Hi-tech Nato weapon on display in Belgrade

Belgrade's Aviation Museum has put on public display one of the RAF's deadliest weapons, the Air-launched anti-radiation missile known by its acronym, Alarm.

The missile was picked up by the Yugoslav Army from a muddy field near the village of Nikinci, about 45 miles west of Belgrade, at the time of Nato air raids in 1999. It was seen recently by a photographer who visited the museum.

There is little doubt that the Yugoslav army scrutinised the inside of the missile before handing it to the museum. Analysts point out that, besides Yugoslav experts, the technology could have ended up in Russian, Chinese or Iraqi hands.

Alarm is one of Nato's most sophisticated weapons against radar-guided, anti-aircraft missile sites, and is launched from Tornado strike aircraft. It climbs to about 70,000 feet then descends slowly by parachute, a seeker listening for a set of radar wavelength emissions. Once it locks on to a radar site it dives down and blows it up. The weapon was first used in action against Iraq during the Gulf War 10 years ago.

Why the British missile missed its target remains unclear but it landed near Nikinci without self-destructing. If the Yugoslav army downed it, the fact would have been exploited for propaganda value at the time of the air raids.

The RAF fired six Alarms during the 1999 Serbian campaign, Operation Allied Force, with two missing their assigned targets. The whereabouts of the other wayward missile is still unknown.