When F-16 Falcons Ate Hawks for Breakfast

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00:00It's the early morning of February 28, 1994, and six volunteer pilots are on a bombing

00:07mission in violation of a NATO no-fly zone.

00:11The leader of the flight is pilot Ranko Vukmirovic from the Bosnian Serb Air Force.

00:17He and his men are in Jastrov J-21 jets, which are no match for the NATO F-16s in speed,

00:25maneuverability or weapons.

00:27The Astrov pilots are trying to keep below radar height, but now, with the target getting

00:32close, they are forced to ascend to 2,000 meters to start the attack run on a weapons factory.

00:38In doing so, the aging Serbian jets light up the watching NATO radars.

00:4450 miles away, two patrolling F-16s are informed of the J-21's presence.

00:51Black flight, you have six bogeys, BRAA-320 for 52 at 7,000.

00:55Flanking.

00:56Copy that.

00:57The F-16s bank towards the target.

01:00In an attempt to shorten the war, NATO has set up a no-fly zone and the F-16s have been sent

01:05on a route to intercept.

01:07Vukmirovic gets a visual on his target and arms his bombs.

01:13The flight positions themselves in pairs, one after the other, when suddenly a transmission

01:18comes through the radio.

01:20A pit grows in Vukmirovic's stomach.

01:25He can clearly see the trails of the two American air force jets dead ahead of them.

01:30He takes a deep breath.

01:33In previous missions, the American jets have only watched and warned the enemy, but not

01:38engaged.

01:39Vukmirovic knows if the F-16s had wanted to shoot him, they could have done so from miles

01:44away.

01:45But his eyes go wide as he sees the two F-16s approach at breakneck speed and roar through

01:52and past the Bosnian-Serb flight.

01:54Vukmirovic, Ferrari.

01:55Vukmirovic.

01:56Vukmirovic.

01:57Vukmirovic.

01:58Vukmirovic.

01:59Vukmirovic.

02:00Vukmirovic.

02:01Vukmirovic.

02:02Despite the show of force, the Serbian pilots are not distracted and keep their eyes on

02:06their objective.

02:08The Jastrebs are old tech and still use optical sights.

02:12And as the target drifts into the crosshairs, the aging planes release and drop their rudimentary

02:19but effective 550-pound bombs on target, striking them from different directions.

02:26They dropped bombs.

02:28Understood.

02:29You're clear to engage.

02:30Weapons free.

02:31Roger.

02:32Moving to engage.

02:33This is going to be shooting fish in a barrel.

02:37At the very rear of the formation, pilot Zlatan Sirnolic watches the last of the bombs

02:42strike.

02:43The six J-21s turn back towards their airbase, but their speed is no match for the F-16s,

02:53who sweep in behind them, lining up their sights on the very rear of the formation.

02:58The pilot switches to air-to-air mode and selects an AIM-120 missile on his right display computer.

03:05On his head-up display, a box designates the target.

03:08The F-16 pilot gets a lock and presses the weapon's release button.

03:13The missile flies off from the wingtip.

03:16The AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missile fires and locks onto the running J-21's radar signature,

03:24rapidly approaching its target.

03:26Sirnolic is scanning the skies for the Americans when he sees an enormous flash.

03:33He wonders if he's been hit, but then he sees the explosion on his wingman's left wing,

03:40immediately shredding half of it off.

03:45The five remaining J-21s turn over and dive for the ground.

03:56One of the F-16s gives chase, following them all the way down into the valleys between the

04:00Bosnian hills.

04:02Each pair of J-21s goes its own way, leaving Sirnolic completely on his own.

04:09He frantically looks over his shoulder as he flies through the terrain, catching the terrifying

04:13sight of an American fighter hot on his heels.

04:24The F-16 fires an AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile.

04:31It locks onto Sirnolic's hot engines and chases him down across the sky.

04:38Sirnolic, flying low, skims over some electrical transmission wires.

04:45The missile explodes near the wires and his tail, cutting part of his vertical stabilizer.

04:51But he's still flying.

04:55He reports the situation, but finds his radio completely dead.

05:00Alone and vulnerable, Sirnolic looks over his shoulder, expecting a second impact at any

05:07moment.

05:09But instead, he sees the F-16 turning away.

05:18Back with Mikerević, he and his wingman push their aircraft to their limits, racing through

05:23the valleys.

05:24But the F-16 relentlessly closes the distance.

05:33He releases another AMRAM missile, which rockets towards his target.

05:37Mikerević is still looking across the sky to catch a glimpse of an enemy fighter.

05:41When the missile flies in and disintegrates his wingman, the Yastarev explodes into flame

05:48and scrap.

05:52He breaks into evasive maneuvers once again as the S-16 fires another missile.

05:58It slams straight into his engines.

06:00The explosion shreds the fuselage and flames pour out of the hulls.

06:04He wrestles a dying aircraft, pulling hard on the stick and willing it to ascend as it burns

06:11all around him.

06:15As flames engulf the cockpit, Mikerević pulls the canopy emergency handle and ejects.

06:24The F-16 roars past as Mikerević parachutes safely down.

06:31The F-16s continue towards the next pair of targets.

06:34They swap positions with the covering F-16 diving into action, armed with a fresh set

06:39of missiles.

06:41But their fuel is running low, and in a few minutes they'll be forced to turn back.

06:45Approaching bingo fuel, two bandits trying to escape, and I may be able to get one shot.

06:50Roger that.

06:52South of the F-16 pair, Vukmierević and his wingman, Goran Zaric, have been forced to hear

06:58their friends taken down one by one in rapid succession.

07:02Any hope they have is crushed by the sight of an F-16 appearing over the hills behind

07:07them.

07:08He's enough.

07:09The pair break formation as the American jet sweeps in.

07:15With just enough fuel left to make it back, the F-16 gets a lot.

07:22Vukmierević sees the missile launch off the rail and turn toward him.

07:28He turns hard trying to outmaneuver it, but it's no use.

07:33It rapidly approaches from his right and explodes just off his wing.

07:39He's stunned, but the fragmentation does no significant damage.

07:43He looks back, expecting more, but instead the F-16 pulls off the chase, out of fuel.

07:55But NATO command has dispatched two more F-16s.

08:02Vukmierević looks back up.

08:07The two J-21 scramble for speed, diving down as far as they dare into the valleys.

08:12They skim the treetops, racing between the hills, with the F-16s all the while shadowing

08:18them and keeping up.

08:20They look over their shoulders to see the F-16s closing the gap.

08:23There's nothing they can do to come out on top.

08:26In desperation, Vukmierević tries a last-ditch idea.

08:32He turns straight towards a clip at maximum speed, Zaric keeping close formation behind

08:38him.

08:39His heart races as the two jets head straight towards the earth.

08:51The two pilots pull their controls as hard as they can.

08:55Zaric is crushed down by the G-forces as the ground rapidly approaches his windshield.

09:00Vukmierević's jet clips the ground and bursts into flames.

09:16Zaric looks back.

09:17There's no parachute.

09:23The F-16s burst through the smoke, still in pursuit.

09:29He pulls back into a dive, rushing to use the terrain as cover.

09:34But they're far too close.

09:36Box two.

09:40The missile closes the gap and explodes into Zaric's tail.

09:44His fighter bursts into flames and he loses all control.

09:51He releases the canopy and ejects, but he's far too low.

09:55The parachute has no time to open and he falls into the fireball of his own crashed jet.

10:03Splash one, there's another bandit on the radar, engaging.

10:11The F-16s leave the scene and catch up to another J-21 flying low over the countryside.

10:17Siernic, limping his damaged jet home to safety.

10:21He's keeping an eye on his gauges when an F-16 roar has passed.

10:26He's filled with dread and immediately pulls on the stick.

10:30His only plan is to gain enough altitude to eject before the American can finish him off.

10:35The F-16 gets behind him and he grabs the canopy emergency handle.

10:41But then, the F-16 pulls up alongside, matching his speed.

10:48He locks eyes with the enemy pilot.

10:52The American salutes him and flies away.

10:58Out of the six Yastreb pilots that volunteered for that dangerous mission, three never returned home.

11:04Siernic would later say,

11:06I don't have any bad feelings towards the American pilots.

11:10This event is usually referred to as the Banyan-Luka incident and represents the first NATO combat engagement in its history.

11:22Robert Wilbur Wright was credited with three victories.

11:25The highest score by a USAF pilot in a single mission since the Korean War.

11:30While pilot Steven Yogi Allen was credited with one victory.

11:34God help them if we use our F-117s.

11:37Haha, niko nam nije rekao da je nevidljiv.

11:40Pogledaj ovaj film i vidi kako je oboren F-117.

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