Two USAF F-16s shot down four Serbian J-21s after an attack by them

Banja Luka, NATO's first air combat and the retaliation against a Spanish aircraft

Esp 1·18·2025 · 22:29 0

On 12 April 1993, NATO launched Operation Denied Flight over Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars.

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This operation was carried out to implement the no-fly zone established by UN Security Council Resolution 816, in response to serious and repeated human rights violations perpetrated by troops of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska or the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A Soko J-21 Jastreb on display at the Belgrade Aviation Academy in Serbia (Photo: Dennis Jarvis).

Following the start of this operation, on 28 February 1994, six Serbian Soko J-21 Jastreb attack aircraft (a model manufactured in the former Yugoslavia between 1964 and 1985) bombed a Bosnian factory in Novi Travnik, violating the no-fly zone.

The Serbian planes had the misfortune of having two F-16C fighters from the 526th Fighter Squadron "Black Knights" of the US Air Force (USAF) flying near Sarajevo, Bosnia, with radio callsigns Knight 25 and Knight 26. A NATO E-3 Sentry early warning aircraft detected the Serbian planes when they were flying over Banja Luka. The American fighters crossed paths with the Serbian planes before they completed their attack and issued warnings, but they ignored them and completed their mission. In response, the F-16Cs engaged in dogfights to shoot down the J-21s.

Several Soko J-21 Jastreb in the Belgrade Air Museum (Photo: Wusel007).

This engagement, known as the Banja Luka incident, was the first air combat in NATO history. The Serbian jets stood no chance against the more modern F-16Cs, despite outnumbering the American planes three times. Despite attempting to use the mountainous terrain to evade the F-16Cs, the American fighters shot down four J-21s using a medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile and three short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. In addition, a fifth J-21 crashed while attempting to flee from the F-16Cs.

Captain Robert Gordon "Wilbur" Wright scored three victories in this engagement, using an AIM-120 and two AIM-9s. He was the first U.S. pilot to score a triple victory in air combat since the Korean War. His wingman, Captain Stephen L. "Yogi" Allen, scored one victory, using an AIM-9.

F-16C 89-2137, the aircraft piloted by Captain Robert Gordon "Wilbur" Wright that shot down three Serbian J-21s in the Banja Luka air battle, in a photo taken on April 10, 1994, a few weeks after the incident (Photo: Sergio Gava / F-16.net).

Three Serbian pilots were killed in the combat: Captains Ranko Vukmirović, Zvezdan Pešić and Goran Zarić, who was unfortunate enough to eject at low altitude, so that his parachute did not have time to open and he ended up falling into the fireball that his plane had become when it crashed. Two Serbian pilots managed to survive after ejecting from their ejection seats: Major Uroš Studen and Captain Zlatko Mikerević. Only one of the J-21s managed to return, piloted by Captain Zlatan Crnalić, with his plane severely damaged.

Markings indicating the downing of three Serbian J-21s on F-16C 89-2137, in a photo taken in 2005 (Photo: Taco44).

The Yarnhub channel (which I recommend you subscribe to if you like military history) has just published an excellent video about this aerial combat, recreating it on computer with excellent graphics quality and a very good job of documenting what happened:

The video does not include a detail related to this air combat: on March 8, 1994, a few days after the Banja Luka incident, the Bosnian Serbs retaliated against a Spanish aircraft, specifically a CASA C-212 Aviocar of the 37th Wing of the Air Force, the T12B-24 / 37-07, as the Spanish Defense Magazine recalled last year in an article by Victor Hernandez.

The CASA C-212 Aviocar T12B-24/37-07, in a photo taken after being hit by a missile launched by the Bosnian Serbs in retaliation for the Banja Luka incident. On the left we see Captain Pedro Miguel Alfonso, pilot of the aircraft, accompanied by Captain Joaquín Díez López, head of quality control of the 37th Wing, assessing the damage suffered by the aircraft (Photo: Revista Española de Defensa).

The Spanish aircraft was stationed in Vicenza (Italy) and was making a transport flight from Zagreb to Split that day. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Pedro Miguel Alfonso Hernández and with Lieutenant Carlos Herráiz as co-pilot, accompanied also by Lieutenant Jacinto Chozas and Sergeant Mechanic Cándido Rodríguez, as well as four passengers of various nationalities.

The CASA C-212 Aviocar T12B-24/37-07, already repaired, preparing to fly back to Spain (Photo: Revista Española de Defensa).

According to the 37th Wing, the aircraft was attacked by two SA-7 missiles, one of which hit it, seriously damaging the C-212 and slightly injuring the passengers and a crew member. The aircraft was recovered without further incident at Rijeka Airport (Croatia), where it was assisted by personnel from the Villanubla Air Base, to be ready for reintegration within the next 48 hours.

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Photo: Revista Española de Defensa.

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