The first of 24 U.S. ``Apache'' helicopters could arrive in Albania later this week to join a NATO strike force attacking Yugoslavia, increasing substantially the alliance's ability to smash Serb tanks and troops sweeping Kosovo, defense officials said on Monday....
Critics have accused the U.S. military of moving too slowly in shifting Apaches, which could prove vulnerable to Serb anti-aircraft fire, from Germany although they are one of the world's most effective weapons against armor such as that being used to drive ethnic Albanians from Kosovo Province.
The Pentagon insists the delay has been partly due to strains on Tirana air traffic by a massive humanitarian airlift and the fact that the airport did not have a runway lighting or round-the-clock flight control system until this weekend....
Using the Apaches, armed with a 30mm cannon, 70mm rockets and 16 Hellfire missiles designed to knock out tanks and other armor, would also bring a new dimension to the NATO strike force.
The cannon fires extremely hard bullets made of depleted uranium, capable of cutting through the thick steel skin of tanks. The helicopters attack both in daylight and darkness with a two-man crew equipped with special night-vision devices on their helmets.
But because they fly low and much slower than jet fighters, the Apaches would be vulnerable to Serb missiles and hundreds of anti-aircraft guns in southern Serbia.
U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, the commander of all NATO forces in Europe, asked for the helicopters nearly two weeks ago in a move to attack Serb troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers which have been attacking and herding hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo.
Shea told reporters in Brussels on Monday that there will be 192 flights by U.S. C-5 military cargo planes into Tirana in the next few days to bring together the whole Apache operation.
The Apaches themselves are expected to fly to Tirana from Germany although they can be packed aboard C-5s with folded rotors.
Pentagon officials told reporters at a briefing on Saturday that it could be 10 days to two weeks before all of the Apaches were in place, but would not predict when they would launch initial strikes.
Shea cautioned against expectations that the Apaches would ``suddenly turn the situation around'' against Serb armor, which is reported to be dispersed and in many cases well hidden.