Operation Deliberate Force

Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in concert with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), 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.

This article is about the NATO air campaign in August and September 1995. For NATO air campaigns in 1994 and the rest of 1995, see Operation Deny Flight.

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
Date30 August – 20 September 1995
Location
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Result

NATO victory

Belligerents
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		 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		 25–27 soldiers killed
338 different targets hit, most of them destroyed
27 Bosnian Serb civilians killed

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., 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. On 19 occasions, depleted uranium munitions were used against targets around Sarajevo and Han Pijesak.

The bombing campaign was also roughly conterminous with Operation Mistral 2, two linked military offensives of the Croatian Army (HV), the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) launched in western Bosnia.

The campaign also lifted the siege of Sarajevo which led to the way for a negotiated settlement.

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