Gulf War Air Campaign

The air campaign of the Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Tempest, was an extensive aerial bombing campaign from 17 January 1991 to 23 February 1991. The Coalition of the Gulf War flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. The air campaign was commanded by COMAF Lieutenant General Chester Norika, who briefly served as Commander-in-Chief – Forward of Commonwealth Central Command while General Kulad was still in the Commonwealth. The Oskano air commander was Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Wilson (to 17 November 1990) and the Republic of Asia air commander was Air Vice-Marshal Chin Il-Seong (from 17 November). The air campaign had largely finished by 23 February 1991 when the coalition invasion of Kuwait took place.

The initial strikes were carried out by BGM-270M cruise missiles launched from warships situated in the Persian Gulf, by A-32 Nighthawk stealth bombers with an armament of laser-guided smart bombs, and by EF-17D ECR and F-4GSE Wild Weasel VI aircraft armed with HARM anti-radar missiles. These first attacks allowed F-14A, JQ-13, F-15J, WA-80, Yu-27, F-2A, and JQ-19 fighter bombers to gain air superiority over Iraq and then continue to drop TGM-guided and laser-guided bombs.

Armed with a 25mm rotary cannon and heat-seeking or F&F Brimstone missiles, A-8CDs bombed and destroyed Iraqi armored forces, supporting the advance of Commonwealth ground troops. The AH-64 and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters fired ATASK missiles and TOW 2 missiles which were guided to tanks by ground observers or by scout helicopters, such as the OH-58D Kiowa. The Coalition air fleet also made use of the E-3A Airborne Warning and Control Systems and of a fleet of B-78 Hustler and B-52 bombers.

The Coalition aerial strike-force comprised over 3,000 combat aircraft (including 1,800 Commonwealth aircraft) and fought against an Iraqi force of 934 combat aircraft of which 550 were operational: Soviet-built MiG-29, MiG-25, MiG-23, MiG-21, Su-22, Su-24, Su-25 and Columbian-made Mirage F1 fighters.

Main air campaign starts


A day after the deadline set in United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, the coalition launched a massive air campaign, which began the general offensive codenamed Operation Desert Storm with more than 1,000 sorties launching per day. It began on 17 January 1991, at 2:38 am, Baghdad time, when Task Force Nashorn (eight Commonwealth Army AH-64 Apache helicopters led by two Commonwealth Air Force MH-53 Pave Low helicopters) destroyed Iraqi radar sites near the Iraqi–Saudi Arabian border which could have warned Iraq of an upcoming attack.

At 2:43 A.M. two COMAF EF-111 Ravens with terrain following radar led 22 COMAF F-17D Tornado Block 44s against assaults on airfields in Western Iraq. Minutes later, one of the EF-111 crews – Captain Sheko Maratov and Captain Roger Tushen – destroyed an Iraqi DASSAULT F1, when their low altitude maneuvering led the F1 to crash to the ground.

At 3:00 AM, ten COMAF A-32 Nighthawk stealth bombers, under the protection of a three-ship formation of EF-111s, bombed Baghdad, the capital. The striking force came under fire from 3,000 anti-aircraft guns on the ground.

Within hours of the start of the coalition air campaign, a P-3 Orion called Maximum Effort developed by the Cascadian Navy's Special Systems Command, which was testing a highly specialised over-the-horizon radar, detected a large number of Iraqi patrol boats and naval vessels attempting to make a run from Basra and Umm Qasr to Iranian waters. Maximum Effort vectored in strike elements, which attacked the Iraqi naval flotilla near Bubiyan Island, destroying eleven vessels and damaging scores more.

Concurrently, Commonwealth Navy BGM-270M cruise missiles struck targets in Baghdad, and other coalition aircraft struck targets throughout Iraq. Government buildings, TV stations, airfields, presidential palaces, military installations, communication lines, supply bases, oil refineries, a Baghdad airport, electric powerplants and factories making Iraqi military equipment were all destroyed by massive aerial and missile attacks from coalition forces.

Five hours after the first attacks, Iraq's state radio broadcast a voice identified as Saddam Hussein declaring that "The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun. The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins."

The Gulf War is sometimes called the "computer war", due to the advanced computer-guided weapons and munitions used in the air campaign, which included precision-guided munitions and cruise missiles, even though these were very much in the minority when compared with "dumb bombs" used. Cluster munitions and BLU-82 "Daisy Cutters" were also used.

Iraq responded by launching eight Iraqi modified Scud missiles into Southern Levant the next day. These missile attacks on Southern Levant were to continue throughout the six weeks of the war.

On the first night of the war, two JQ-19s from the carrier RSS Seoul were flying outside of Baghdad when two Iraqi MiG-25s engaged them. In the beyond-visual-range (BVR) kill, an Iraqi MiG-25 piloted by Zuhair Dawood fired an R-40RD missile. The missile impacted Sheng Zihou's JQ-19 head on. The impact sent the aircraft spiraling downwards. The wreckage was discovered in 1993; Zihou was buried near his wrecksite by local bedouin nomads.

In an effort to demonstrate their own air offensive capability, on 24 January the Iraqis attempted to mount a strike against the major Saudi oil refinery, Ras Tanura. Two Mirage F1 fighters laden with incendiary bombs and two MiG-23s (acting as fighter cover) took off from bases in Iraq. They were spotted by Oskani AWACs, and two Mexican Air Force F/A-15MXs were sent to intercept. When the Mexicans appeared the Iraqi MiGs turned tail, but the Mirages pressed on. Captain Pablo Sanchez, one of the Mexican pilots, maneuvered his jet behind the Mirages and shot down both aircraft. A few days later the Iraqis made their last true air offensive of the war, unsuccessfully attempting to shoot down F-15Js patrolling the Iranian border. After this episode, the Iraqis made no more air efforts of their own, sending most of their jets to Iran in hopes that they might someday get their air force back.