As the Persian Gulf War was coming to a close,
the coalition forces against the Iraqi government aimed for one last push.
Under Operation Desert Storm, American forces sought to attack the Iraqi military
defending Baghdad, the country’s last stronghold and most heavily guarded area.
Operation codename Package Q was the war’s largest airstrike,
meant to destroy critical objectives before ground units could enter the city.
The objectives included the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad,
defensive zones where surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns were stationed,
as well as barracks and other military depots.
US forces were confident in their superior numbers, aircraft, and overall technology.
Still, the Iraqi enemy defending its homeland was a force to be reckoned with.
Package Q was launched on January 19, 1991.t had an unsatisfactory outcome,
asit was neither a failure nor a success. Although Baghdad was heavily bombed, with
hundreds of civilian and military casualties, the Iraqi nuclear research facility was not destroyed.
Military analysts and personnel attributed Package Q's merely average results to a series
of communication problems, sudden changes of strategy, and an accumulation of minor mishaps.
This combination of factors proved that military superiority amounts to nothing
when there is no coordination between the parties involved.
The Gulf War
On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded its neighbor Kuwait. The global community
instantly condemned the unjustified occupation.
The United Nations Security Council initiated economic sanctions against Iraq four days later.
The invading Iraqi forces cared very little about the global outrage and refused
to withdraw from Kuwait. After the deadline imposed by the UN,
a coalition force led by the US was assembled to attack the Iraqi Army.
According to the US Department of Defense (QUOTE): "The US had supplied Iraq with military aid during
its eight-year war with Iran, giving Iraq the fourth-largest army in the world at that time.
This posed a threat to Saudi Arabia, another major exporter of oil…"
"… If Saudi Arabia fell, Iraq would control one-fifth of the world's oil supply.
The Iraqi leader also was repeatedly violating United Nations resolutions,
so the US had UN support in responding to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait."
The Gulf War ensued. The conflict would last from August 1990 to February 1991.
It was divided into two fronts, with codenames Operation Desert Shield
and then Operation Desert Storm while in its combat phase.
Back in the US, the conflict was also known as the Video Game War
because of the amount of footage broadcasted by the media of US bomber cameras during operations.
Operation Desert Storm would also become the
most extensive air campaign and military coalition formed since the Vietnam War.
Based on data gathered by the US Department of Defense,
the US-led coalition forces (QUOTE): “flew more than 18,000 air deployment missions,
more than 116,000 combat air sorties and dropped 88,500 tons of bombs."
Package Q Strike
In January 1991, Operation Desert Shield evolved into Operation Desert Storm.
The US had successfully assembled a fighting force of 700,000 men in
Saudi Arabia with the help of 39 allied nations.
Desert Storm's objective was to strike Baghdad, the heart of Iraq,
where President Saddam Hussein coordinated the army and the government.
Unrelenting aerial attacks would weaken the Iraqi army and test its air defenses
before soldiers moved forward on the ground to invade the city.
Baghdad was heavily defended. The city was protected by a ring of hundreds of
surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, and heavy artillery to repel ground troops.
Its defenses ranged from state-of-the-art technology to World War 2-era armament.
The Iraqi army also had several airbases near
the capital from which they could rapidly launch their own aircraft.
The Iraqi Air Force had Soviet Mikoyan MiG29 twin-engine combat jets at its disposal.
This fighter aircraft, first introduced in the early ‘80s during the last years of the Cold War,
was a worthy opponent to the American F15 and F16 fighters that the US Air Force used at the time.
In total, Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Air Force had 55 aircraft, which included ten MIG29s, 25 MIG23s,
and 20 MIG25s. They were well-prepared when it came to fighting the Americans.
Although underpowered in many ways, the Iraqis still posed a significant threat.
On the other hand, coalition forces numbered 78 aircraft, of which 56 were General Dynamics F16s,
14 F15Cs, six F4s, and two EF111S, which would be vital for jamming enemy radars.
The central coalition strike force was composed of the F16 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, located
at Al Minhad in the United Arab Emirates, and the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, in Doha, Qatar.
Other aircraft would have to fly from the Torrejon Air Base in Spain and locations as far as the US.
It was the largest assembly of F16s in history.
American pilots were confident that US equipment and tactics
would take down Iraq's defensive command and control system. If that was not enough,
all of NATO was behind them, ready to overwhelm the enemy with more lethal force.
Package Q called for an all-in airstrike using all the Coalition's forces. Aside from wearing down
enemy defenses, the main target was the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in Baghdad's outskirts.
Other objectives that would strike a blow to the Iraqi
regime were added hours before the operation formally began.
These included the Republican Guard Headquarters and the Iraqi Air Force Headquarters.
Package Q launched on January 19. Aircraft departed from more than four locations. The plan
was to gather in Saudi Arabia before the attack, where tankers would be standing by to refuel.
The logistical and operational challenges of the operation quickly soured due to bad
weather. The tankers approached the zone too fast and had to lower their speeds,
which affected the F16 fighters riding along with them.
To make matters worse, other expected aircraft did not show
up because their commanders received their orders too late the night before.
Some pilots were also surprised that their orders had changed in a matter of hours,
including the sudden addition of targets.
Post-analysis of the Air Force’s performance by the Gulf War Air Power Survey stated that (QUOTE):
"Such an approach would maximize the exposure of the F-16 train to enemy air defenses;
however, it was too late to change the order in which the mission subsets would attack targets."
US pilots still believed they could pull it off. But by the time they
reached the secondary objectives after hitting nuclear reactors in
the research facility, the city's inner defenses were ready to take them down.
Major Jeffrey S. Tice, one of the F16 pilots that were tasked with bombing the objectives,
later said in an interview with reporter Peter Grier (QUOTE):
"We felt pretty confident it wouldn't be as difficult as it seemed on paper."
Despite the added difficulties, the coalition aircraft carried on with their mission.
As they approached Baghdad, enemy resistance increased, with surface-to-air missiles and
anti-aircraft-artillery gunfire targeting them once they reached the city's airspace.
As this happened, communication problems arose among the attacking forces.
After mission groups hit the nuclear research facility and an oil refinery,
Major Jeffrey S. Tice and his unit made their way to the heart of the city.
It was then that his unit came under fire by surface-to-air missiles. In mere seconds,
a dozen unguided missiles were launched at them. All of the rockets failed except one.
As Major Tice saw the last surface-to-air missile getting closer to his F16, he made a barrel roll
to avoid it. He remembered being told that he would remain relatively safe if his F16 was
33-feet away when the proximity fuse exploded its warhead. But it was not his lucky day.
In an interview with Airforce Mag, he said [QUOTE]: "I had a 32-foot day."
The missile hit the F16, and Major Tice momentarily lost the control systems.
When the back-up systems turned on,
Major Tice took the aircraft as far as he could before it stopped responding.
He was 150-miles north of the Iraqi border when he decided to let go and eject at 14,000 feet.
When the Major landed, a group of Bedouin riders captured him. Although he was given
a good meal and treated with respect, he was turned over to Iraqi authorities the next day.
Major Tice did not know it, but he was one of only two pilots taken down during the entire operation.
The other one was Captain Harry ‘Mike’ Roberts,
who was also handed over to the Iraqi intelligence.
Both men were imprisoned and mistreated for almost two months.
It was not until March 6 when they were flown out of Baghdad by the International Red Cross.
Tice and Roberts F-16's were the only casualties of Package Q.
Less Than Satisfactory
Package Q was neither a victory nor a failure.
This was mainly due to the operational and logistical
challenges of coordinating aircraft that took off from multiple bases in different locations.
Bad weather and coordination problems between combat groups also played a factor,
which only got worse when the Coalition Command suddenly added more objectives.
The US continued to bomb Iraq and eventually
established total air domination over the Iraqi skies by the end of the war.
Nevertheless, no more large-scale attacks were attempted to raid the city.
The Gulf War Air Power Survey concluded by saying (QUOTE):
"The raid illustrates how a number of small incidents—or frictions—none
of which by themselves are necessarily serious,
can contribute to a less than satisfactory outcome: in this case the loss of two F-16s."
Package Q became a military lesson on why coordination between units and
their commands can be more important than numbers and sheer firepower.