Operation Deliberate Force

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Operation Deliberate Force
Part of the NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War
A US Air Force F-16C aircraft returns to Aviano AB, Italy, from a mission in support of NATO airstrikes against the Army of the Republika Srpska
Date 30 August – 20 September 1995 Location Bosnia and Herzegovina Result NATO victory Bosnian Serbs return to negotiations
Belligerents
NATO  France  Germany  Italy  Netherlands  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom  United States UNPROFOR	Republika Srpska
Commanders and leaders
/ Leighton Smith / Michael E. Ryan / Stuart Peach / Bernard Janvier / André Soubirou / Sir Rupert Smith / Dick Applegate Sir Mark Mans[1]	Ratko Mladić Radislav Krstić
Strength
400 aircraft 5,000 military personnel 1 Ticonderoga-class cruiser 500 French peacekeepers 320 British peacekeepers Dutch 1e Mortiercompagnie, Korps Mariniers 12 105mm guns 8 155mm howitzers 12 British Warrior AFVs	80,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
1 Mirage 2000N shot down 2 pilots POW 1 MQ-1 Predator shot down[2]	25–27 soldiers killed[3] 338 different targets hit, most of them destroyed
27 Bosnian Serb civilians killed[4]

Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by NATO, in concert with the UNPROFOR ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Army of Republika Srpska, which had threatened and attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War with the Srebrenica genocide and Markale massacres, precipitating the intervention. The shelling of the Sarajevo marketplace on 28 August 1995 by the VRS is considered to be the immediate instigating factor behind NATO's decision to launch the operation.^[5][6]

The operation was carried out between 30 August and 20 September 1995, involving 400 aircraft and 5,000 personnel from 15 nations. Commanded by Admiral Leighton W. Smith Jr.,^[7][6] the campaign struck 338 Bosnian Serb targets, many of which were destroyed. Overall, 1,026 bombs were dropped during the operation, 708 of which were precision-guided.^[8] On 19 occasions, depleted uranium munitions were used against targets around Sarajevo and Han Pijesak.^[9]

The bombing campaign was also roughly conterminous with Operation Mistral 2, two linked military offensives of the Croatian Army, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Croatian Defence Council launched in western Bosnia. The campaign also lifted the siege of Sarajevo which led to the way for a negotiated settlement.^[10]