Zoran Radosavljević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Зоран Радосављевић; 26 February 1965 – 26 March 1999) was a Yugoslav

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

who fought in the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

and came to prominence after he was killed during the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...

Early life

Radosavljević was born on 26 February 1965 in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / "; ; . Also abbreviated as SAP Kosovo. referre ...

Socialist Republic of Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. Since his father Svetozar was an officer of the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

, and because, due to the need for service, he often changed his place of residence, Zoran, together with his mother Radojka and sister Snežana, often moved. He spent his childhood throughout the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, from

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. He graduated from the Starina Novak Elementary School in Belgrade. Afterwards, he enrolled in the military high school, and then in the Aviation Academy. He was educated at the Marshal Tito General Aviation Military High School in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, and then at the Aviation Military Academy in

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

and

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. After graduating from the military academy, he began his career as a military pilot in Belgrade in 1986 as a

on a

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

plane. In 1992, he was promoted to the rank of captain of the first class. In the same year, he completed retraining on a

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

plane and became the youngest pilot in the squadron of MiG-29s in the Yugoslav Air Force. In 1996, he enrolled in postgraduate studies at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

Faculty of Transportation where he received his master's degree in June 1998. He became one of the leading experts in Serbia and Yugoslavia in the field of

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). , four global systems are ope ...

. In 1999, he prepared his doctorate.

Death and legacy

At the beginning of the

, on 24 March 1999, Radosavljević was a member of the 127th Fighter Aviation "Vitezovi" Squadron, which was located at the

Batajnica Air Base The Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base (), commonly known as Batajnica Air Base () is the main military air base of Serbia. It is located between Batajnica and Nova Pazova, about 25 km northwest from the center of Belgrade, Serbia. Histo ...

. On 26 March 1999, two days after the bombing began, Radosavljević and his colleague Colonel Slobodan Perić were ordered to take off and oppose NATO aviation. The Yugoslav Army's MiG-29 planes were in semi-working condition, incapable of air combat. The radar range of the NATO plane was 120 km, while the range of the MiG-29 was half that. After initially avoiding NATO missiles, they were both hit by a missile fired by American pilot Jeff Hwang. Perić survived but Radosavljević did not. According to the official version of events, Radosavljević was shot down in the wider region of

Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia, on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2022 the city had a total population of 19,515, while the administrative area had a ...

, but the wreckage and his body were found immediately in the evening by two teenage boys not far from

Teočak Teočak ( sr-cyrl, Теочак) is a municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The center of the municipality is the village of Teočak-Krstac. Geography The municipali ...

near

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...

in the region of

Majevica Majevica ( sr-cyrl, Мајевица, ) is a low mountain range in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated between Semberija, Posavina, and Tuzla Canton. Its highest peak is Stolice, some 16 kilometres east of Tuzla, in the far sout ...

, in the territory of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

. Perić was also shot down with Radosavljević but survived by catapulting out of his plane. The fuselage was on a meadow, the beak on one mountain, and Radosavljević's body still in the seat on the other. The teenagers wrapped his body in a blanket and handed him over to the

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...

who then took him on foot across the field to the hospital in Loznica. He had no children and was not married. He was interred three days later at the Lešće Cemetery in Belgrade. Radosavljević was posthumously awarded the

Order of Bravery The Order of Bravery () is a Bulgarian order which existed during the Kingdom of Bulgaria and currently exists in the Republic of Bulgaria. It was the second highest in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and is the fourth highest in the Republic of Bulgaria ...

and promoted by decree of his commander. Today, the main street in Batajnica is named after him. Since 1999, the Faculty of Transportation he attended has been renamed after him and has been awarding an annual prize for the best student in Air Traffic. Posthumously, at the Batajnica airport, an award is given every year, which bears his name to the best department.

References

External links

Major Radosavljević bi se ponosio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radosavljevic, Zoran 1965 births 1999 deaths Military personnel from Pristina Yugoslav People's Army personnel Yugoslav military personnel killed in action Yugoslav aviators Serbian aviators Serbian military personnel killed in action Serbian military personnel of the Kosovo War Military personnel killed in the Kosovo War Aviators killed by being shot down People killed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1999

Early life

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links