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UÇKHistory and Memory

NATO · OTAN — 1949 –

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An intergovernmental military alliance. From 24 March to 10 June 1999 it conducted the air campaign Operation Allied Force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, without specific Security Council authorization, on the grounds of preventing a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo. The campaign's legality and civilian harm remain subjects of legal and academic debate. After the war it led KFOR.

Photographs

Two side-by-side black-and-white aerial views of an airfield installation labelled 'pre strike' and 'post strike'.
Pre-strike and post-strike assessment photograph of the Pristina military airfield, used by Maj. Gen. Charles F. Wald during a Pentagon press briefing on NATO Operation Allied Force on 16 April 1999.Photo: U.S. Department of Defense · 1999-04-16 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Fighter jet on the runway with afterburner flame during take-off.
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Aviano Air Base for an air strike mission in support of NATO Operation Allied Force, 24 March 1999.Photo: Senior Airman Jeffrey Allen, U.S. Air Force · 1999-03-24 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Black angular aircraft on the runway at dusk, mountains in the background.
A U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk taxis out for take-off from Aviano Air Base for an air strike mission of Operation Allied Force, 24 March 1999.Photo: United States Air Force · 1999-03-24 · Domen publik (Public domain)
White missile on a transport trailer in front of a large bomber.
A U.S. Air Force airman transports an AGM-86C cruise missile to a waiting B-52H Stratofortress at RAF Fairford, 30 March 1999, in preparation for an Operation Allied Force mission.Photo: Staff Sgt. Jim Howard, U.S. Air Force · 1999-03-30 · Domen publik (Public domain)

Sources

  1. [1]NATO. Kosovo Air Campaign (March–June 1999): Operation Allied Force. 2024-10-21. https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/operations-and-missions/kosovo-air-campaign-march-june-1999. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. [2]Ivo H. Daalder, Michael E. O’Hanlon. Winning Ugly: NATO's War to Save Kosovo. Brookings Institution Press, 2001-10-01. https://www.brookings.edu/books/winning-ugly/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. [3]Independent International Commission on Kosovo. The Kosovo Report: Conflict, International Response, Lessons Learned. Oxford University Press, 2000-10-19. https://doi.org/10.1093/0199243093.001.0001. Accessed 2026-09-16.

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

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