THE UK'S ARMY AIR Corps (AAC) Westland Lynx helicopter crews are being used by the United Nations to chase and identify helicopters breaching the No-Fly Zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina amid growing concern over the dangers of a "friendly-shootdown" incident.
Evidence of NATO's inability, or unwillingness, to enforce the No-Fly Zone was demonstrated when Flight International photographed a Mil Mi-8 Hip from a Lynx during a chase near the AAC forward operating base at Gornji Vakuf in central Bosnia.
The Hip was pictured from a 9 Regiment Lynx, as the Croatian air force transport helicopter overflew Gornji Vakuf heading deep into Bosnia. The Mi-8, with a red cross on its side, was followed for 10min by the Lynx before returning to base to refuel.
The recent dramatic increase in helicopter flights by all warring factions this year, with scores of sorties every week, along with a tendency to paint their helicopters white, the same colour as UN helicopters, has raised fears for the safety of the organisation's helicopters.
A senior operations officer at the UN protection Force Sector South West Headquarters in Gornji Vakuf says: "NATO needs to do something about warring faction helicopters - they are becoming a real danger to our own helicopters."
Maj Mick Caplin, Officer Commanding 664 Squadron AAC, says that he was "extremely disturbed" by a recent incident in which two NATO fighters locked on with their radar to one of his Lynx helicopters for 15min, raising fears of a shoot-down incident similar to the friendly-fire accident in northern Iraq in 1993, when US Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-15s fired on two Sikorsky Black Hawks, killing the crews and several UN observers.
Terrain screening by Bosnia's mountains means that it is not always possible for AAC helicopters to talk by radio to the NATO Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft on patrol over the Adriatic or Hungary, says Caplin.
"We have to tell NATO, before we take off, where we are going, so we have guys in the chain of command to ensure they get that information," he adds.
The Hip spotted clearly bore the insignia of the Croatian air force, and it later transpired that the machine had previously been seen at Divulji Barracks in Split, Croatia.
"This is the first time we've seen a Croatian helicopter so far into Bosnia," says Lynx pilot Capt David Crisall. "Previously, we've just seen Bosnian Hips," he adds. "The UN policy at the moment is to tail chase the Mi-8s to get registration numbers," Caplin says
NATO says that long-standing rules of engagement do not allow alliance fighters to shoot down warring-faction transport helicopters because of the danger that civilians or wounded may be on board.
The Lynx AH Mk7s have received the "Op Hamden" equipment fit for operations in Bosnia, including the RNS251 Super Tans navigation system; identification friend or foe MkXII Mode 4; Sky Guardian radar homing and warning receivers, ALQ-144 infra-red missile jammer; armoured cockpit-seats; Bright Star infra-red landing lights; infra-red station-keeping lights and door-mounted 7.62mm machine gun.
Source: Flight International
