C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

290delivered by the French UAVs could not be found in the archives of UNPROFOR or DPKO. Be thatas it may, the problems with these UAVs prompted Bosnia-Hercegovina Command (BHC) to ask theheadquarters in Zagreb to have other aircraft carry out photo reconnaissance missions at lowaltitudes. 1556Though previous experience had proven negative, these were again French UAVs, namely, theFOX, which came in three versions: AT1, AT2 and TX. The French started developing these UAVs in1986. The AT1 and AT2 were used for short-range battlefield reconnaissance and the TX was used forelectronic warfare. The FOX was launched with a catapult and could be programmed or controlledfrom the ground. It landed by means of a parachute. The FOX had a real-time data-link and could befitted with TV cameras, infra-red sensors, VHF or radar jammers (TX version). The UN is said to havehad ten FOX AT1s at its disposal for reconnaissance flights above Bosnia. The FOX had a limitedaction radius of 55 km and a maximum endurance of 1.5 hours. The Netherlands Military IntelligenceService (MIS) had no knowledge of the operational base of these UAVs or who was responsible fortheir deployment. Nor did it know where the intelligence arrived, how it was processed and who wasresponsible for the processing. 1557 Again, the Imint which the French UAVs eventually delivered couldnot be traced in the archives of UNPROFOR or the DPKO. It did, however, clearly emerge thatUNPROFOR footed the bill for the force protection activities of the French Army. The French alsoneglected to inform UNPROFOR that their military intelligence services were also working with theirown UAVs. These were only operational in Sarajevo in the form of small, unmanned helicopters with alimited flying time. The results were not shared with UNPROFOR; the French were playing thingsclose to their chest. 1558 It is therefore also unknown what Imint was collected by these UAVs in 1995.The ‘Raven’, the UAV tested by the British in the 1990s, was not operational above Bosnia, butthe German UAV, the Dornier CL-289 UAV, is thought to have been active in the region in 1995.These UAVs, which had a Zeiss camera and infra-red capacity, were especially involved in militarytactical reconnaissance. An official of the Bundesnachrichtendienst claimed that this Imint was passed on to1559NATO. Most likely, these German UAVs were mainly active above Croatia. Their limited flyingdistance (less than 200 kilometres) continued to constitute a major problem. During the war in Kosovo,the German photos were rated as the sharpest, and the colour video of the Predator was deemed thebest Imint. 1560Among the warring factions, only the Croatians made regular use of UAVs – the MAH-1 andthe MAH-2 – for gathering Imint. These machines were built in Croatia. In February 1995, UNMOsobserved a launch near Karlovac. The Croatian UAVs were frequently deployed above Bihac. ACroatian officer who participated in this programme said that the Croatian UAVs even flew aboveBelgrade. Croatian electronic warfare experts were also reportedly able to get access to the AmericanVSAT downlinks which relayed images from the Predators to the ground. 1561During the conflict in Bosnia the Serbian air force also had access to special Imint aircraft. Forexample, the VJ had a squadron of twelve special MIG-21 planes. This squadron, which was fitted with‘pods’ on the underside of the aircraft, carried out Imint and Sigint tasks from the air base in Ponikveand Belgrade. These aircraft carried out a maximum of five reconnaissance missions a day. They wereoften moved to keep them out of sight of US spy satellites and U-2 missions. Sometimes, they flewover the Drina for operations above Bosnia. 1562 It may be construed on the basis of this information1556 UNGE, UNPROFOR. BHC to Unprofor, Zagreb, No. AOCC/OPS/30, 07/12/93.1557 MoD, MID/TCBU. MID/KM Report, UAVs above Bosnia, PIR 95/1, 02/02/95.1558 Confidential interview (54). See also: Eriksson, ‘Intelligence and Peacekeeping Operations’, International Journal of Intelligenceand Counter-intelligence, Vol. 10 (1997) 1, p. 11.1559 Confidential interview (58).1560 Tim Ripley, ‘UAVs above Kosovo - did the Earth move?’, Defence Systems Daily, 01/12/99. Later during the Kosovocrisis in 1999, besides the Americans, various European countries reportedly deployed UAVs including the French withtheir Segem and the Germans with their Dornier CL-289. Even the Italians operated UAVs from Albania.1561 Ripley, Operation, p. 83.1562 Confidential interview (73).