[wzslider autoplay=”true”]After he turned his back on his party colleague Stalin, Tito invested nearly four billion US dollars in the military airport Željava in order to secure himself from eventual attacks by the SSSR.
Airport Željava is the largest underground military airport of the former Yugoslav People´s Army (JNA), and it is also one of the largest underground airports in Europe. It is located on the border of the two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, under and inside of the mountain Plješevica, near the city of Bihać. Hence, it was also known as the Bihać airport.
Construction of the airport with the code name “Facility 505” began in 1957 and was completed in 1965. The airport was officially put into function in 1968 and was fully operating until 1992, when it was destroyed during the withdrawal of the JNA by activating explosives.
The main advantage of the airbase was its strategic location; it was located deep in the territory of Yugoslavia and equidistant from the most important targets and facilities. The main purpose of the airbase was defense and distraction of potential aggressors on the former Republic. Consequently, it has always been in the interest of foreign secret agencies. That was proven nowadays by declassifying the records of the CIA spy satellites, which have been monitoring the construction of this object from the orbit for years.
In terms of infrastructure, it was the best military airport in Yugoslavia. It accommodated one aviation brigade with 60 aircraft and over 3.000 people, 500 of which were officers, 900 non-commissioned officers and 2.000 soldiers. It could service three air brigades in case of need and it was an ideal protection from sudden attacks. Airport Željava was the most well-guarded military facility in Yugoslavia.
The airport consisted of five runways, four tunnels with the height of eight meters, width of 30 meters and length of 3.5 kilometers.
The inside of the mountain was carved with over 20 kilometers of hallways, tunnels and pathways for 40 planes. There was also a hospital, special water supply network, airplane repair workshops, fire protection paths, space for mechanics, technicians and aviators. It had numerous sleeping rooms, classrooms, a kitchen, an ambulance, different warehouses, its own water supply network and internal electrical central.
The internal area of the airport was separated with 56 heavy armored doors and deeper in the mountain even with hermetical hydraulic doors.
The Airbase Željava was in a difficult situation at the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The top army leader of Yugoslav People’s Army made a decision on dislocation of aircrafts, equipment, units, and civilians affected by war threats to a location in Serbia. All that was left in the base was to be mined and permanently disabled. The whole complex was mined and extremely damaged with more than 50 tons of explosives on May 16, 1992.
(Source: klix.ba, www.balkanwarhistory.blogspot.ba / photo: telegram.hr)
