WASHINGTON, June 5 -- The United States has been receiving beeper transmissions over the last 24 hours from Bosnia-Herzegovina that could be eminating from the downed American pilot's emergency beacon, a senior military official said Monday. Gen. Ronald Fogleman, chairman of the U.S. Air Force, says that while the transmissions are typical to what a downed airman would send, the Pentagon was still not able to confirm with certainty whether they were from the pilot. 'We're optimistic,' Fogleman said. The transmissions 'are about the same' as what a pilot is required to do when on the ground, Fogleman said. A downed American pilot is required to send out signals in certain increments, 'such as every hour or half hour,' Fogleman said. Such transmissions, from beacon equipment on the pilot, can sometimes eminate from enemy forces who have recovered the equipment and are trying to duplicate efforts of a downed airman. The practice was used occasionally by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War to draw in U.S. servicemen attempting to rescue a downed pilot. Still, the Pentagon is guardedly optimistic. 'We are doing our utmost to locate the signals,' a Pentagon official said on condition his name not be used. The official said the beeper signals are 'encouraging' but 'the signals alone are not enough for us to decide whether the pilot is alive.' There have also been reports from Serbia that the pilot's parachute has been recovered. The Pentagon, however, has not be able to verify that information, the official said.
The F-16 was shot down on Friday by a Bosnian Serb missile. The pilot's wingman, also flying an F-16, reported that the plane broke in half when the missile struck the jet's underbelly. The wingman did not see the pilot eject or the canopy of the plane shoot into the air. U.S. warplane shot down by Bosnian Serbs last week could soon end if the Serbs do not release a photo of the pilot, whom they claim to be holding hostage. Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic has claimed that his forces are holding the pilot as a prisoner of war. Mladic issued a statement saying he will soon release a photo of the pilot to provide proof of his claims. In light of the downed U.S. F-16, which was shot from the air by the Bosnian Serbs with a Russian-made mobile SA-6 surface-to-air missile system, NATO has called for a change in the rules of engagement for planes flying over Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO has now made it a policy for all flight operations going over any area of Bosnia-Herzegovina to have air defense suppression capabilities, a senior U.S. military official said. Such packages, called Supression of Enemy Air Defense, or SEAD, include planes such as the EF-111A Raven with radar jamming capabilities and F-4G 'Advanced Wild Weasel' warplanes that seek out and destroy enemy radar-directed anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-air missile sites. By including such an air defense package, NATO is hoping to decrease the vulnerability of its pilots. NATO planes flying over Bosnia-Herzegovina were not previously required to have such capabilities unless they were flying over areas known to be heavily armed with air defense systems. The downed F-16 'was not flying over an area considered a high- threat area,' said a U.S. official familiar with defense intelligence gathered on the event. In turn, the plane, which flew with only a second F-16, was not escorted with a SEAD package. The United States had earlier pressed NATO to include such systems on all flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but 'nobody would listen,' the senior U.S. military official said, because of 'political considerations.'
In light of the downed U.S. F-16, which was shot from the air by the Bosnian Serbs with a Russian-made mobile SA-6 surface-to-air missile system, NATO has called for a change in the rules of engagement for planes flying over Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO has now made it a policy for all flight operations going over any area of Bosnia-Herzegovina to have air defense suppression capabilities, a senior U.S. military official said. Such packages, called Supression of Enemy Air Defense, or SEAD, include planes such as the EF-111A Raven with radar jamming capabilities and F-4G 'Advanced Wild Weasel' warplanes that seek out and destroy enemy radar-directed anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-air missile sites. By including such an air defense package, NATO is hoping to decrease the vulnerability of its pilots. NATO planes flying over Bosnia-Herzegovina were not previously required to have such capabilities unless they were flying over areas known to be heavily armed with air defense systems. The downed F-16 'was not flying over an area considered a high- threat area,' said a U.S. official familiar with defense intelligence gathered on the event. In turn, the plane, which flew with only a second F-16, was not escorted with a SEAD package. The United States had earlier pressed NATO to include such systems on all flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but 'nobody would listen,' the senior U.S. military official said, because of 'political considerations.'
