djnikOrtjes airbase near Mostar. A fence was blocking the access to the underground tunnels unfortenutely. I presume they are similar in design to the other tunnels although smaller in size.
djnikOk here we go again. This time i will post a lot of pictures of both Airbases and Naval facilities and tunnels.
First of all another photos of Divulje AB near Split.Two Mig-21s can be seen just outside of the tunnels with the fuel trucks on the left side,waiting to to tank the airplanes. It is interesting,and you can check it on Google Earth,that these underground tunnels are right next to the local motorway,which was most probably done to conceal their purpose.
djnikYou can find attached an interview from 15th December 2005 (less than 5 months ago) with General Major Vladan Marjanovic, the commander of Serbian Air Force.
If someone is bothered to translate for the non-Serbian members,feel free to do so.Maybe you ink could do it,there are some interesting facts in there.
djnikPonikve airbase as is today:(
As you can notice,all the HAS got destroyed and the runway got significantly damaged. However, the MOD says that they will keep the airfield with possibility to make it into a regional airfield that can be used for both military and civilian flights. Its location close to popular tourist places makes it suitable for that purpose.
Already a large number of unexploded ordnance has been removed.
Notice the AA-2 missiles in one of the photos in the HAS(that has a red star above its enterance;))
djnikDude please dish out all the historic pic you’ve got 😎
Check out the thread i opened about the early jet age in Yugoslav Air force:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56273
I will post more photos in that thread later.
djnikI love the irony and sarcasm of these people. Maybe you would like to come and compare d**ks with us, like true champions. That way we can stop being all ironic to each other (hehe, yeah right) and figure out which one of us is better.
Peace :diablo:
Keep your pants up,no comparisons of such kind in my thread :p
djnikDJ,
Yug Sabre is in the pipeline – coming soon to a thread near you. Like partially now… Still not completely sure on this one… I’m generally not in agreement with the blue colour seen on some models and illustrations (based on personal photo analysis – should be in the same tonal range as the insignia red when viewed in Black and White)… and then there’s the numbers… the variety on regular service Yugoslav Sabres is mindboggling, and I haven’t seen any clear shots to tell what numbers would have been carried. The IPMS SIG’rs should have a better idea for sure… calling Albert Ross… any particular insight? I’m almost flyin’ by the seat of my pants on this one.
MIASCB,
It is a great link – IPMS Aerobatic Team SIG – some great reference there.
BTW, some great shots on your site!JJ
Thanks a lot for the great profile,i really like it!!Keep up the good work:)
djnikMost probably because people here are getting excited about aircraft, but seldom about holes in the ground. Me included.. Don’t be sad.. We all will appreciate pictures of real steel.
Well i look at it other way.Being an engineer, I threat both airplanes and underground facilities with respect as they both require high engineering skills in order to come out the way they do. That is why both airplanes with their sleek lines and flying characteristics and underground facilities due to their sheer size and complexity impress me:)
djnikYou lower the operational costs considerably by switching to on-condition maintenance and using advanced diagnostic systems. Russians promised significant reduction of costs per flight hour. I recall these numbers, before/after upgrade 12000USD/6500USD. Whether these numbers are correct I do not know, bcs it depends on things you count in and they are specific, so do not apply them for other countries. You`re not strongly dependent upon weapon system upgrade, even if the new radar/avionics package might save the operational costs too. I agree that they improve performance giving them parity, but do they need to be equal or superior to the NATO? Anyway, it`s all about money, I do not have any problem if they go for SMT. Be on ILA in Berlin, Russian RSK will introduce the modernization applied on our Mig-29.
As i recall, Germans were saying that their Mig-29 were costing them aroung 10000-11000 $ per flight hour so your numbers are approximately correct.
I will be on ILA this year,exactly two more weeks:) I will make sure to wander over to Mig’s display area and see what i can find out;)+
P.S: No one has anything to say about the nice underground tunel photos i found:( As i said later in the evening i will post more never seen before amazing photos.So stay tuned there will be both Air Force and Navy included!
djnikYeh, we not getting far with debating politics nor history here as usual. Its too complicated, and delicate issue.
So I sugest kiss and make up so someone can tell me more about this photo. I got it from Aerosvet magazine from 1991. Picture is from YU stand at La bourget airshow displaying model of unmanned hybrid delta prototype.Any more info/pics on this would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
It looks like a UAV model to me. Our aeronautical engineers were full of ideas at the time and had the money to develop new things. Unfortenutely,just like the “Novi Avion”, they did not materialise due to war.
djnik127TH KNIGHTS, you need to buy me a beer for these photos 😀
As you can see,only the enterance cover got destroyed by a GBU-28.The bombs could not create any damage to the airplanes in the underground tunnels what so ever.The Mig-21s that took off from Slatina after the ceasefire, got out trough the tunnel on the other side(Slatina had two tunnel enterances/exits) that was cleared after the attack.
Later today,after i am back from work,i will post many more photos of underground facilities and tunnels in ex Yugoslavia,in the “underground hangers” thread!
I hope you guys enjoy what i have “dug out” for you(you too Kapedani;))
djnikDjnik,
are there any current photos or drawings of Slatina? I’m sure the US didn’t just leave the base as is! The drawings you have came from FAS right?
There are no current photos of the airbase unfortenutely.I have tried also to snap some images with Google Earth but the resolution of that part of the country is too low.
Only the satellite image is from FAS and the other ones from a secret source:P No, i do not remember where i got them, i have been collecting photos for qutie a long time now.
Regardless of the fact it’s a good looking base or not, it should have been destroyed by the Russians. There has got to be a reason why FRY didn’t destroy the base. No conspiracy theories, just logic and common sense, but why was it so important that the Russians took the base? Sure, TAX MONEY. That tax money belonged to the government, not the kosovo industries. Does the tax money I pay belong to Uncle Sam, absolutely not. I slave away so Commander KooKoobali can insert our troops in the next international quagmire. Oh, and thanks ahead of time for not bringing up kosovo again.
FRY did not destroy the base as they still had to pull out men and equipment out in a limited time period after the ceasfire. As you know a number of Mig-21s took off from there and a lot of other equipment stored was pulled out. There might have been an agreement with NATO as well,not to destroy the base.We might never know.
Destroying Zeljava in Bihac took one week and several truck loads of high explosives were needed to completely disable the base. Each base commander in former Yugoslavia had plans in his office for the destruction of his base. Each base had built in “shafts” if i may name them like that where the explosive can be placed in case the base has to be abandoned and destroyed.A nice example for this is that every airbase in former Yugoslavia has holes on the side of each runway every 100 meters trough which explosives can be inserted in order to damage the runway from beneath.As you can realise,that sort of damage is much harder to fix ,than by a bomb such as Duranal,as the soil composition below runway is altered.
djnikIm glad they didnt destroy it. Its a good base and a lot of money has been invested into it. Dont forget, some of the money that went into it, wouldve been from the Kosova money industries too.
There was a saying once amongst people in Kosova which i think you might relate to
“Trepca se radi, Beograd se gradi”That doesnt mean that some parts of Belgrade should be destroyed too.
The money came directly from the Goverment, therefore it could have not come from industries in Kosovo. These industries and local workers from Kosovo could have however received this money most probably in order to build the base, and that is totally opposite to what you said. Although, a standard Yugoslav Army docrtrine when building underground bases and shelters was never to use local workers on the projects,ie. workers from other parts of the country were always brought in. I am not sure if this was the case with Slatina AB.
Yes and Trepca was State owned company, and not only Belgrade benefited from it,but whole country,including the local workers that got payed. Now firing them due to their nationality was a mistake and brought to a deeper national hatred.
djnikWhy is that?
Why let an extremely usefull facility that one has constructed and payed for fall into enemies hands? Zeljava in Bihac costed 4 billion USD and it was not going to be handed on a plate to the Bosnian or the Croatian side.Same with Slatina faciltiy,that although hasn’t costed as much, should not be handed over to someone that had no part in its operation, maintenance and costs.
It is a standard military procedure,no matter if it is a base or a piece of equipment.
djnikOh yeah they have Slatina airbase. Im not sure, did they have to take that airbase by force, or was it handed over to them willingly?
Secondly, you cant count that as Serbia’s airbase because its in the juristiction of Kosovo.
After the Russian KFOR contingent pulled out,the NATO gained control of the facility.
I wish they have destroyed the underground hangars as they did with Zeljava AB.Unfortenutely,there was no time for that.
Sign In
