http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2000/June%202000/0600silver.aspx

On April 14, Capt. Cary N. Culbertson was leading a flight of F-16CJs that was providing suppression of enemy air defenses for B-2 bombers on a strike mission near Belgrade. The Serbs fired three SA-3s-presumably at the F-16s and not at the stealthy and much higher B-2s. Culbertson turned his F-16 toward the rising missiles and attacked the SA-3 site with a High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile. Then the Serbs launched two more SA-3s, this time directly at Culbertson's jet. "At this point," says Culbertson's Silver Star citation, "Captain Culbertson would have been justified to discontinue his attack and defend against the incoming missiles, but instead, with total disregard for his own personal safety and [with] the lives of his flight members foremost in his mind, he continued his attack." He fired another HARM, which took out the SAM radar. Then he evaded the SA-3s. The Serbs tried one more time from a different site, firing another salvo of SA-3s-and drawing a HARM from Culbertson's wingman.

That night, the 250/4rd PVO was operating from the south of Dolovo town.
They launched 2 missiles Betha=90, D=8, when a HARM was launched against from their back, Betha=30.
They immediately launched 2 new missiles against the new target at Betha=30, D=13.

The HARM detonation sprayed fragments at the UNK and the UNV vans.
The battery suffered two injuries.



On Google Earth, you can still find the place where this battle was fought.



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Capt. Sonny P. Blinkinsop also took unusual risks to protect his fellow pilots from Serb missiles. While he led a group of F-16CJs against some SAM sites near Obrva, Yugoslavia, on May 2, the Serbs launched several SA-3s at the formation. As one of the F-16s turned to fire a HARM at the SAM battery, another salvo of SA-3s was launched. Blinkinsop turned his aircraft toward the launch site-and into the path of the oncoming missiles-to fire a HARM at the battery. That act silenced the site. Then as the F-16s were reforming, the Serbs launched two more SA-3s at a second wave of NATO strike aircraft entering the area. Blinkinsop fired his last HARM at that SAM battery, shutting it down and letting the strikers escape safely. Blinkinsop's disregard for his own safety during this mission earned him the Silver Star.



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The final Silver Star recipient may have done as much to save a colleague as any of the rescue forces. On June 7, Maj. William L. Thomas Jr. was flying with a group of F-16s near Batajnica airfield, near Belgrade, when he located four Serbian MiG-29s parked below. He and his wingman each destroyed one of the jets on a first pass over the airfield. On a second pass Thomas destroyed a third MiG. But the Serbs, meanwhile, had fired two SA-3s, which forced Thomas's wingman into evasive maneuvers. The plume from one of the missiles temporarily blinded the wingman, who went into a low-altitude dive in the midst of a AAA field. Thomas flew into the AAA zone and dispensed flares, so the artillery barrages would target him instead of his wingman. It worked. Both pilots escaped.

It was Dani Zoltan's 250/3rd PVO last shooting (7th) of the war.
They were located north of Dec, and launched 2 missiles at 23:54 (Beta=0, D=15km), using TV-RL guidance.
Both missiles were missed.




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The other two Silver Star situation of the OAF are exist in the SAMSIM.
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Last edited by Hpasp; 02/08/13 07:02 PM.

Hpasp
Free SAM Simulator, "Realistic to the Switch"

(U-2 over Sverdlovsk, B-52's over Hanoi, F-4 Phantoms over the Sinai, F-16's and the F-117A Stealth bomber over the Balkans.)
http://sites.google.com/site/samsimulator1972/home

Book from the author - Soviet Nuclear Weapons in Hungary 1961-1991
https://sites.google.com/view/nuclear-weapons-in-hungary/

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