. Four F-15Cs and four F-16Cs protecting a group of F-117A stealth bombers from the direction of Hungary. He was engaged by Captain Mike "Dozer" Shower, an F-15 pilot of the 493rd Fighter Squadron who had shot down Nebojsa Nikolić over Titel a few minutes earlier. Shower fired an AIM-120 rocket from a distance of 8 km (if converted from regular miles, nautucal miles 9.26 km), but it missed. Approaching the air defense zone around Belgrade, the American pilot gave up the pursuit of the Yugoslav plane. After 20 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to carry out actions on the targets in the lock, Major Kulačin, due to the Batajnica was under attack, landed without damage at the Belgrade civil airport Surčin around 21:00. Mr Begović is the author of the Caricature. Sources 1. Aircrew Interview: F-15 Eagle vs MiG-29 Fulcrum | With "Dozer", link. 2. Niko nije rekao neću (drugi deo) - Nobody refused - part 2 (see above), author Slađana Zarić, director Boban Simojlović, journalist Vesna Ilić, montage Marija Bogićević, link. 3. Ratni dnevnik 1999, link. Credits Ronin Gaijin, for review and English corrections Edited 2 hours ago by okopanja 3 Condition: green
Ronin_Gaijin Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago Mate, the amount of work you have put in to preserve the history of these men and these flights, is nothing short of amazing! Well done! Авиабаза 1521, Мары-1 - Центр боевого применения | Airbase 1521, Mary-1 - Combat Operations Center
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