USMC A-6E Intruders that were patrolling the Kuwaiti coastline were first on the scene and armed ideally for the grim job at hand. The jets were carrying Mark 20 Rockeye cluster munitions which could rain devastation over a fairly wide area. The Intruders aimed at the front and rear of the convoy. If the munitions landed correctly, the tactic would trap all the remaining vehicles in between burning vehicles and cratered sections of highway on both ends of the convoy. In effect, it would turn the roughly four mile stretch of road into a bombing range.
The cluster munitions did their job. Both ends of escape were cut off, and vehicles at the head of the convoy careened into one another if they were not destroyed by the crescendo of sub-munitions.
What happened next remains highly controversial to this day. Wave after wave of coalition aircraft had their turn attacking the trapped vehicles. Flights of A-10 Warthogs were especially deadly, flying below the weather and expending all their munitions and cannon ammunition during multiple attack runs. The stretch of highway was worked over by coalition aircraft for 10 straight hours. Aboard carriers in the Gulf, any munitions ready for loading were being ordered onto fighter and attack jets with haste. Many of the vehicles that attempted to flee by driving off the highway were hunted down and destroyed.
It was a feeding frenzy
source: Iraq Forces Were Annihilated While Retreating on the 'Highway of Death' 25 Years Ago
The end result of Gulf War I was that both China and Russia realized that their militaries were jokes.
Bttt.
5.56mm
I’m thinking the same thing: That the threat to RoK is overrated in the face of a determined American attack.
Actually, I think NorK and China’s worst nightmare is the unleashing of a FULLY remilitarized Japan.
Someday, perhaps soon, both Japan and Germany will awaken from collective amnesia and remember who they are ...
China and Japan hate each other.
The flyboys had a great time that day. It’s not everyday you get to really bomb the s**t out of stuff for 10 hours. They live for a chance like that.
We no longer have A6 aircraft or cluster bombs.