1999 F-117A shootdown
On 27 March 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, a Yugoslav Army unit (the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade, which was under the leadership of Colonel Zoltán Dani) shot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft of the United States Air Force by firing a S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile. It was the first ever shootdown of a stealth technology airplane. The pilot ejected safely and was rescued by U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen conducting search and rescue.
| 1999 F-117A shootdown | |
|---|---|
| Part of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia | |
Canopy, ejection seat, and wing of F-117 with serial number 82-0806 at the Belgrade Aviation Museum in late 2018. | |
| Type | Aircraft shootdown |
| Location | Near Buđanovci, Serbia, Yugoslavia 44°54′N 19°52′E |
| Target | NATO warplanes |
| Date | 27 March 1999 8:15 p.m. |
| Executed by | 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade, Army of Yugoslavia |
The F-117, which entered service with the U.S. Air Force in 1983, was cutting-edge equipment, and the first operational aircraft to be designed using stealth technology; by comparison, the Yugoslav air defenses were considered relatively obsolete.
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