Boston.com / Crisis in Kosovo

GROUND TROOPS:
Just under 12,000 NATO troops in Macedonia, most of whom would have been part of a 28,000-strong force to ensure a peace agreement in Kosovo if it had been signed by all parties.

AIR FORCES:
About 430 allied aircraft, 200 of them from the United States. Most based at Aviano Air Base and Cervia in northern Italy, others in Germany and England.

Air forces include:

F-16s from several countries; the L-1011, three E3Ds -- part of an airborne early warning system -- and eight Harrier GR7s, short-takeoff, vertical-landing aircraft armed with Paveway II laser-guided bombs, from Britain; Tornados from Germany; Tornados, the AMX and the F104 from Italy; EF-18s and KIC-130 from Spain; Jaguars, the Mirage 2000C, 2000D, E3-F, and C-135 from France; the KDC-10 from the Netherlands; B-52s, F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter-bombers, F-15E strike planes, F-16CJ jets armed with anti-radar missiles, and F-16CGs carrying precision-guided munitions for ground-attack missions from the United States.

On March 29, the US said it intended to send five more B-1 bombers to join mission.

NAVAL FORCES:
A fleet of U.S. and allied ships, including four U.S. Navy surface ships and two attack submarines capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Adriatic Sea, and a British submarine with cruise missiles.

There are several thousand sailors and marines on the U.S. Navy ships alone.

Also included in the naval forces is the EA-6B Prowler, an electronic warfare plane designed to jam enemy radar and communications to protect allied fighter aircraft.

Tomahawk missiles would be used in any initial NATO attack, to heavily damage Yugoslavia's fixed air defense network.

The B-2 stealth bombers and F-117 stealth fighters might then be sent in against mobile air defense systems, with subsequent attacks on air bases, command and communications systems, and other military targets.

YUGOSLAVIA

AIR FORCES:

15,000 personnel.

-Fifteen top-of-the-line MiG-29s and a nominal strength of about 50 obsolete MiG-21 interceptors. Many of the latter reportedly have been cannibalized for spare parts.

-About 90 light ground attack jets.

-About 60 surface-to-air missile batteries, consisting mostly of Soviet-built, Vietnam-era SA-2s and SA-3s. Concentrated around Belgrade, well-known to allied pilots.

Several radar-guided mobile batteries of SA-6, a missile recently upgraded using Russian-supplied advanced equipment. Vulnerable to sophisticated electronic jamming procedures by allied air forces.

SA-7, 16 and 18 portable systems, shoulder-launched missiles.

ARMY:

About 85,000 troops, mostly poorly trained conscripts, and possibly 200,000 reservists. Morale is said to be low, and a call-up of reservists proved problematic, with hundreds of reservists protesting in several southern cities, and Montenegro actively working against the call-up. In some areas, only one in 10 reservists have reported for duty.

Yugoslavia has deployed 27,000 troops in Kosovo, plus 8,000 near the Kosovo border, with 300 tanks. Also deployed are 16,500 police, of which 6,500 special combat police forces.

About 1,270 battle tanks, many in storage or no longer serviceable. About 200 are World War II-vintage Soviet T-34 tanks; about 750 are obsolete T-55s dating back to the 1950s. About 300 modern, Yugoslav-built versions of the Soviet T-72, but lacking modern features used by Western tanks, such as reactive armor or sophisticated fire control and communications gear. The T-72 fared poorly when used by the Iraqis against coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War.

M-80 Armored Fighting Vehicle, a copy of the Russian BMP-1 AFV.

BOV-M APC, a wheeled reconnaissance vehicle.

BOV-3, self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, used on the ground effectively.

PRAGA, armored truck with 30-mm anti-aircraft cannon, used to great effect against houses and infantry.

NAVY:

About 15,000 personnel.

RUSSIA

On March 31, Russia said it intended to send a warship from the Black Sea Feet to the Mediterranean and putting others on standby. The move was seen as a symbol of protest against the NATO strikes.


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