Strategic Assessment

On June 3, 1999, following seventy-eight days of intensive aerial operations in Balkan skies, the NATO military campaign in Yugoslavia came to an end. A famous British historian was quick to observe that June 3 marked the first time a war was decided by airpower alone, and will forever be remembered as one of the most significant turning points in military history. Many concurred, and Operation Allied Force, as the NATO operation was known, has since become the yardstick by which any large scale aerial activity is measured.