Died in combat with an F-16 25 years ago

Serbian Air Force spoke about pilot Pavlovic, who died in combat with an F-16 25 years ago.

He died heroically in an unequal battle with several F-16s during the 1999 NATO invasion.

President Aleksandar Vucic directly stated that the government of Belgrade has come to a decision and is actively modernizing its armed forces.

204th Fighter Regiment of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Colonel Milenko Pavlovich, stopped his junior colleague pilot and, instead of him, flew alone in a MiG-29 from an airfield near Belgrade towards a group of North Atlantic Alliance aircraft. NATO carried out airstrikes on his hometown of Valjevo, the Krusik defense plant in the city center.

At around 12.45, in an uneven battle, Colonel Pavlovich’s MiG-29 was hit by three missiles from a group of Dutch Air Force F-16s. The pilot died in the air, a monument and commemoration was erected in Valjevo and his home village of Gorne Krinilevo.