The collapse of the bomber F-117 near Budzhanovtsi

Involvement of F-117 in other military operations

The F-117 bomber was adopted in October 1983 , but for the first time its existence was officially recognized on November 10, 1988 in a Pentagon press release. The first public display of two F-117s took place on April 21, 1990 . F-117 type aircraft were used earlier during the invasion of Panama , the Persian Gulf War and Operation Desert Fox . During the war in the Persian Gulf, 40 aircraft made 1270 sorties and fired 30% of all high-precision missiles used by the United States during the war ^[3] . According to the US Armed Forces command, these aircraft could not be detected by any radar, however, there is some unconfirmed evidence that Iraqi radars were still detected by these bombers.

Arms of parties to a conflict

The NATO forces were equipped with American decimeter and centimeter radars of the AN / TPS-70 and AN / TPS-63 types, as well as the British C-600, to detect enemy forces. The Yugoslav armed forces were armed with Soviet radars that operated on longer waves (up to 2 m), but found aircraft with reduced visibility: these were the P-12 Yenisei and P-18 Terek radars. They were the ones who were able to detect "invisible planes."

At the same time, negotiations on radio stations were quite risky, since the NATO reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed Martin U-2, the BAE Canberra PR9 (high-altitude), as well as the Tornado ECR and Tornado GR.1A (low-altitude), easily intercepted the negotiations and they transmitted the coordinates of the emitting devices with high accuracy to attack aircraft. ^[4] In view of this fact, the troops observed complete radio silence ^[5] : the radars switched on for a short time and immediately changed their positions along with the launchers, and all messages and orders were transmitted only by couriers.

Destruction Report

The report on the destruction of the aircraft was made by the deputy commander of the 3rd battery of the 250th air defense missile brigade, Lt. Col. George Anichich . According to the calculation, the plane was destroyed at 20:55 local time ^[1] .

We arrived at the firing position at about 8.30 p.m. With the help of special tools we install rockets. The elevation angle is high. Some vibration is felt, and I do not know what is happening in the cockpit. He took the place of assistant to the head of the observation group instead of Major Stoimenov. Dani is in the launcher control unit. Close targets were not found in the air, they are at farther distances at different courses. Suddenly, on the radar, according to the testimony, an object was detected at a 195-degree course, a distance of 23 kilometers. I say: “Dani, he is coming towards us!” The object is approaching. At a distance of 14-15 km at a 210-degree course, the commander of the firing group, Lt. Col. Zoltan Dani, ordered the surveillance of the object to begin. Password "Antenna" to turn on the radar. From that moment begins the game of cat and mouse. Within 10 seconds, the radar does not find the target. I order: “Stop searching for the target!” After a few seconds, Dani discovers the target at the rate of 230 degrees at the time of observation. Quite quickly, in a couple of seconds, the installation was rotated several times, however, manual control operators could not catch the object in sight. It is moving, obviously, at a huge angular speed. Surveillance for more than 10 seconds, after which I give the command: “Stop searching for the target!”

Again we see the target, the course is 240 degrees, the distance is 14 km. The flight path is traced on the radar screen. We are trying to transfer warheads a third time to azimuth 240. Officers unlock the wheels, but the object is lost. I thought that we wouldn’t succeed this time too, when Senior Sergeant Matic exclaimed: “Keep it, keep it, we have it!” The wheels are fixed, the operators discovered the object. Stable tracking mode, course 242 degrees, distance 14.5 km. (...) A support officer reports: azimuth of 250 degrees, a distance of 13 kilometers.

Dani ordered: “Hit the target with direct fire, launch!” An explosion occurred. The first rocket starts, after five seconds the second, the operators work stably. I look at the screen. A bright flash, the explosion of the first rocket near the target. The target is destroyed. I order: “Raise it higher!” The distance is 10-11 km, the course is 270 degrees - the support officer Muminovich reported. I look at the radar screen. Panic in the air, everyone fled, the goal is not visible.

After 20-30 minutes, we got a march preparation team to quickly leave the position. I feel tired, because I did not sleep for two days.

In the news broadcast on the radio at 22:00 we heard that the F-117A plane was shot down, which crashed in the village of Budanovtsy. We immediately changed shooting position. In our brigade, mood and morale significantly increased. We are still congratulated, the tension has subsided. Sadness is a thing of the past; faith in our capabilities has returned. The residents of the neighboring villages have a real holiday, and they now look at us with great respect.

Search for the Pilot

The search team found the pilot seven hours after reporting the crash of the F-117A: Zelko was hiding in hiding, hiding from the Yugoslav police. The pilot was soon delivered to Aviano airbase in Northern Italy ^[1] . Zelko himself told the following about what happened:

There was very low cloud cover. I saw a rocket when it had already crossed a layer of clouds, immediately after launch. She walked at an angle of 50 degrees to me. And as soon as I saw her, I realized: I was figured out. The first rocket went very close above the plane. So close that the plane shook ^[6] .

On March 28, 1999 , Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon officially confirmed that the US Air Force F-117A was shot down 40 kilometers west of Belgrade. Bacon did not name the cause of the crash, as a result of which the public for a long time was not aware of the true causes of the crash (it was not even known whether the airplane received any damage earlier) ^[7] .

Most of the remnants of a downed bomber (approximately 75%) are stored in the aviation museum near the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. One of the museum’s halls is even dedicated to the heroes of the 3rd battery of the 250th air defense missile brigade, in Belgrade-on-Banice. As for electronic equipment, it is unofficially believed that most of it was sold abroad (according to the Belgrade press, Russia and China bought the equipment to test their prototypes of aircraft with reduced visibility) ^[8] . The United States unsuccessfully demanded that Yugoslavia return the wreckage of the aircraft, but the Serbian government still refuses to return it.

In 2012, Serbian director Zeljko Mirkovic made a documentary about this event called “The Second Meeting”, in which Dale Zelko made a trip to Serbia to meet Zoltan Dani in his new life ^[9] .

• Dani, Zoltan
• Anichich, George
• Matic, Dragan
• S-125

• Interview with Zoltan Dani (Part One) on YouTube (Serb.)
• F 117 stealth shot down on YouTube
• “Invisible”, break ty krill (inaccessible link) (Serb.)
• Shame te beat, Dani (Serb.)
• “Nevidljivi” oboren za 23 sekunde (Serbian)
• Tajna F-117A otkrivena (Serb.)
• Predstavljanje ratnog dnevnika "Smena" (Serbian)
• Predstavljanje ratnog dnevnika "Smena" (Serbian)