Oct 85-
WASHINGTON-
A Czech jet fighter fired "two to four" rockets at a U.S. Army helicopter patrolling near West Germany's border with Czechoslovakia last Saturday but missed, the Pentagon disclosed Tuesday.
The helicopter and its two man crew returned safely to base without damage or injury. The incident said to be the 17th violation of West German airspace in the past six months by aircraft of a Warsaw Pact nation, occurred about 1300 hrs about one mile from the east-west border with Czechoslovakia, north of the town Freyung in West Germany's southeast corner. It "was observed and confirmed by two separate groups of German civilians, " Assistant Defense Secretary Robert Sims said.
Sims said the United States filed a strong "government-to- government" protest with the Czechs Monday over the incident, which he described as an "irresponsible act which endangered the lives of the U.S. crewmen." He refused to discuss the substance of the protest or whether the Czechs had responded.
The U.S. Army helicopter, an AH-1S (MZ) Cobra assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Feucht Army Airfield, near Nuremberg in West Germany, was flying what was described as a "routine reconnaissance mission" when it was attacked by a Czech L-39 military jet fighter, one of two in the area.
The Cobra was armed with 20mm guns but made no effort to return the fire of the jet fighter, Sims said. He called the confrontation brief and a "mismatch," describing the Czech plane as a "high performance jet, " though below the capabilities of the latest Soviet made Migs.
Sims said the copter crew radioed an alarm during the incident that they were under attack, but no general alert was sounded. The helicopter returned to its base at Feucht, the crew debriefed, and an investigation begun, he said.
The United States has no plans to change its border surveillance operations, Sims said.
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