# Aircraft of Serbia And Neighboring Countries



## imalko (Feb 14, 2011)

I envisioned this thread as a place to share pictures and discuss modern aircraft which flew and still fly the skies of former Yugoslavia, but primarily my native country Serbia. The photos I'll be posting here were compiled over the years from various sites on the internet and unfortunately for most of them the exact source is unknown (wherever possible the source and author of the photo will be given). The photos will be accompanied with basic and most interesting information about the given subject. 
I also call upon all forum members, especially those from around these parts, to fell free to post here their own pictures on given topic of this thread.

So, to start this thread here is the collection of photos showing aircraft which currently serve with Serbian Air Force (from above): MiG-29, MiG-21, Antonov An-26, An-2, Mi-8 and Gazelle helicopters and finally indigenous Yugoslav designs J-22 Orao, G-4 Super Galeb and Lasta 95.

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## Gnomey (Feb 14, 2011)

Cool stuff Igor! Looking forward to seeing what else turns up in this thread.


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## pbfoot (Feb 14, 2011)

Also enjoy


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## Lucky13 (Feb 15, 2011)

Looking forward to this Igor!


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## Wurger (Feb 15, 2011)




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## imalko (Feb 15, 2011)

Cheers mates! Okay, here's the second set of pictures to conclude our brief overview of current Serbian Air Force inventory (from above): Utva-75 basic trainer, G-2 Galeb, Yak-40 VIP transport and Mi-24 and Mi-17 helicopters.

An aircraft of indigenous design, Utva-75 served for a long time as basic trainer in our AF, but it is soon to be replaced in that role with new Lasta-95. Many of these aircraft are also used by civilian Aero clubs. Only one G-2 Galeb remains still operational in Serbian AF today.This aircraft now serves within Flight Research Department of Technical Research Center at Batajnica airbase. Two Mi-24 and two Mi-17 helicopters were obtained in late nineties by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and used during crisis and armed conflict in our southern province. (Hence the nonstandard camouflage color schemes and absence of official national markings apart from small national flag on the tail.) Only in June 2006 were they passed to the Air Force. Today they are grounded due to the expiration of flight resources. Two Mi-17 transports are currently under overhaul while Mi-24s face more uncertain future as definite decision about their final fate is yet to be made.


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## tomo pauk (Feb 16, 2011)

I'll try to add some info about Croatian AF 

One of things 'invented' during our war of 1991-95 were so called 'boiler bombs' - body of electric water heater was filled with explosives scrap metal, improvised stabilators were welded, while fusing was done via anti-tank mine's fuses. Boms were carried in An-2 (transport, biplane) and tossed from cargo space. Sorties were flown by night, and navigation was managed with GPS. 
Same An-2s were flying supplies to the besieged city of Vukovar in 1991.
One of the 'bombers' was shot down by a SA-6 missile unit, with crew of 4 killed.

Picture of a 'boiler bomb', from Wiki:

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## tomo pauk (Feb 16, 2011)

Galeb G-2, one of couple captured in Udbina air base in 1995, none is operative for years:


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## tomo pauk (Feb 17, 2011)

Croatian MiG-21 combat trainer in unmistakable 'camo' pattern, pic from Wiki:


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## imalko (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks for your contribution Tomo. Nice pictures there. Looking forward to more.
In the meantime here are few of Croatian MiG-21s... Croatians obtained their first examples of MiG-21 by defecting Yugoslav pilots of Croatian nationality at the beginning of the war 1991-1995. Not sure if few of them were also captured on the ground. (Tomo, maybe you know more about that possibility.) Further examples were later purchased abroad.
Anyway, markings and camouflage of Croatian Mig-21s was changing over the time. First examples retained standard Yugoslav color scheme with only Croatian insignia painted over Yugoslav markings (picture 1). Later new camo scheme and new national insignia were devised (picture 2). Last three picture show current appearance of Croatian MiG-21s.

Source: Airliners.net

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## tomo pauk (Feb 17, 2011)

Only one MiG-21 (two-seater) was captured at the Zemunik air base near Zadar.


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## tomo pauk (Feb 20, 2011)

Jastreb of Croatian AF (captured at Udbina AB?), from mycity-military.com. Note the US Mk-82 bomb:


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## Lucky13 (Feb 21, 2011)

Great thread mate!


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## Gnomey (Feb 21, 2011)

Nice stuff!


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## imalko (Mar 20, 2011)

This post could be titled "All markings of our MiG-21s"...

If there's an aircraft that marked the last four (soon to be five) decades of aviation on these here parts it has to be MiG-21. Since 1962 up to this day and in almost all versions from MiG-21f-13 through MiG-21bis, this aircraft had flown our skies. They say there's a too much history for such a small region here in the Balkans and MiG-21 was in the middle of it. While basic paint scheme remained fairly consistent, here's how national and tactical markings of our Migs were changing over the years... 

First there was a time of "golden age" of Yugoslav aviation during the existence of Tito's Socialist Yugoslavia. This was the time when MiG-21 became backbone of our Air Force. At this time national markings consisted of national flag over the fin and rudder and roundels with red stars on the fuselage and wings. Each aircraft had small serial number painted in black on the fin and last three digits of this number painted in large black numbers beneath the cockpit. Paint scheme was bare metal/silver overall on early versions soon to be replaced by light gray overall. (Pictures 1-2.) One example was experimentally painted in gray/green/blue camouflage scheme with white tactical numbers but this was not adopted. When Yugoslav wars started large black numbers beneath the cockpit were over painted to conceal the identity of the aircraft from the secessionists.

Then there was a time of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2006). During this time new national insignia was adopted and national flag on the tail reduced in size (pictures 3-4). This insignia is popularly called "Pepsi insignia" by the aviation enthusiasts and modelers over here. It was at this time that unit emblems were adopted (something which was not that common in communist times.) Aircraft in picture 3 displaying the emblem of 126th Fighter Squadron "Deltas".

Finally after Serbia regained it's independence in 2006 new national insignia was adopted. Though this is similar to the roundel of Royal Yugoslav AF in WW2, it consists of the blue/red roundel of Serbian Aviatics from WW1 on which white "Kosovo" cross is superimposed. National flag is retained on the tail as well as unit emblems on some aircraft. Picture 5 show MiG-21bis "17163", which was the first aircraft painted in new Serbian national insignia. This aircraft also displays proposed new two tone gray paint scheme for our MiG-21s. This scheme was not adopted however and Serbian MiG-21s continue to fly with new insignia but in old standard light gray scheme which is well weathered on most aircraft after years of service as can be seen on picture 6.

Finally here's a picture 7 showing one veteran MiG-21 which saw extensive insignia changes over the years...


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## imalko (Apr 22, 2011)

To update this thread after a while with few fresh photos of our MiG-29s...
Photo © 2011. Dušan Atlagić, "ODBRANA"


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## Gnomey (Apr 22, 2011)

Good shots Igor!


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## imalko (Nov 11, 2011)

Time to update this thread with some new pictures me thinks. It's been a while...


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 12, 2011)

I think the Mig 29 has got to be the most elagant fighter today.


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## tomo pauk (Nov 18, 2011)

Are those the decoy launchers under Orao's hull?


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## imalko (Nov 20, 2011)

I believe they are Tomo.


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## imalko (Sep 14, 2014)

This is so cute I had to share the moment I saw it, as published on the blog of our renowned military photographer Dimitrije Ostojić:

_"I have seen a lot of different animals inside the area of military air bases, but this one is the strangest so far. This young roe deer came from nowhere straight to the apron where MiG-29 fighters are located. The Bamby, as they call her, is a very curious youngster, which usually seems to be the case with all youngsters, except this one apparently loves airplanes. Even the sound of noisy RD-33 engines does not scare her. When the engine starts she just moves behind the safe line on the apron with the rest of the crew…Curious, but still very caution, she will come few feet from you but she will not let you touch her. The pilots and the ground crew from 101st Fighter Squadron “Vitezovi” (The Knights) take care of her every time she comes to visit them, which is on daily bases…" _

More pictures here: Bamby on apron | Dimitrije Ostojic photo blog


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

I came to realize that, not counting the previous post about Bamby among MiG's, I actually haven't been updating this thread for almost three years now. So, I've decided to "catch up" by posting a retrospective of some events concerning the aviation on these here parts since 2011 until now. 

For starters here are few posts about Air show held in celebration of 100th Anniversary of Military aviation in Serbia which was held in September 2012...


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 1 Helicopters and few random aircraft_ - Civilian An-2 on first two pictures is a veteran "mosquito destroyer", at least by the marking beneath the cockpit. To mark the occasion all our military aircraft were marked with special centennial logo. (All photos in this and fallowing posts regarding the centennial Air show were taken by myself.)


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 2 Serbian Air Force Aircraft_ - All aircraft in service with our Air Force were put on display. Here are few representative photos. Picture 1 shows the sole Galeb G-2 trainer still in service with our Air Force painted in the special scheme of the Flight Test Department. Picture 4 shows MiG-21 painted in a proposed fighter scheme in 2006. The scheme was not adopted and all the other MiG-21s kept the original all grey paint scheme. The last picture in the sequence shows the prototype of Lasta-95 basic trainer.


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 3 Foreign Aircraft_ - The Air Show was truly an international event with aircraft of fallowing countries taking part: Slovenia, Austria, United States, Turkey, Russia, France, Rumania, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary and Denmark (hope I haven't forgot someone). Some of the aircraft displayed were already seen here on previous Air Show while others appeared for the first time. Particularly impressive were the large transport aircraft. One can only appreciate the immense size of Ilyushin Il-76 by standing next to it...


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 4 Stars of the Flight Display_ - The most anticipated part of flight program was a display of Russian Flight Team "Striži". However, they were experiencing some technical difficulties prior to the show and their team was not in full number. With only three aircraft available they performed just their "basic program", but were never the less greeted warmly by the crowd. For me the stars of the flight display were Eurofighter, MiG-35 and Danish F-16. Italian Spartan made some flight manouvers you wouldn't expect from a transport aircraft. Our own aircraft simulated a dog fight among MiG-21s and MiG-29s. One Hungarian Grippen also participated, but after finishing it's display it didn't land and flew back home to Hungary. Our J-22 Orao also performed well, including extremely low level pass over the runway.


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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 5 MiG-35_ - Participation of MiG-35 on this Air Show was not accidental as this aircraft is seen as most likely candidate for new multirole fighter in our Air Force. The occasion was used to demonstrate the performace of this aircraft to our pilot and officials.


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## Wurger (Oct 13, 2014)




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## imalko (Oct 13, 2014)

*SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW*

_Part 6 Random Pictures_ - Having been a very hot day Air show visitors used shadows beneath big transports. Some radio controlled models could also be seen. Two final pictures show mock up of the proposed Kobac turboprop coin aircraft with intended armament.

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## Wurger (Oct 13, 2014)

Great images Igor.


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## imalko (Jul 8, 2016)

Two brand new Mi-17V-5 helicopters were delivered to Serbian Air Force, first after more then 35 years. After arriving to "Nikola Tesla" international airport last week aboard the Antonov An-124 Ruslan transport they were flown over to Batajnica Air Base today. They are sporting newly adopted paint scheme for our Air Force transport helicopters (which was applied directly in the factory), but are yet to receive national markings and new serial numbers. Few pictures from various sources about the event:

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## gjs238 (Jul 9, 2016)

imalko said:


> Two brand new Mi-17V-5 helicopters were delivered to Serbian Air Force, first after more then 35 years. After arriving to "Nikola Tesla" international airport last week aboard the Antonov An-124 Ruslan transport they were flown over to Batajnica Air Base today. They are sporting newly adopted paint scheme for our Air Force transport helicopters (which was applied directly in the factory), but are yet to receive national markings and new serial numbers. Few pictures from various sources about the event:



Isn't Serbia trying to join the EU?
I assumed Serbia would transition to western equipment.


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## Wurger (Jul 10, 2016)




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## imalko (Jul 10, 2016)

gjs238 said:


> Isn't Serbia trying to join the EU?
> I assumed Serbia would transition to western equipment.



Yes, it is. (Though I'm personally skeptical that it will ever happen.) However, this doesn't exclude operating equipment of Russian origin. Many NATO countries are doing just that - Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc. You have to bear in mind that our Air Force has been operating this equipment for decades and generations of personnel has been trained on it. In times of budget cuts and economic crisis any transition would be impossible. Besides, if it does the job why change it...

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## imalko (Apr 2, 2021)

To commemorate the 60th anniversary since its formation, the 241st Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron "The Tigers" (241. lovačko-bombarderska avijacijska eskadrila "Tigrovi") marked two of its J-22 Orao aircraft with appropriate tail-art.

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## Wurger (Apr 2, 2021)




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## imalko (May 21, 2021)

Today, after 58 years of service, legendary aircraft MiG-21 officially goes out of use in the Serbian Air Force...

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## imalko (May 21, 2021)



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## Wurger (May 21, 2021)




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## tomo pauk (May 21, 2021)

Seem like our MiG-21s are also on the way out. The decision for the new fighter jet (candidates are F-16, Grippen, Rafale - all second hand) is supposed to be made in the next week, 12 aircraft total.
Igor - Serbia should be receiving the MiG-35?


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## vikingBerserker (May 21, 2021)

58 years, that is just mind blowing to me.


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## Airframes (May 24, 2021)

That's some service life !!!


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