Djordje Nikolic's Books

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

The Royal Yugoslav Air Force at War in 1941

By: Djordje I Nikoli?,Ognjan M Petrovi?

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Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

The Royal Yugoslav Air Force at War in 1941

By: Djordje I Nikoli?,Ognjan M Petrovi?

Immediately following the end of the First World War, the air force of the newly-formed Southern Slav State, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was forced to rely mainly on war-time Serbian Air Service aircraft and material left after the withdrawal of the French Armée de l’Air from the Balkans in 1919/1920. This equipment was supported by the addition of French war surplus stocks which started arriving in 1921. In 1929 the monarchy changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Then, from 1930, the official name of the air service branch its military was changed to what is commonly known in the West as the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (RYAF). The obsolete First World War aircraft were replaced from 1925 onwards by stop-gap solutions purchased mainly from France, some from the Czechoslovakian Republic as well as from the first domestic factories. From 1936, the RYAF again began to reorganize and modernize, with the purchase of the most modern aircraft available at that time. These aircraft were imported from the UK, Germany and Italy, some being built under license in domestic factories. During this period the Kingdom of Yugoslavia succeeded, as much as conditions allowed, to equip its air force with the most advanced fighter and bomber types of the period. For the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Second World War started on 6 April 1941. The military coup d’etat of 27 March 1941 and anti-German demonstrations in Belgrade clearly aligned the kingdom with the Allies. That same day, Hitler ordered the implementation of Unternehmen 25 (Operation 25) – the attack against Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Hitler had also secured Mussolini’s support for this campaign, while Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria gave active or passive backing in exchange for territorial claims in Yugoslavia. Despite all the odds, the airmen of the RYAF fought gallantly in the defense of their homeland, with fighters taking on the German and Italian bombers and their escort fighters – including the Axis types in service with the RYAF. Eventually, due to the deteriorating situation on the front and the ever-increasing risk of the king and his government being captured, the decision was taken to evacuate by air to Greece. In the summer of the 1941 some 220 Yugoslav aviators gathered in Egypt and continued the fight against Axis, this time in the colors of the RAF. This is the full story of their service and combats in the early months of that year.

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275

Publisher

Air World

Published Date

ISBN 10

139908898X

ISBN 13

9781399088985

Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter

Eyewitness Accounts from Those Who Were There

By: Mihajlo S. Mijajlovic,Djordje S. Anicic

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Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter

Eyewitness Accounts from Those Who Were There

By: Mihajlo S. Mijajlovic,Djordje S. Anicic

A look at the takedown of the presumably invulnerable aircraft during the Kosovo War, featuring perspectives on both sides, plus technical details. With its futuristic and unmistakable design, the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk, the so-called “Stealth Fighter,” was the wonder of the age. Virtually undetectable by radar, this ground-attack aircraft could slip unseen through enemy defenses to deliver its deadly payload on unsuspecting targets. Its effectiveness had been well demonstrated during the Gulf War of 1991, during which the F-117A achieved almost legendary status. But, at 20.42 hours on 27 March 1999, the military and aviation worlds were stunned when the impossible happened—a virtually obsolete Soviet-built surface-to-air missile system which had first been developed more than thirty years earlier, detected and shot down an F-117A, callsign “Vega 31.” This incident took place during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. It was, and remains, at least officially, the only time that a stealth aircraft was detected and shot down by a ground-based missile system. In this book, the authors, both of whom served in the Kosovo War, take the reader through every moment of that astounding event, from both the perspective of Lieutenant Colonel Dani’s 3rd Battalion, 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade, a Yugolsav Army unit, and that of the pilot of the F-117A, Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Patrick Zelko, who ejected and survived the loss of his aircraft. The reader is placed in the cabin of the missile fire control center and alongside “Dale” Zelko in the cockpit of his stealth fighter as each second dramatically unfolds. Stealth characteristics are now regarded as a standard part of modern military aircraft design but with each generation of aircraft becoming increasingly, almost cripplingly, expensive to produce and operate compared with the simpler surface-to-air defense systems, the outcome of the battle between missile and stealth hangs in the balance. That this is the case might be seen in the strange fact that it is claimed that two other F-117As did not return to the U.S. at the end of the Kosovo War, though, mysteriously, their fate has never been revealed. Were they too victims of Yugoslav missiles? Though intended for the general reader, Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter covers the technical details of the weapons involved and their deployment—and the authors should know, as one of them, Djordje Anicic, was a member of the Yugoslav team which brought down Zelko’s aircraft.

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Page Count

579

Publisher

Air World

Published Date

ISBN 10

1526780437

ISBN 13

9781526780430

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

The Royal Yugoslav Air Force at War in 1941

By: Djordje I Nikoli?,Ognjan M Petrovi?

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Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

The Royal Yugoslav Air Force at War in 1941

By: Djordje I Nikoli?,Ognjan M Petrovi?

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275

Publisher

Air World

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ISBN 10

139908898X

ISBN 13

9781399088985

Dornier

The Yugoslav Saga 1926-2007

By: Djordje Nikolic,Aleksandar M. Ognjevic

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Dornier

The Yugoslav Saga 1926-2007

By: Djordje Nikolic,Aleksandar M. Ognjevic

The history of Dornier aircraft in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

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Page Count

336

Publisher

Connoisseur's Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

8366673618

ISBN 13

9788366673618

Book's by Djordje Nikolic

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter

Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

Against Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Balkans

Dornier

Dornier

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