Camouflaged in the forest, looking down on the River Danube, is a Belgian army tactical air-control party (TACP) practising its skills at calling in air strikes. There are no NATO aircraft on this exercise, however. Instead, two white-painted Mil Mi-24 helicopters can be seen flying along a wood line into the exercise area. The radios in the Belgian M113 armoured personnel carriers crackle to life with requests from the Mi-24s asking for tasks. Within minutes they are flown on simulated attack runs on targets in the area.
Since early 1996, joint Belgian-Ukrainian exercises have taken place two or three times a week as part of the United Nations (UN) mission to keep the peace in the eastern Slavonian region of Croatia. When tension has been high, the Ukrainian gunships have been called in and their threatening presence has usually calmed the situation. In May 1996, for example, low-level overflights of the heavily armed Mi-24s were instrumental in forcing Serb paramilitaries to flee the UN-administered region.
The United Nations Transitional Administration in eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) was set up in January 1996 with a two-year mission of returning the region, seized by the Serbs in the 1991 war, to Croat rule. Some 5,000 UN service personnel from Belgium, Jordan, Pakistan and Russia, under the command of a Belgian major-general, have overseen the demobilisation of some 12,000 Serb forces and the return of several hundred tanks, artillery pieces and other heavy weapons to Yugoslavia.
"The UN has learned that peacekeeping with a smiling face doesn't work in a war zone," a senior UNTAES commander says. So UNTAES has used tanks, artillery, armoured vehicles, and has been backed by the Ukrainian assault helicopters
UKRAINIAN SQUADRON
Based at Klisa Airport, 15km (8nm) north of the war-ravaged city of Vukovar, is the 17th Ukrainian Helicopter Squadron, operating Mi-24V and Mi-24P helicopters, supported by six Mi-8MT transport helicopters. Just under 250 Army Aviation personnel are assigned to the squadron from several bases in the Ukraine, serving six-month tours in Croatia.
"We send only the best pilots and engineers here," says squadron commander Col Vladimir Pastukhov. Like most of his 30 pilots, Pastukhov learned his trade in the former Soviet army and spent eight months flying combat missions in Afghanistan. "The Mi-24's armour can protect it from bullets, but not Stinger [heat-seeking shoulder-launched] missiles". He has been flying the Mi-24 for 19 years, but is also qualified on the Mi-8.
The UNTAES Force Headquarters, in Vukovar, has a Western-style command structure to manage its air-support operations. The Ukrainians had to face a steep learning curve to fit in with NATO procedures. "This is a new page in my life; 95% of everything here is new," says Pastukhov.
The flightline at Klisa looks like any other UN or NATO base in former Yugoslavia, with flight operations being run from a prefabricated headquarters made up of Corimec containers. Inside the offices, however, Western-made computers and facsimile machines sit on desks next to old Soviet-era field telephones.
Having English as the working language of the UNTAES has posed problems for the Ukrainians. Translators have been drafted in from Ukraine's armed forces to ensure the squadron's smooth integration into the UN's command structure. Every helicopter flies with an interpreter to allow contact with the Belgian TACPs or NATO forces patrolling the region.
Since the Ukrainians were deployed to Klisa in March 1996, they have flown 2,500h and carried some 7,000 passengers. "The Mi-8s fly cargo, reconnaissance, quick-reaction force and medevac/casevac missions," says Pastukhov. "During the first rotation there were two helicopter squadrons here - the 17th for attack and the 8th for transport - but now we have combined into one squadron."
He says that the Mi-8s are a regular sight at UN bases throughout eastern Slavonia, and their crews have developed a smooth working relationship with the troop contingents.
"No-nonsense" policy
In line with the UNTAES "no-nonsense" policy, the Ukrainians' weaponry includes AT-6 Spiral anti-tank guided missiles for the M-24s and 80mm rocket pods for both types of helicopters. The Mi-8s and Mi-24s regularly fly with full defensive-aid suites, including L-166V-11E Ispanka infra-red "disco-light" jammers, ASO-2V chaff-flare dispensers and radar-warning and homing receivers.
The Ukrainians' Mi-24s are budgeted by the UN to fly up to 70h a month, which represents a major leap in their operational tempo. "Some Ukrainian pilots only fly 25h a year back home, so this a big thing for them, a great training opportunity" says a senior Belgian officer.
Source: Flight International
