U.S. SAYS CZECH JET FIRED ON COPTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403310022-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: October 2, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403310022-0
E
N W Y
ARTICLE APP
ON PAG
ORK TIMES
2 October 1985
U.S. Says Czech Jet Fired on Copter
By BILL KELLER
Sp.Mat to T s New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1- The Penta-
gon said today that a Czechoslovak
tary jet opened fire on an Amer-
ican Army helicopter flying a routine
reconnaissance mission along West
Germany's southeastern border last
Saturday.
The Pentagon spokesman, Robert B.
Sims, said the L-39 tighter plane fired
-approximately two to four rockets"
without warning. None of the rockets
hit the aircraft, and the two crew mem-
bers flew back to their base near Nu-
remberg without returning fire, he
said.
'The U.S. Government has protested
this irresponsible act, which endan-
ger~d the lives of the U.S. crewmen,"
It'. Sims said. He said that the protest
,was made Monday and that no re-
had been received so far.
The Pentagon said the incident hap-
yensd on a clear afternoon and was wit-
atessed by two separate groups of West
'German civilians. 1
Intelligence Data Cited
One Pen official said the United
States e ce , ap-
n ommun ong,
that the Czechoslovak pilot was aware
.be was over West German territory
when he fired and that the shooting was
"deliberate."
Nur.mbsrQ
* ? F?ucht
WESTGERMANY
n w New York Times/Oct. 2, tees
The Defense Department said the
incident occurred near Finsterau.
In April 1984 the United States said
an Army helicopter from the same
regiment had strayed into Cz8chosl0-
vakia by accident, was fired on by two
MIG fighter planes, and had retreated
without suffering any damage.
Mr. Sims said that although there
had been no unusual tension along the
border, Warsaw Pact forays into West
German airspace have been fairly
common, with 17 crossings by East
German or Czech pilots in the last six
months.
$ut Pentagon officials said there had
been no other shootings over West Ger- I
man territory in at least the past three
years.
Other incidents Protested
Mr. Sims said the recent shooting il-
lustrated the "more aggressive" War-
saw Pact behavior along the border
with West Germany, which he said had
also been evident in recent incidents
between American and Soviet ground
troops in East Germany.
The United States has protested a
series of incidents in East Germany, ;
including the killing last March of a
United States Army major. Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger has
portrayed the incidents as adding up to
a pattern of deliberate confrontation.
The Pentagon said the attack on the
Ali-1S Cobra helicopter occurred near
the village of Finsterau, about a mile
inside West German-territory, as it was
flying a routine daily reconnaissance
mission from the Second Armored Cal-
vary Regiment stationed at Feucht out-
side Nuremberg.
Mr. Sims said it was "routine border
reconnaisance to see if there's a
change of fortifications along the bor-
der, an increase of troop concentra-
tions and so forth."
He said the helicopter was attacked
by an L-39 fighter, a Czech-built, high-
performance training plane that is also
used for combat. The Army helicopter
was armed with 20-millimeter guns,
but did not fire back because, Mr. Sims
said, "this was a mismatch at best."
Pentagon officials said they did not
know how close the rockets came to the
helicopter.
Mr. Sims said that the helicopter sent
a radio message that it was under at-
tack, but that there was no military
alert. and no plan to change the border
patrol routine.
Vaclav Zluca, press secretary for the
Czechoslovak Embassy here, said he
had no information from Prague on the
incident.
"I can tell you that last year there
was a similar case and it was proved
that the helicopter was over Czechoslo-
vak territory," Mr. Zluca said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403310022-0