On January 16, 1991 it began, and reached its target in less than two months, with the first aerial bombing operation Desert Storm, the first war that saw the use of stealth aircraft. A broad coalition of 35 nations participated in the air war on Iraq, but it was the United States that contributed most to the air attacks in response to the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi troops.
The Iraqi armed forces entered Kuwait on August 2, 1990, setting in motion what was then called Operation Desert Storm. Following the long eight-year war against Iran, Iraq found itself with great economic problems, so Saddam Hussein decided to take over the rich neighbouring country of Kuwait and get his hands on the oil fields of the country. Saddam claimed that Kuwait was stealing oil from the Iraqi oil field of Rumaylah on the border between the two countries.
After some small clashes between the Republican Guard and the Kuwaiti army on the border between the two countries, Iraqi troops entered Kuwait with an army of 100,000 men and 200 tanks. The Kuwaiti royal family took refuge in Saudi Arabia and the United Nations condemned the invasion through UN Security Council Resolution 660.
The air campaign began with attacks on command and control capabilities, which blinded Iraqi forces and denied them the ability to coordinate a defense. Coalition planes attacked airports to prevent the Iraqi Air Force from mounting a defense against the Allied air army and, in the later stages of the conflict, individual armored vehicles were hit with precision weapons to inflict huge losses on Iraqi ground forces.
On January 16, 1991, seven B-52G Stratofortress took off from their air base, Barksdale AFB. They were the first aircraft to take off for a Desert Storm combat mission. The 596th Bomb Squadron’s B-52s, 2nd Bomb Wing, were equipped with the cruise missiles AGM-86C CALC - Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles, at that time still secret and never used.
On January 17, 1991, at 3:00 a.m., B-52s arrived in Saudi Arabia and launched 35 missiles against high-value objectives in the Iraqi air chain of command and control, to cut off communications and begin to gain air superiority, They returned home and thus completed the longest aerial warfare mission ever carried out flying for 35 hours for 14,000 miles (XX Km). On the same day, the coalition air forces carried out more than 75o attack missions from the airports and 280 missions from the six aircraft carriers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf and reported the first success in air combatair with a Mig-39 shot down by an F-15 Eagle 33rd TFW - Tactical Fighter Wing of the US Air Force piloted by Capt. Jon Kelk.
In this operation took part the extraordinary and new, at that time, invisible aircraft F-117A Stealth Fighter, which made its "first" public appearance in a real conflict. The aircraft, kept secret until 1988, was actually used operationally as early as December 1989 in some bombing missions during the US invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause). The "Black jets" flying during the first night of the war represented only 2.5% of the total number of attacking aircraft but struck 31% of the targets assigned to the coalition.
During the Desert Storm 45 F-117As participated with about 60 pilots for a total of 1271 sorties of war. About 2,000 tons of laser-guided bombs were dropped for about 6,900 hours of flight. No aircraft were damaged by enemy anti-aircraft.
On February 28, 1991, after six weeks of air strikes and 100 hours of land campaign, President George H.W. Bush declared the end of military operations and announced the liberation of Kuwait. Desert Storm was a military watershed, defining modern large-scale combat and marking the United States as the world’s undisputed military superpower.
The USAF fighter aircraft, of about 30 different models, flew 69,406 sorties. Twenty-seven US military aircraft were lost during the conflict. By the end of the war, the United States-led coalition had deployed 670,000 troops, including 425,000 from the United States.
Italy also participated in the coalition under the auspices of the United Nations with ten Tornado IDS aircraft that were based at the military airport of Al Dhafra, in the United Arab Emirates, framed in the well-known Operation Locust. In addition to the Tornado fighter bombers, Italy sent a number of equipment for support and transport, and some F-104 Starfighter reconnaissance aircraft were deployed in Turkey as part of NATO’s ACE Mobile Force.
It was the first real operational involvement of the Air Force after World War II. As we well know, a Tornado did not return to Italy, because it was shot down during the first night of fighting. The night between 17 and 18 January 1991 eight Tornado took off for the first operational mission, due to bad weather, the entire air package in which the Italian military aircraft were inserted was forced to return to the base because they could not refuel in flight. All but one.
The Italian Tornado after refueling in flight continued the mission alone. Once the target was attacked, during disengagement he was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft. The crew launched but was captured by Iraqi troops, Major Pilot Gianmarco Bellini and Captain Navigator Maurizio Cocciolone were released at the end of hostilities.
The Italian device and the Air Force with its Tornadoes carried out, during the 42 days of war, 226 sorties for 589 hours of flight without recording other losses. The support aircraft totaled 224 missions for 4156 flight hours, the military reconnaissance aircraft 384 sorties for 515 flight hours.
The Iraqi armed forces entered Kuwait on August 2, 1990, setting in motion what was then called Operation Desert Storm. Following the long eight-year war against Iran, Iraq found itself with great economic problems, so Saddam Hussein decided to take over the rich neighbouring country of Kuwait and get his hands on the oil fields of the country. Saddam claimed that Kuwait was stealing oil from the Iraqi oil field of Rumaylah on the border between the two countries.
After some small clashes between the Republican Guard and the Kuwaiti army on the border between the two countries, Iraqi troops entered Kuwait with an army of 100,000 men and 200 tanks. The Kuwaiti royal family took refuge in Saudi Arabia and the United Nations condemned the invasion through UN Security Council Resolution 660.
The air campaign began with attacks on command and control capabilities, which blinded Iraqi forces and denied them the ability to coordinate a defense. Coalition planes attacked airports to prevent the Iraqi Air Force from mounting a defense against the Allied air army and, in the later stages of the conflict, individual armored vehicles were hit with precision weapons to inflict huge losses on Iraqi ground forces.
On January 16, 1991, seven B-52G Stratofortress took off from their air base, Barksdale AFB. They were the first aircraft to take off for a Desert Storm combat mission. The 596th Bomb Squadron’s B-52s, 2nd Bomb Wing, were equipped with the cruise missiles AGM-86C CALC - Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles, at that time still secret and never used.
On January 17, 1991, at 3:00 a.m., B-52s arrived in Saudi Arabia and launched 35 missiles against high-value objectives in the Iraqi air chain of command and control, to cut off communications and begin to gain air superiority, They returned home and thus completed the longest aerial warfare mission ever carried out flying for 35 hours for 14,000 miles (XX Km). On the same day, the coalition air forces carried out more than 75o attack missions from the airports and 280 missions from the six aircraft carriers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf and reported the first success in air combatair with a Mig-39 shot down by an F-15 Eagle 33rd TFW - Tactical Fighter Wing of the US Air Force piloted by Capt. Jon Kelk.
In this operation took part the extraordinary and new, at that time, invisible aircraft F-117A Stealth Fighter, which made its "first" public appearance in a real conflict. The aircraft, kept secret until 1988, was actually used operationally as early as December 1989 in some bombing missions during the US invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause). The "Black jets" flying during the first night of the war represented only 2.5% of the total number of attacking aircraft but struck 31% of the targets assigned to the coalition.
During the Desert Storm 45 F-117As participated with about 60 pilots for a total of 1271 sorties of war. About 2,000 tons of laser-guided bombs were dropped for about 6,900 hours of flight. No aircraft were damaged by enemy anti-aircraft.
On February 28, 1991, after six weeks of air strikes and 100 hours of land campaign, President George H.W. Bush declared the end of military operations and announced the liberation of Kuwait. Desert Storm was a military watershed, defining modern large-scale combat and marking the United States as the world’s undisputed military superpower.
The USAF fighter aircraft, of about 30 different models, flew 69,406 sorties. Twenty-seven US military aircraft were lost during the conflict. By the end of the war, the United States-led coalition had deployed 670,000 troops, including 425,000 from the United States.
Italian participation in the Gulf War / Desert Storm
Italy also participated in the coalition under the auspices of the United Nations with ten Tornado IDS aircraft that were based at the military airport of Al Dhafra, in the United Arab Emirates, framed in the well-known Operation Locust. In addition to the Tornado fighter bombers, Italy sent a number of equipment for support and transport, and some F-104 Starfighter reconnaissance aircraft were deployed in Turkey as part of NATO’s ACE Mobile Force.
It was the first real operational involvement of the Air Force after World War II. As we well know, a Tornado did not return to Italy, because it was shot down during the first night of fighting. The night between 17 and 18 January 1991 eight Tornado took off for the first operational mission, due to bad weather, the entire air package in which the Italian military aircraft were inserted was forced to return to the base because they could not refuel in flight. All but one.
The Italian Tornado after refueling in flight continued the mission alone. Once the target was attacked, during disengagement he was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft. The crew launched but was captured by Iraqi troops, Major Pilot Gianmarco Bellini and Captain Navigator Maurizio Cocciolone were released at the end of hostilities.
The Italian device and the Air Force with its Tornadoes carried out, during the 42 days of war, 226 sorties for 589 hours of flight without recording other losses. The support aircraft totaled 224 missions for 4156 flight hours, the military reconnaissance aircraft 384 sorties for 515 flight hours.
