Frustrated NATO plans heavier bombing

September 6, 1995

From Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Frustrated that Bosnian Serbs are not "getting the message" and complying with United Nations demands, NATO is planning a new phase of heavier bombing as soon as cloud cover over Bosnia clears, sources told CNN Wednesday. (See "NATO renews assault on Bosnian Serbs")

If all planned targets are hit, the sources said, the new round of attacks would be bigger than any previous NATO raids.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William Perry said Wednesday the Serbs will pay a "heavy price" if they fail to remove heavy weapons from the hills around Sarajevo. "The campaign will go on as long as needed, and as intensely as needed to accomplish the objectives," he said. (68k .aiff sound file)

Among the intended targets, CNN has learned, is Banja Luka, a Bosnian Serb stronghold northwest of Sarajevo where the Serbs have sophisticated SA-6 anti-aircraft missile launchers and radars.

While much of the Serb's air defense system was disabled in last week's initial NATO raids, Pentagon sources said the Bosnian Serbs are using computer links to Serbia's capital of Belgrade to keep the system running.

Sources said NATO also plans to step up the use of AC-130 "Spectre" gunships, equipped with cannons and highly accurate targeting systems, to pick off Serb tanks and artillery in the exclusion zone around Sarajevo.

While air strikes so far have failed to force capitulation by the Serbs, they have been 80 percent accurate against large, fixed targets, sources said.

According to internal Pentagon assessment, the success rate for hitting smaller targets has been lower. Sources tell CNN as many as three out of five smart bombs deployed in poor weather have missed smaller targets.

[William Perry] "We expect these precision-guided munitions to land within 10 feet or so of the aim point, and generally they are doing that," Perry said.

According to sources at the Pentagon, the smaller targets posed a particular problem for Navy F/A-18s, which have a weaker night-targeting system than Air Force F-16s.

One source said the problem is causing some complications for NATO military planners who have to be careful to assign the Navy planes to bigger targets.

To increase the number of smart bombs on each run in the latest round of air strikes, CNN has learned, the U.S. is for the first time using F-14 "Tomcats" from the carrier Roosevelt to drop laser-guided bombs.

[Navy F-14] Nicknamed "Bombcats," these air-to-air fighters dropped smart bombs near Pale Tuesday guided by lasers on other U.S. planes. The bombs hit an ammunition dump and command control center. The F-14's were accompanied by F/A-18s, which illuminated targets with laser designators after dropping their own bombs.

The Navy has been working on plans to convert the F-14 Tomcat into Bombcats ever since it began retiring A-6s -- the Navy's primary long-range bomber.

So far, Pentagon sources say, cloud cover over Bosnia has protected the Serbs from heavier bombing. That will change as soon the weather does, they said.

Frustrated NATO plans heavier bombing

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