Soldiers of the Yugoslav Army (VJ) 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade marked late Tuesday 13 years since VJ shot down the "invisible" aircraft, an F-117, during NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999.

The brigade's commander at the time was Colonel Zoltan Dani, now retired from the military.

With the traditional cake cutting ceremony, the soldiers also celebrated the retirement of Lieutenant Senad Muminovic, a member of the crew which brought down the "Nighthawk" in the village of Budjanovci (Vojvodina, northern Serbia) on March 27, 1999, at 8.42 pm.

The marking of the anniversary was also attended by Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac, who said that on that day the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade became the world's most renowned brigade.

"You had the opportunity to demonstrate your skills in most difficult circumstances and bring down not only the so-called "invisible" aircraft, but also a great mystery which surrounded the so-called "stealth" technologies," Sutanovac said.

He noted that "despite the fact that the period was extremely hard for the citizens of Serbia and Yugoslavia and that they experienced great suffering, this is probably the only moment from that time that we do not want to forget.”

The alliance lost one of its most prized aircraft on the fourth day of its bombing campaign against Serbia. The aircraft was worth about USD 45 million and it was the only fighter of this type ever lost in action. After the F-117 was shot down, NATO continued its campaign for 74 more days.