NATO amasses wide array of firepower around Y'slavia

BRUSSELS, Jan 22: NATO commands a wide array of firepower stationed near Yugoslavia in the event of a military showdown over Kosovo, informed sources said Thursday, reports AFP.

More than 200 fighter planes, including F-15, F-16 and stealth aircraft, have been amassed mostly in northern Italy.

Belgrade has 80 fighters, plus sophisticated anti-aircraft system developed in the days of the former communist Yugoslavia to deal with a feared Soviet attack.

US firepower is the backbone of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces in the Mediterranean region.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and eight warships have been redeployed to the Adriatic and are scheduled to arrive in the Adriatic Sea in the coming days.

Fighter pilots based in northern Italy have been moved up from a 96-hour to a 40-hour alert, hastening the redeployment of the aircraft NATO members provided before the Kosovo crisis eased last October when a US-brokered ceasefire began.

At the height of tensions between Serbian forces and rebel Kosovo Albanians, NATO had 430 aircraft close to the Balkans - some already there on Bosnian peacekeeping duty.

Most aircraft were redeployed when Belgrade agreed to NATO demands to reduce Serbian forces in Kosovo.

Among NATO firepower already in the region, some aircraft have been outfitted with long-range cruise missiles.

Others possess air-to-ground and air-to-air defence missiles. US warships and submarines are also equipped with cruise missiles.

The other NATO forces in the region are: - Eight German tornado-ECR fighters arrived in Piacenza, Italy, on Thursday, specialising in search-and-destroy missions of anti-aircraft batteries.

- France said it had sent eight Mirage 2000c fighters, four Mirage 2000d fighters, five Jaguar reconnaissance aircrafts and a C-160 transall Gabriel aircraft, all of which are coordinated with the aircraft carrier Foch, stationed in the Adriatic with an arsenal of 18 fighters, including 14 super-etendard equipped with laser-guided bombs, and four Etendard reconnaissance aircraft.

- The Netherlands has sent eight F-16s and has a frigate sailing in the Mediterranean.

- Britain has four fighter-bombers and a refueling aircraft.

- Belgium has deployed six F-16 fighters at the airbase in Amendola.

- Denmark has sent to Italy six F-16 aircraft and 100 soldiers.

- Norway has deploy six F-16s and 230 and 230 soldiers.

- Portugal has sent three F-16 and two Hercules C-130 aircraft to the US air base in Aviano, Italy, with a third C-130 scheduled to arrive on Friday.

The rump Yugoslavia's forces include 79 Mig fighters - 47 MIG-21F, 17 MIG-21U and 15 MIG-29 - according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.

Serbian forces command ground-to-air missile batteries deployed in eight different sites, equipped with about 100 Sam missile with a range of up to 16 kilometres, the Institute said.