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Nato dropped thousands
      of bombs on dummy
        roads, bridges and
  soldiers ... and hit only 13
           real Serb tanks

   FROM MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR, IN PRISTINA
  NATO'S 79-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia,
  which involved thousands of sorties and some of the most
  sophisticated precision weapons, succeeded in damaging
  only 13 of the Serbs' 300 battle tanks in Kosovo, despite
  alliance claims of large-scale destruction of Belgrade's
  heavy armour.

  With Nato's Kosovo Force (Kfor) now spread out into
  every area of the province, troops from all the different
  nationalities taking part in the peacekeeping operation
  have been searching for destroyed or damaged tanks and
  artillery. They have, so far, come across only three
  crippled tanks.

  During the air campaign, elaborate claims were made by
  Nato officials that hundreds of Serb tanks, artillery pieces,
  mortars and armoured personnel carriers had been struck.
  It was also suggested this was one of the main reasons
  why President Milosevic decided to cave in and agree to
  a ceasefire and the deployment of a large international
  peace-keeping force in Kosovo. Now some Nato officials
  are baffled about why he did surrender.

  It was claimed that up to 60 per cent of Serb artillery and
  mortar pieces had been hit and about 40 per cent of the
  Yugoslav Army's main battle tanks had been damaged or
  destroyed. There were even reports of an attack by B52
  bombers on a Serb brigade which was drawn out into the
  open by Kosovo Liberation Army fighters, leading to the
  death of up to 700 Serb soldiers.

  However, before the Serbs finally withdrew three days
  ago, they informed Kfor that Nato had managed to hit 13
  of the 300 or so tanks that they had deployed in Kosovo
  - most of which have been removed from the province on
  low-loaders.

  Kfor troops have found just three damaged T55 tanks left
  behind in Kosovo. "What we have found is a huge number
  of dummy tanks and artillery," one Kfor source said.

  The Yugoslav Army used well-practised Russian
  camouflage techniques which involved placing dummies
  around the countryside, some of them next to dummy
  bridges with strips of black plastic sheeting across fields
  as fake roads to delude Nato bombers into thinking they
  had a prime target to hit. "When you're travelling at
  500mph at 15,000ft, it is easy to be fooled," another Kfor
  source said.

  When the Serbs finally withdrew from the province, at
  least 250 tanks were counted out, as well as 450
  armoured personnel carriers and 600 artillery and mortar
  pieces.

  Travelling around Kosovo, one sees many destroyed
  army barracks, state police buildings and oil terminals,
  firm evidence that the Nato bombers were successful in
  hitting these prime targets. However, apart from the
  wrecks of a few trucks left behind by the Serbs, it is
  virtually impossible to spot a destroyed tank.
Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd.