J-21 JASTREB

The 'J-21 Jastreb' was a single-seat attack/recce aircraft designed in the SFRJ in the 1960s. It is closely related to the similar 2-seat G-2 Galeb. The aircraft were built by SOKO, in Mostar (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina), until the 1980s. They were used by the SFR Yugoslav Air Force until its demise in 1991; remaining aircraft were passed on to the newer air forces of the Republika Srpska Air Force and the Air Force of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro.

Contents

Service History

Variants

Operators

Current Operators

Former Operators

Service History

When they were first designed in the 1960s, they were primarily used by the SFR Yugoslav Air Force as a trainer jet, although they were combat capable due to the J-21 being an attack aircraft. The J-21 was also used as a recce/spy jet in the former Yugoslav Air Force. After the break up of the SFRJ, many J-21s were passed onto the Republika Srpska and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in which some were deployed in combat in the Yugoslav Civil War from 1991-1995.
In the beginning years of the Yugoslav Wars, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the J-21 Jastreb was used by the Republika Srpska Air Force, which were being challenged by NATO fighter jets in Bosnian airspace. The famous dogfight that occurred over Bosnia on February 28, 1994, the 'Banja Luka incident' involved as many as 6 Jastreb jets being challenged and four of them downed by USAF F-16s.
After the Dayton Peace Accords were issued in 1995, the war in the Former Yugoslav territories, and J-21s were no longer used in combat. As a part of a SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia withdrew its remaining 66 J-21 Jastreb aircraft from service. To this day, only a few J-21s fly with the Republika Srpska Air Force.

Variants

★ 'J-1 Jastreb' : Single-seat ground-attack, reconnaissance aircraft.

★ 'J-1E' : Export version for Libya.

★ 'RJ-1' : Single-seat tactical reconnaissance aircraft.

★ 'RJ-1E' : Export version of the RJ-1 Jastreb.

★ 'JT-1' : Two-seat training aircraft.

Operators

Current Operators

;Republic of Srpska:

★ Republika Srpska Air Force - operates 7 aircraft.
;:

★ Libyan Air Force 80 (J-21 Jastrebs and G-2 Galebs)

Former Operators

;:

★ SFR Yugoslav Air Force in 1991. had 60 Jastrebs, but only few aircrafts were passed to Republic of Srpska(13) and to FRY(20).
;

★ Air Force of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 20. All of them were withdrawn in 1995.
;:

★ Croatian Air Force (one, captured at Udbina during Operation Storm in 1995, grounded shortly afterwards because of lack of spare parts).