Enforcing peace in the former Yugoslavia has become the largest UK military-helicopter operation since the Gulf War.
Tim Ripley/BOSNIA
IN THE SIX MONTHS since NATO's Implementation Force (IFOR), took over from the United Nations, the task of keeping peace in Bosnia, it has successfully overseen the separation of the former warring factions and is now concentrating on supporting the civilian side of the NATO mission, to prevent war returning to the Balkans.
Supporting the 11,000-strong UK contribution to the IFOR has proved to be the biggest test of the nation's military-helicopter forces since the Gulf War, with just under 30 helicopters of the Royal Navy, Army Air Corps (AAC) and Royal Air Force deployed in the former Yugoslavia. In the first months of Operation Resolute, as the UK effort is code-named, the helicopters were regularly involved in "force-projection" operations to demonstrate the combat power of the IFOR to the locals. Boeing Chinook HC2s and Westland Sea King HC4s of the Support Helicopter Force (SHF) rapidly carried under-slung artillery and armoured vehicles across the front, and TOW missile-armed Westland Lynx of 9Rgt AAC were always present at crisis points. This had the desired effect and local warlords readily complied with the IFOR's wishes.
BALKAN HEAT
As the hot Balkan summer approaches, the UK helicopters are now being employed to win the peace on so-called G5 or "hearts-and-minds" tasks. RAF Chinooks have helped rebuild war-damaged television towers, shuttled politicians to peace conferences and fly daily "Bosnia bus" missions to move IFOR troops between bases. Sea Kings of 845 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) fly almost-daily casualty-evacuation (casevac) missions. The AAC's Lynx and Gazelles are being increasingly tasked to move key personnel rapidly around the war-shattered country, which has almost no communications infrastructure.
Except for two Army Lynx of 664 Sqn, which are assigned to the IFOR's ground-forces commander at his headquarters in Sarajevo, all the UK helicopters are deployed in Croatia or western Bosnia, to support the IFOR's Multi-National Division South West. Under the command of UK Maj Gen Mike Jackson are Canadian, Czech, Dutch, Malaysian and UK troops, who have the mission between them of patrolling a massive region, stretching from Bihac, in the far north-west of Bosnia, right into the centre of the country.
More importantly, the division is deployed on either side of the zone of separation, which divides Bosnia into Serb and Muslim-Croat entities. In late April, its headquarters was moved completely into the heart of Serb territory, occupying the site of a former steel mill outside Banja Luka.
"Our primary role is casualty evacuation/- medical evacuation/search and rescue," says Lt Cdr Tim Lort, 845 NAS detachment commander at Split.
Since 1982, the squadron has maintained four aircraft in the former Yugoslavia, carrying out more than 80 casevac and 120 medical-evacuation missions, often in terrible weather and under hostile fire. "No matter what the weather, you have to get airborne - at least to have a look," says Lort. "Although the weather may be appalling, there may be gaps. You never say no. Our job is to save the troops on the ground when they get into trouble," he says.
BOSNIA FLYING
Operation Resolute is providing one of the most demanding flying environments which UK-military helicopter pilots have ever faced. Although the warring factions have largely returned to barracks and the threat of hostile action is considerably reduced, the weather and terrain are just as challenging.
Even in summer, the weather is totally unpredictable, with most valleys regularly obscured by low cloud and haze. This results in a major wire/pylon-strike hazard, requiring pilots and aircrews to maintain constant watch because not all such hazards are marked on maps.
To date, only one aircraft, an AAC Lynx, has suffered a wire-strike, but no one was seriously injured and the aircraft was repairable. A senior AAC officer, who was involved in investigating the incident, says that the telephone wires were strung across a valley, with the poles obscured by trees. "There was no way you could see the wires until you were bang on top of them. The crew was very lucky," he says.
A growing problem, because of the high altitudes in the interior of the county, is the hot Bosnian summer. With above-sea-level heights of 6,500ft (2,000m) and temperatures reaching 30¡C, the performance of many helicopters is starting to degrade seriously. All the UK helicopters, boast self-defence systems, to protect them from hostile weapons systems, and these heavy pieces of equipment are starting to be removed to compensate for the loss of performance in the hot-and-high conditions. Passenger and cargo loads are also having to be reduced. The RAF's powerful Chinooks, however, are less affected by this problem than are the smaller Army and Navy machines.
Four million landmines sown across Bosnia's battlefields form a major hazard for IFOR helicopter crews, so they will land only on pre-reconnoitred sites or metalled roads. One Gazelle crew had some nervous moments when, because of technical problems, it had to put down in a suspected minefield. An Army bomb-disposal team had to be called to clear a path to the helicopter before the crew could be evacuated.
UK helicopters in-theatre boast sophisticated self-defence systems, such as radar warning receivers, missile-approach warning systems, decoys, chaff/flare dispensers, infra-red-suppressors for engine exhausts, armoured seats and floor and door armour. These were developed for use in Northern Ireland, or earlier UN tours in Bosnia, so there are few "IFOR-specific" items of kit on the aircraft.
One new item is the commercially produced CAPSAT satellite-communication device fitted to the RAF Chinooks. This allows hard-copy facsimile-type messages to dispatched to aircraft anywhere in theatre from a desk-top personal computer in the SHF base in Split.
RAF officers are enthusiastic about the potential of the system, which cost only £8,000 ($13,300) to fit to each aircraft, because it allows the location of aircraft to be monitored continuously at SHF Headquarters and compensates for poor radio communications in some regions.
STANDARD PROCEDURES
For the Bosnia mission, the command and control of UK helicopters has followed standard procedures, with all the three services' helicopters being placed under the command of Jackson's headquarters in Banja Luka. The Divisional Air Liaison Officer tasks all the helicopters depending on the daily situation.
The assignment of such a large number of helicopters to the IFOR has placed a major strain on the manpower, airframes, spare-parts supply chains and budgets of all the three services' rotary-wing fleets. When combined with the need to maintain helicopters in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, it has resulted in the "cupboard being bare" back in the UK or Germany, according to helicopter operators in Bosnia. IFOR units have priority for spares, but even that is sometimes not enough, with SHF commander Wg Cdr John Cooke saying that "-lack of spares is my defeating factor". In one case, a spare part for a Chinook had to flown from the Falklands to Split.
A senior AAC officer says that the budget for Lynx spares this year has been cut, the UK Treasury having ordered reductions in long-term costings. "Between Northern Ireland and here, we eat up those spares, so the rest of the fleet has to suffer to give us outstanding availability. We have 80% to 90 %, sometimes 100%, but, at home, they could be as low as 40% to 50% availability," he says.
While the Bosnian operation has been successfully mounted, it has often been at the expense of operations elsewhere. It is to be hoped that the UK forces will use the experience of the deployment to address such support shortcomings, Treasury strictures permitting.
Source: Flight International
