National Experiences - British Commission for Military History

224 ai r p o w e r in 20 t H Ce n t u ry do C t r i n e s a n d em p l o y m e n t - nat i o n a l ex p e r i e n C e s
In addition, the transport aircraft and transport helicopters were to be used frequently
in humanitarian missions. The scope of this article does not allow for a full description
of the international missions in which the RNLAF participated. The most prominent
operations in which the RNLAF took part are therefore outlined below.
The Guided Missile Groups were to be deployed in crisis response operations
even before they were withdrawn from West Germany. During the Gulf War (1990
– 1991), Turkey asked the Dutch government to provide an air defence unit to guard
against possible Iraqi Scud-missile attacks. From January to March 1991, two Patriot
squadrons were stationed near Diyarbakir Air Base in Southeast Turkey during
operation Wild Turkey. The Patriot units were later to be reinforced by two Hawk
squadrons. In addition, in February and March 1991, the RNLAF deployed another
eight Patriot launcher stations to Israel in the context of operation Diamond Patriot,
again to guard against the danger of Iraqi Scud attacks. The deployment to Turkey
was to be repeated twelve years later in operation Display Deterrence. During the
Second Gulf War, the Turkish government again asked the Netherlands to provide
Patriot units to protect Turkey against potential Iraqi missile attacks. From February
to April 2003, two Patriot batteries took up positions at Diyarbakir Air Base, while
another battery took up position near the Turkish town of Batman. The units were
not required to take action.
Dutch F-16 fighter aircraft did not play a role in either of the two Gulf Wars. They
were, however, to make their mark over the former Republic of Yugoslavia, and
afterwards over Afghanistan and Libya. From April 1993, Dutch F-16s participated
in operation Deny Flight, which was aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone over Bosnia.
Operating from the Italian air bases of Villafranca and later Amendola, between
1993 and 2001, the F-16s carried out a highly varied range of tasks. In addition to air
defence (Combat Air Patrol – CAP) and reconnaissance (recce) missions, they also
flew ground-support missions (Close Air Support – CAS). The Dutch fighter aircraft
operated on the basis of the so-called swing-role principle, whereby they were able
to carry out both offensive and defensive tasks during the same mission, depending
on the specific operational requirements of that moment. The deployment over the
former Yugoslavia was the first time the air force had used weapons since the decolonisation
war in Indonesia. On 21 November 1994, Dutch F-16s participated in
the air strike against Udbina airfield in Croatia, a precision bombardment aimed at
destroying the take-off and landing strips. In September 1995, in operation Deliberate
Force, which was aimed at forcing the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table, the
F-16s fulfilled a wide variety of tasks. Thus, they carried out over ten per cent of the
bombardments, among other things. The systematic suppression of the ethnic Albanian
majority in Kosovo led to the NATO decision in March 1999 to start a phased
air campaign, operation Allied Force, which was to last 78 days in total. The Dutch
F-16s were prominently represented in this operation; as early as the first night of
the campaign, a Dutch F-16 shot down a Yugoslav MiG-29 Fulcrum, followed by a
large number of bombing attacks on various Serb targets later in the operation. The
accelerated delivery of LANTIRN targeting pods enabled the Dutch F-16s to carry