This is the second volume in a series on the Yugoslav Air Force during the Balkan Wars of 1991-92. The first volume looked at the war against Slovenia. This one concentrates on Croatia. In both cases, the local governments declared their independence from a united Yugoslavia. In both cases, it was what is now Serbia, that objected.

This brought about a rather unusual situation where Serbian military installations were often put under siege by local forces, many of whom just recently were part of the Yugoslav military. In some cases the installations were taken over with minimal casualties and in others the battle was fiercely fought.

Throughout all of this the only side that had much in the way of air power was the Serbs. They had a fairly potent air arm of ground attack aircraft that was used somewhat sparingly in terms of numbers. One did not find major waves of jets attacking positions. Instead strikes were generally a pair of aircraft; sometimes as many as four.

Thanks to the capture of ex-Yugoslav installations, the Croatians were able to amass a fairly robust selection of anti-aircraft guns and even some MANPADS. With these weapons they were able to knock down several Serbian aircraft. One thing for sure is that neither side showed much compassion when they captured troops or airmen with a number being tortured and some killed in the process.

The book provides the usual well done background information as well as providing a running commentary on the air war as it matches up with the fighting on the ground. This is something that is pretty well provided from the Serbian side of things and includes a number of tales from shot down pilots as they tried to escape capture. As usual, there are great period photos, well done maps and charts, along with the usual quality color profiles. A great read as usual and one that I can easily recommend.

August 2025

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction without express permission.

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishers, where you can order your copy at this link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.