Unless "element of Surprise" why in a world they brough Apache there?
Clinton Calls Apache Pilot Risk High
Tuesday, 18 May 1999
W A S H I N G T O N (AP)
THE VAUNTED Apache attack helicopters that were to have added a
unique punch to NATO's air campaign are unlikely to see combat
over Kosovo anytime soon. The risk to pilots is simply too great,
President Clinton suggested Tuesday, after the Pentagon dispatched
more ground-attack A-10 jets instead.
"When the weather is good - as it generally is at this time of year -
most of what the Apaches could do can be done by the A-10s at less
risk," Clinton said, referring to Air Force planes that are operating
over Kosovo from bases in Italy.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the
international peacekeeping force that NATO planners are
considering would be in the range of 45,000 to 50,000 troops. He
did not mention a specific U.S. contribution. Previously, the plan was
for 28,000 troops, including 4,000 Americans.
Bacon described Clinton's remarks on the helicopters as meaning
"the A-10s may be able to do the work that the Apaches were sent
there to do." He added, however, that the Apaches would remain in
Albania, ready for use "at the appropriate time."
Weather is a factor because the Apaches are designed to fly low -
just a few feet off the ground if necessary. Thus, they can operate
below the cloud cover that bedeviled Air Force attack planes earlier
in Operation Allied Force. But in recently improved weather
conditions, that no longer is an advantage.
In fact, it is the Apaches' low-flying approach that puts their two-man
crews at great risk over Kosovo, where Serb soldiers are armed with
thousands of shoulder-fired missiles, known as SA-7s, that can knock
a helicopter out of the sky. Eight weeks of NATO airstrikes have
been unable to reduce that threat, even while they have bombed air
defense radars and larger surface-to-air missile sites.
Col. George Svitak of the Army's field artillery school at Fort Sill,
Okla., said Tuesday it would be "very difficult" to hit dispersed and
mobile SA-7s with the two Army tactical missile batteries that are
deployed with the Apaches in Albania to provide a defense against
Serb artillery and larger air defense sites.
In other developments Tuesday, U.S. military officials in Germany
turned over two Serb prisoners of war to Belgrade-based Red Cross
officials at Hungary's border with Yugoslavia.
Also, officials said 54 U.S. Air Force F-15 and F-16 attack planes will
be dispatched to bases in Turkey for use against Yugoslavia. The
Pentagon said Turkey would contribute 18 fighter jets. The Air Force
also announced the call-up of 153 members of four Air National
Guard air control squadrons from four states- the 103rd Air Control
Squadron from Orange, Conn., the 117th from Savannah, Ga., the
128th from Camp Douglas, Wis., and the 255th from Gulfport, Miss.
That brings to 4,453 the number of Air Force reservists ordered to
active duty since the start of the Kosovo crisis.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters during a photo
session in the Oval Office, Clinton was asked if he was reconsidering
putting ground troops into Kosovo. He replied that NATO should
stick with its current approach.
"I think the air war has accomplished quite a bit and there's a lot
more that it can accomplish," Clinton said. "I and everyone else has
always said that we intend to see our objectives achieved, and that we
have not and will not take any option off the table."
Clinton denied suggestions that U.S. political authorities are
stopping the military from using the Apaches.
"They are there to be used under appropriate circumstances when
the military commanders decide that it should be done," Clinton said.
"It's not a political decision in any way."
Critics who advocate a more aggressive approach to the air war have
not beaten the drums for putting Apaches into action, but contend
that relying on the Air Force alone is unlikely to achieve NATO's
goals.
"We should be preparing right now for a ground force," said Sen.
Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, just back from a three-day trip to the region.
"I'm not convinced that air power alone will get the Serbs out of
Kosovo."
Another factor weighing against use of the Apaches in Kosovo is the
limited avenues of approach they could take in strike missions across
the Albanian border. Serb forces on the Kosovo side of the border
probably know with reasonable certainty where the Apaches would
be most likely to enter Kosovo, U.S. officials believe.
One senior Army officer, speaking privately, expressed the opinion
Tuesday that it is more likely Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
will give up and accept NATO's peace terms than for the Apaches to
see action in Kosovo. The risk to pilots simply outweighs the
potential gain, he and others argue.
That could change if the air defense threat lessens or the weather
worsens for a prolonged period, he said.
There are 24 Apaches based in Albania, including replacements for
two that crashed on training missions inside Albania. In the second
crash, on May 5, the two pilots were killed; mechanical failure was
blamed. In the earlier crash, blamed on pilot error, the crew escaped
without serious injury. The helicopters are armed with tank-killing
Hellfire missiles, 70 mm rockets and a 30 mm automatic cannon.
From the time Clinton approved deployment of the Apaches to
Albania on April 4, the Pentagon has trumpeted the helicopters as a
unique weapon that would add a new dimension to Operation Allied
Force. The Apaches began arriving in Albania on April 21 and have
been conducting nighttime training since then.
When he announced Clinton's approval for sending the Apaches,
Pentagon spokesman Bacon said April 4 they were requested by
Army Gen. Wesley Clark, the top NATO commander in Europe. |
