The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Desert Storm - The Air War

U.S. Air Force Operations

Efforts by the U.N. Security Council to find a peaceful resolution with Iraq proved futile. On the morning of Jan. 15, an 11th-hour appeal by the council for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait drew silence -- at 12 noon the deadline for peace had passed.

The next day -- Jan. 16 -- Operation Dersert Storm began as allied forces answered Iraq's silence. Coalition aircraft "surgically" bombed key Iraqi military targets such as heavily-fortified command and communications centers, missile launch sites, radar facilities, and airports and runways. Iraqi ground forces were under heavy day-and-night air attack from that day on.

Great care was taken to focus on military targets. Within 10 days of offensive operations, air sorties reached the 10,000 mark. The coalition's intensive airpower had crippled or destroyed Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons development programs, its air defenses, its offensive air and ballistic missile capability, and its internal state control mechanisms.

Support of Combat Forces

Personnel
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, more than 55,000 Air Force personnel deployed to the theater. They in turn were supported by thousands of their compatriots throughout the Air Force who kept supplies, food, equipment, communications, information, plans, and medical support coming to them throughout the conflict.

Civil Engineering and Community Services
Air Force civil engineers erected more than 5,000 tents, built buildings totaling more than 300,000 square feet, and laid more than 1,600,000 square feet of concrete and asphalt during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Meanwhile, the Air Force's community services men and women also supported Desert Shield/Storm by serving more than 20 million meals.

Medical Support
The Air Force deployed 15 air transportable hospitals with a 750-bed capacity and one 1,250-bed contingency hospital to the theater in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Four Air Force contingency hospitals in Europe with 3,250 beds, and 20 casualty reception hospitals in the United States with 12,178 beds, also were readied to save lives. In addition, more than 5,200 medical personnel deployed to the theater and to Europe to support these efforts. Patient visits in the theater amounted to almost 48,000 during Desert Shield/Storm.

Command and Control
Desert Storm employed a wide variety of new space and intelligence assets to ease mission planning, command and control of the air war, provide real-time identification of ground targets for shooters, and assure the coalition gained and maintained the initiative. Both space and intelligence platforms were force multipliers in Desert Storm.

Airborne Warning and Control System
From Jan. 16 until the Feb. 27 cease-fire, four U.S. Air Force AWACS aircraft were continuously airborne controlling more than 3,000 coalition sorties each day. As a tribute to their effectiveness, despite having to control aircraft flown by pilots from numerous air forces speaking several languages, not one case of air-to-air fratricide was reported.

Joint-STARS E-8

Although still in development, two Joint-STARS' (USAF-Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) test aircraft flew 54 combat sorties and supported all mission taskings with a system availability rate of more than 80 percent. One of the two aircraft was in the air every day, tracking every vehicle that moved on the ground. Joint-STARS identified and targeted Scud missiles and launchers, convoys, trucks, tanks, surface-to-air missile sites and artillery pieces for coalition aircraft.

The Airlift

Strategic Airlift The strategic airlift to the Persian Gulf was the largest since World War II. By the cease-fire, Air Force airlifters had moved 482,000 passengers and 513,000 tons of cargo. Viewed in ton miles, the airlift of Operation Desert Shield/Storm was equivalent to repeating the Berlin Airlift -- a 56-week operation -- every six weeks.

C-5 and C-141 Aircraft

Air Force C-5 and C-141 aircraft moved 72 percent of air cargo and one-third of the people, while commercial aircraft moved the rest. Ninety percent of Air Force C-5s were used in Desert Shield/Storm, as were 80 percent of C-141s. The rest were flying high-priority missions elsewhere around the world.

Civil Reserve Air Fleet
The Persian Gulf crisis saw the first activation of CRAF, the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, since its inception 38 years ago. The commercial aicraft are a major arm of the Department of Defense airlift capability, nearly doubling U.S. long-range airlift in emergencies. CRAF provided 95 passenger and 63 cargo aircraft for Operatio Desert Shield/Storm, moving military passengers and cargo to the combat zones.

Theater Airlift

C-130 Aircraft

More than 145 C-130 aircraft were deployed in support of Desert Shield/Storm. These aircraft moved units to forward bases once they arrived in the theater. From Aug. 10 to the cease-fire, Air Force C-130s flew 46,500 sorties and moved more than 209,000 people and 300,000 tons of supplies within the theater. They provided logistical support, medical evacuation of the wounded, and battlefield mobility once the fighting started. During the "100-hour" ground campaign, C-130s flew more than 500 sorties a day.

Air Refueling

KC-135 and KC-10 Aircraft
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, the Air Force deployed 256 KC-135s and 46 KC-10 to the Persian Gulf. Air Force tankers refueled every aircraft of every service -- fighter, bomber, airlift, AWACS, or Joint-STARS. Some allied forces also used Air Force tankers to do their mission. More than enough fuel was offloaded to fill the gas tank of every private and commercial and publicly owned automobile in Texas and Oklahoma.

Special Operations

Elements of all Air Force Special Operations Command units deployed to Desert Storm and performed a variety of crucial missions, including infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of Special Operations Forces teams on direct action missions. Missions also included rescue of downed crew members, psychological operations broadcasts, dropping 15,000-pound bombs and supporting counter-terrorist missions.

AC/EC/MC/HC-130 Aircraft and MH-53J Pave Low Helicopters

More than 50 of Special Operations Forces assets were deployed, including helicopters and AC/EC/MC/HC-130s. These assets flew more than 830 missions to support CENTCOM. Crews recovered downed crew members and provided valuable target identification and human intelligence work. MH-53J Pave Low helicopters also acted as pathfinders during the first hours of the war. One AC-130 was lost during the war.

Air Force Combat Aircraft

F-15 Eagle

During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, 120 F-15C/D's deployed to the Persian Gulf and flew more than 5,900 sorties. Every Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft destroyed in air-to-air combat, including five Soviet-made MiG-29 Fulcrums, were downed by F-15C's. No coalition aircraft were lost to Iraqi fighters.

F-15E Strike Eagle
Forty-eight F-15E's were deployed to the Gulf and flew more than 2,200 sorties in support of Desert Shield/Storm. Only two were lost in combat. They were used to hunt Scud missiles and launchers at night, employ laser systems to hit hard targets, and attack armored vehicles, tanks and artillery. Primary targets included command and control centers, armor, electrical facilities, Scuds and road interdiction. F-15E's used the LANTIRN navigation and targeting pods with spectacular results.

A-10 Thunderbolt II

The Air Force sent 144 A-10s to the theater. While flying only 30 percent of the Air Force's total sorties, these aircraft achieved more than half of the confirmed Iraqi equipment losses and fired 90 percent of the precision-guided Maverick missiles launched during Desert Storm. They demonstrated versatility as daytime Scud hunters in Iraq and even recorded two helicopter kills with their 30mm guns. Although A-10s flew more than 8,000 sorties in Desert Storm, only five were lost in combat in a very high-threat environment.

F-117 Stealth Fighter

F-117s flew more than 1,250 sorties, dropped more than 2,000 tons of bombs, and flew more than 6,900 hours during Desert Storm. They were the only aircraft to bomb valuable strategic targets in downtown Baghdad and did so with unprecedented accuracy, limiting collateral damage and civilian casualties. F-117s operated with impunity in the skies over Iraq and not one was touched by enemy air defenses.

B-52 Stratofortress

The role of the conventional bomber was revalidated in Desert Storm. B-52s flew 1,624 missions, dropped 72,000 weapons (totaling more than 25,700 tons) on targets in Kuwait and southern Iraq, and on airfields, industrial targets and storage areas in Iraq. Despite being more than 30 years old, B-52s turned in higher reliability rates in Desert Storm then during operations in Vietnam. In total, they dropped 31 percent of all U.S. bombs and 41 percent of all Air Force bombs dropped during the conflict.

F-111

With its Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) and laser designation system, F-111F's attacked chemical, biological and nuclear sites. The aircraft also attacked airfields, bunkers, command, control and communications facilities, and parts of the integrated air defense system with great success. F-111F's flew more than 4,000 sorties in Desert Storm and only one was damaged by enemy air defenses.

EF-111s Raven
The 18 EF-111 Ravens deployed in support of Desert Storm flew more than 900 sorties. Effective jamming by EF-111s negated the Iraqis' ability to track, acquire, and target attacking aircraft.

F-4G Wild Weasel

The 48 F-4G Wild Weasels deployed to the theater in support of Desert Storm flew 2,500 sorties. As a testament to the effectiveness of the F-4G's with their high-speed anti-radar missiles (HARM), the Iraqis did not use their sector operations centers and radars because if a system was on for more than a few seconds, operators risked the return of a HARM missile.

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The F-16 Fighting Falcon proved itself to be a versatile aircraft able to attack targets both day and night, in good or bad weather. The Air Force's 249 F-16s deployed to the Gulf flew more than 13,450 sorties -- more than any other aircraft in the war. They attacked Iraqi equipment in Kuwait and southern Iraq, flew missions against Scud missiles and launchers, and destroyed interdiction targets such as military production and support, chemical production facilities, and airfields.

Air Force Role in Desert Storm

Total U.S. Air Force Sorties
From D-day to cease-fire, the U.S. Air Force flew 59 percent of all sorties with 50 percent of the aircraft and had 37 percent of the losses. The overall mission capable rate of Air Force aircraft was 92 percent -- higher than the peacetime rate.

Precision-Guided Munitions
U.S. pilots used precision-guided munitions with deadly effectiveness in Operation Desert Storm. They dropped 7,400 tons. The Air Force was responsible for approximately 90 percent of the total PGMs dropped.

GBU-12

GBU-12 laser-guided bombs were employed by F-111s to destroy more than 200 tanks a night during the last weeks of the war. (GBU-12s weigh 500 pounds).

GBU-15

GBU-15 electro-optical glide bombs were used by F-111s to destroy the oil manifolds to stop oil from flowing into the Persian Gulf after Saddam Hussein's forces opened the valves. (GBU-15s weigh 2,000 pounds).

GBU-24

GBU-24 laser-guided bombs were employed by F-111s and F-15E's to destroy chemical, biological and nuclear storage areas, bridges, aircraft shelters and other strategic targets. (GBU-24s weigh 2,000 pounds).

GBU-27

GBU-27 laser-guided bombs were used by F-117s to hit hard targets such as aircraft shelters, bunkers in Baghdad. (GBU-27s weigh 2,000 pounds).

AGM-65

AGM-65 Maverick missiles were employed by F-16s and A-10s to attack armored targets. Mavericks played a large part in the destruction of Iraq's significant military force. Before Operation Desert Storm, Iraq had more tanks than Great Britain and Germany combined. With the precision capability of America's aircraft, one $70,000 Maverick equated to a $1.5 million T-72 tank, since it only took one missile to destroy each Iraqi tank.

The Iraqi Air Threat
At the beginning of Desert Storm, coalition air forces faced a formidable enemy. Iraq had 750 combat aircraft, 200 support aircraft, Scud surface-to-surface missiles, chemical and biological weapon capability, "state-of-the-art" air defenses, 10 types of surface-to-air missiles, around 9,000 anti-aircraft artillery pieces and thousands of small arms. The Iraqi air force had 24 main operating bases and 30 dispersal fields, many equipped with the latest in hardened aircraft shelters.

U.S. Air-To-Air Kills
Air Force fighters were credited with 36 of the 39 Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters downed during Desert Storm.

Air Force missiles also played a major role in air-to-air kills:

AIM-7 Sparrow
The radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow proved to be the most potent air-to-air weapon. Air Force-launched Sparrows downed 22 Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft and three helicopters.

AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder worked as advertised. The heat-seeking Sidewinders launched from Air Force fighters put the bite on eight Iraqi aircraft.

Iraqi Air Force Losses
Iraq lost 90 aircraft to coalition air forces, 39 of them in air-to-air combat; six were lost in accidents; 16 were captured or destroyed by coalition ground forces; 122 were flown to Iran -- a confirmed total loss of 234 aircraft.

In addition to confirmed losses, of Iraq's 594 hardened aircraft shelters, 375 were damaged or destroyed by coalition bombing. It is estimated that 141 aircraft were destroyed in these shelters.

Value of Stealth
Without stealth, a typical strike mission requires 32 planes with bombs, 16 fighter escorts, eight Wild Weasel aircraft to suppress enemy radar, four aircraft to electronically jam enemy radar, and 15 tankers to refuel the group. With stealth technology the same mission can be accomplished with only eight F-117s and two tankers to refuel them. Stealth technology combined with precision guided munitions puts far fewer aircraft at risk and saves lives -- both aircrews and innocent civilians.

Global Reach/Global Power

Operation Desert Shield/Storm served to stress the need for air superiority, modern airlift and rapid power projections; and validated the Air Force's planning framework -- Global Reach/Global Power. Desert Shield/Storm also proved to be a large-scale practical test of the Total Force Policy -- maximizing military capability through the optimum mix of active and reserve forces.

Navy and Marine Operations

Navy and Marine Corps pilots, aircrews and support personnel joined in the most powerful and successful air assault in the history of modern warfare. From "H-hour" on 17 January when the air campaign began, until the end of offensive combat operations 43 days later, Navy and Marine aviators destroyed key targets and helped ensure the United States military and its coalition partners owned the skies over Iraq and Kuwait.

Operating from six aircraft carriers, two large amphibious assault ships (LHAs), various other amphibious ships, plus ground bases and makeshift airstrips ashore, Navy and Marine fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft were an integral part of the coalition air campaign. Of more than 94,000 sorties flown by U..S. aircraft during the war, Navy and Marine aircraft flew close to 30,000. Sea-service pilots flew around 35 percent of the sorties, which was in dlrect proportion to their numbers in the U.S. air inventory.

More than 1,000 Navy and Marine Corps aircraft joined the U.S. Air Force, Army and coalition partners to knock out the Iraqi military machine. The air campaign was conducted in four phases. Phase I was to gain air superiority by destroying Iraq's strategic capabilities. That phase was accomplished within the first seven days. Phase II required the suppression of air defenses in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations. During Phase III, the coalition airmen continued to service Phase I and II targets as needed, but also shifted emphasis to the field army in Kuwait. Finally, Phase IV entailed air support of ground operations.

At around 0300 (Persian Gulf time) 17 January, along with a blitz by more than 100 TLAMs, wave after wave of coalition aircraft --including those flown by Navy and Marine pilots -- began hammering strategic targets inside both Iraq and Kuwait, signaling the start of offensive combat operations. Throughout the war, air strikes were conducted from six aircraft carriers operating in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. USS America (CV 66) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) departed Norfolk 28 December 1990, and arrived just in time for the beginning of DESERT STORM. They joined USS Midway (CV 41), USS Saratoga (CV 60), USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) and USS Ranger (CV 61) who were already on station.

After blinding the enemy's early warning systems with Navy EA-6B Prowlers and destroying critical radar sites with high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARM) fired from Navy tactical aircraft and Air Force F-4 Wild Weasels, allied aircraft poured into Iraq and began bombing command and control centers, Scud missile launchers and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons facilities. The Navy/Marine Corps team launched more than 80% of the HARM missiles that paved the way for the coalition attack.

During those early hours of the war, Navy and Marine pilots contributed to the destruction of Iraq's air and naval forces, anti-air defenses, ballistic missile launchers, communications networks, electrical power and more. They joined their joint and allied partners in inflicting heavy military losses with precision bombing from high-tech aerial weaponry, while at the same time minimizing civilian casualties.

On "D-day," four Navy Hornets from VFA-81, embarked in Saratoga, were on a bombing mission targeted against an Iraqi airfield when they detected two Iraqi MiG-21s seven miles away. They switched their F/A18 strike-fighters from bombing profile to air-to-air, and downed both aircraft using Sidewinder missiles. They then continued their mission and scored direct hits on the enemy airfield. That encounter produced the Navy's only air-to-air kills, while taking the versatile Hornet through its dual-roled paces. All told, coalition aircraft scored 35 air-to-air fixed wing kills.

The Iraqi air force quickly went underground or flew to safe haven in neighboring Iran. Navy pilots from John F. Kennedy, flying a daytime mission over southwestern Iraq early in the offensive, said that a group of MiGs stayed 40 or 50 miles away, falling back and refusing to engage each time the U.S. planes advanced. It was a pattern repeated throughout the war. Each time Navy crews energized the powerful, long-range AWG-9 radar in the F-14, Iraqi pilots turned away. In the course of the war, more than 234 Iraqi aircraft were taken out of the fight: 90 were destroyed in combat operations, 122 flew to Iran, 16 were captured by ground forces and six were noncombat losses.

E-2C Hawkeyes operated around-theclock in concert with coalition AWACs to keep track of Iraq's air force and provide air traffic control. Navy and Marine aircraft flew continuous combat air patrols to protect sealift ships and airfields, provide reconnaissance and on-call anti-surface strike capability.

U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy airborne tankers played a crucial role. Without airborne tankers, coalition warplanes wouldn't have been able to hit targets deep in Iraq. The large, land-based Air Force KC-10 and KC-131 tankers carried the bulk of the load. Coordination of the airborne tanking effort was superb.

While Navy strike-fighters and bombers were doing their job, shore-based P-3C Orions and carrier-based S-3 Vikings continued to patrol the shipping lanes. Specially equipped EP-3Es provided electronic reconnaissance. While performing routine surface reconnaissance in the northern Persian Gulf on 20 February, an S-3B from VS-32, based aboard the carrier America, became the first aircraft of that type to engage and destroy a hostile vessel using bombs. Guided by the Aegis cruiser USS Valley Forge (CG 50), the S-3 searched the area with its forward-looking infrared system and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), pin-pointed the position of the high-speed, heavily-armed craft, and sank it.

The Navy also had a large helo contingent which employed a variety of rotary-wing aircraft for search and rescue, medical evacuation and logistics. DESERT STORM marked the first combat operations for the HH-60H Seahawk strike rescue helicopter. The Navy's newest helicopter can also perform medical evacuations, provide logistics support or deliver up to eight members of a special operations (SEAL) team.

Naval aviators made a major contribution to the destruction of the Iraqi navy. Within the first three weeks of the air campaign, Intruders and Hornets using Harpoon missiles, Skipper and Rockeye bombs, sank and disabled many of Iraq's missile gunboats, minesweepers, patrol craft and other small ships. Silkworm anti-ship missile sites and several armed hovercraft were also destroyed. During that same three week period, Navy and Marine Corps units contributed more than one-third of the total 42,000 sorties flown.

As the war progressed, the Navy-Marine team's mission changed from strategic and battlefield preparation to tactical targets and close-air support. Tanks, vehicles and artillery moved to the top of the target list, especially during the border incursions in and around the Saudi town of Khafji on 29 January, and following the start of the ground campaign on 24 February. Marine Harriers and Navy and Marine Intruders shifted from hitting pre-selected, stationary targets to striking roving quarry.

OV-10 Broncos and AH-l Cobra attack helicopters provided close-air support during these operations and helped clear the way for the fast-moving 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions. Close-air support, with constant danger from small-arms fire, shoulder-fired missiles and possible "friendly fire," was not a new mission for the A-6 or the Cobra, both of which saw action in Vietnam.

The AV-8B, on the other hand, saw its first sea-based combat action. Flying from the amphibious assault ships USS Tarawa (LHA l) and USS Nassau (LHA 4) as well as from ground bases, the Harrier demonstrated the Navy/Marine team's versatility and effectiveness, as did the OV-10 ashore. Twelve Broncos transited the Atlantic aboard America and Theodore Roosevelt. As the carriers entered the Mediterranean, the Broncos flew off to finish their trip to Saudi Arabia.

DESERT STORM marked the first combat use of some of the Navy's newest aircraft including the F-14A+, the F/A-18C and the F/A-18D night-attack aircraft. The multi-mission F/A-18 Hornets of the Navy flew 4,435 sorties, while the Marines flew 5,047.sorties in the durable fighter-attack aircraft. Navy pilots flew 4,071 sorties in their battle-proven, all-weather A-6 Intruders, and Marine pilots flew 854 sorties in their Intruders.

Because a wide variety of ordnance was used to match speciflc weapons to specific targets, Navy/Marine tactical aviation units put the logistics system to the test. Not counting missiles, allied air forces dropped over 88,500 tons of ordnance on the battlefield. The heavy demand for repair parts was satisfied by the supply system as well. Navy squadrons maintained 85 to 95 percent of their aircraft at a fully mission-capable status throughout DESERT SHIELD/STORM.

On the last full day of war, Navy aviators of the six carrier battle groups flew 600 combat missions, reducing the remaining combat capability of Saddam Hussein's forces as the Iraqis fled from Kuwait. Over the course of the war, Navy pilots, crews and aviation support personnel helped give the United States and her coalition partners early and undisputed ownership of the airspace over Iraq and Kuwait. Launching up to 140 sorties a day from a single flight deck, the carriers and their battle groups contributed significantly to coalition air dominance and effectively eliminated Iraq's naval capability. The performance of the nearly 30,000 Navy men and nearly 500 aircraft aboard the carriers was unparalleled, and their mission statistics were impressive. At the end, Navy sorties, both fixed and rotary wing, totaled nearly 20,000.

'A line has been drawn in the sand...Withdraw from Kuwait unconditionally and immediately, or face the terrible consequences.'

-- George Bush

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Good morning to all. Another great FReeper Foxhole post. Once again I think that the world will marvel at the power of the US in the war to come.

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