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For educational purposes
The air war over Iraq at the height of Operation Desert Storm : Panavia Tornado/Grumman A-6 Intruder.
The air war over Iraq at the height of Operation Desert Storm : Panavia Tornado/Grumman A-6 Intruder.
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00:00The End
00:30This is the Panavia tornado. During the Gulf War, this versatile multi-role aircraft flew
00:38with Britain's Royal Air Force, the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the Italian Air Force.
00:44Tornadoes were assigned some of the most dangerous missions of the war, attacking heavily defended
00:48airfields in Iraq and occupied Kuwait.
00:58Tornado missions required pilots to fly daring, low-level, high-speed attacks hundreds of miles
01:04behind enemy lines. The assignment was dangerous, and some tornado pilots never returned.
01:15In 1972, the British Aircraft Corporation joined forces with West Germany's Messerschmitt-Bolkel-Blohm
01:34and Aeritalia to form the Panavia Consortium. Together, the top aerospace technicians of
01:41the three countries created a two-seat variable geometry airframe adaptable to nearly every
01:46combat mission.
01:51Panavia fitted their new jet with a full complement of computerized systems. A powerful radar was
01:57installed in a high-level interceptor version of the Tornado. A navigation and attack computer
02:03allows the plane to fly as a deep interdiction fighter-bomber.
02:08The Tornado's twin engines and swing wings give it power and flexibility. The basic airframe
02:14was deliberately designed to be adapted to different roles, much like the US Navy's multi-purpose
02:20A6.
02:26The Tornado F3 variant is an air superiority interceptor, while the Tornado GR1 is an all-weather bomber.
02:40The GR1 can fly at 600 miles per hour, 200 feet above the ground. But standard Tornado's
02:46aren't equipped with laser target designators, essential equipment for dropping precision
02:51bombs. A new version of the Tornado fitted with a laser designator was rushed into service
02:57during the Gulf War. It flew alongside an equally new variant, the Tornado GR1A. The GR1A is
03:06an all-weather reconnaissance plane that was used extensively to hunt for Scud missile sites.
03:12This is an electronic countermeasures EW jamming pod designed to confuse enemy hostile radars.
03:21And then further to the right, this is not a bomb. This is in fact a 2,250 litre fuel tank,
03:29which will extend our range and we carry two of these. Moving on to the fuselage of the aircraft.
03:35The Tornado GR1A. The difference between a GR1 and a GR1A is that there are no guns mounted
03:43on this aeroplane. Instead, we have internally mounted infrared reconnaissance equipment and
03:49immediately visual is one of the sideways-looking infrared sensor windows here. There is one on
03:55the right-hand side as well. And within this fairing underneath the fuselage is a window which
04:02would open, which is an infrared line scanner, which will give us complete 180-degree horizon-to-horizon
04:09coverage.
04:10Britain's Royal Air Force is the principal operator of the aeroplane. But at one time
04:22or another, virtually all Tornado pilots have flown together during NATO training missions.
04:27Generally, these missions involve Tornado F3s flying combat air patrol, while Tornado GR1s
04:33practice low-level high-speed strikes. But when the Gulf War erupted, GR1 pilots had to adapt
04:41quickly to a dangerous new environment. One thing that helped ease the learning curve was
04:46the close-knit relationship of Tornado crews. Like the teams who fly F-111s, Tornado pilots
04:55and Bombardier navigators develop bonds that help them surmount daunting obstacles. When Kuwait was
05:01overrun by Iraq, Tornado pilots and the rest of the British Expeditionary Force found themselves
05:07facing the greatest challenge of their careers. They were deployed to the Gulf on August 9, 1990,
05:14less than a week after the invasion. Eventually, 25,000 British soldiers were sent to the war zone.
05:21Britain's Royal Air Force contributed 135 aircraft, including 18 Tornado F3 fighters, 12 Buccaneer bombers,
05:3012 Jaguar fighter bombers, and 46 Tornado GR1 attack and reconnaissance planes. During the Gulf War,
05:38the dozen RAF Jaguars flew 617 sorties, flying combat air patrol and bombing missions.
05:45to camouflage their aircraft in the new battleground, the RAF changed the color of their planes
05:53from European green to desert pink. This also helped differentiate British Tornadoes
05:58from the Saudi and Italian models that flew during the Gulf War. Ultimately, 31 nations deployed armed forces in the Gulf.
06:06In the build-up before the war, some predicted that the Coalition would never hold together.
06:14But the quick establishment of a central leadership kept anarchy at bay.
06:19General H. Norman Schwarzkopf became commander of all forces.
06:25General Charles Horner led the Coalition air campaign.
06:28It's already been struck by 117. This is a team effort. The second aircraft comes through.
06:33The idea of having one air boss in charge of air operations in the war was new insofar as implemented in this war,
06:41but it's been around for some time. In fact, it's been fundamental to the concepts for employment of air in southwest Asia.
06:48We've trained this way for years.
06:53I arrived in the Gulf two days before the war started.
06:56Had I not had training with Americans using the procedures that we actually adopted during the Gulf War,
07:03it would have been very difficult at such short notice to have achieved the mission and to have achieved it so well.
07:11Well, it shouldn't surprise anyone to find that the British and the U.S. fighter squadrons are very similar.
07:21And their approach toward war fighting is very similar.
07:27But that's true of the majority of the members of the Coalition.
07:31We trained together and we had practiced together, so to speak.
07:35And so when it came time to fight the war together, it was the same thing that we had spent a lot of years getting ready to do,
07:43and we were able to do that.
07:44And so whether it was the British or whether it was the Saudis or whether it was the UAE or whether it was the French,
07:50there was a cohesiveness there that permitted us to do what we thought we could do without any deference to who was doing it.
08:03And that's the important thing.
08:05British forces were scattered across Saudi Arabia.
08:09They operated out of an airport parking lot in Dehran and bases in Riyadh, Tabuk, and Bahrain.
08:17The British found themselves living in desert-tent cities and finished barracks.
08:21It all depended on the luck of the draw.
08:24Wherever they were, they worked alongside the other members of the multinational force.
08:31This included some 425,000 Americans and 137,000 troops from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
08:42As well as 7,000 troops who escaped from Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion.
08:47Pakistan, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Bangladesh, Syria, Argentina, Senegal, and Sierra Leone also sent in men, planes, and ships.
08:57Italy sent in 10 of its tornadoes to fly air superiority missions.
09:02Altogether, more than 695,000 soldiers from around the globe were sent against the Iraqi army, which numbered close to a million.
09:12The Royal Saudi Air Force flew both tornado interceptors and bombers.
09:16Mirage F-1s were flown by both friends and foes.
09:21F-1s from Qatar joined F-1s from the Free Kuwait Air Force, which flew with the Saudis.
09:28I read stories about how the Saudis were not going to perform well.
09:33They performed superbly.
09:35I remember one tornado mission, the guy had to cut a runway.
09:38He put every one of his bombs right down the center line of the runway.
09:41Certainly the example where the two mirages were coming towards the oil fields and the Saudi flight lane rolled out right behind them, AWACS gave them a vector.
09:50So the idea that one kind of Air Force is not as good as another Air Force is really not true.
09:56You have great individuals in every Air Force and you have guys that have trouble getting up to speed.
10:02That's true of all Air Forces.
10:04The key on how well an Air Force performs is how well your intelligence is and how well your command and control works.
10:11In this case, I think we had superb support from both.
10:30Britain's Tornado GR-1s flew low-level bombing missions deep in Iraqi territory.
10:35And they took the heaviest losses of all coalition aircraft.
10:39The tornado force represented just 4% of Allied air strength, but it suffered 26% of the casualties.
10:46The problem was that the Iraqis had an awful lot of AAA guns to defend their airfields.
10:52And at night, to see this solid wall of tracer go up was something that no one had ever really experienced before.
11:00And it's very frightening and very distracting.
11:03And although it probably wasn't that effective, it certainly tends to take your eye off the ball.
11:07Oh, come on, what's going on?
11:09I think I've got it.
11:10Oh, I hope I did not strike down.
11:12Stop.
11:13Lincoln and Stanford Buckeye, sockets behind you.
11:17The tornado suffered a lot of higher rate of losses than some of the other aeroplanes, partially due to the nature of some of the sorties we were flying.
11:35And also, we had a fair degree of bad luck as well.
11:39If you haven't got luck with you, then obviously you're not going to survive.
11:43Well done, Benny.
11:44Toss them all in.
11:46Excellent.
11:47Well done.
11:48Make a big bang.
11:50Yes, to say the least.
11:5220 to 25 of us killed every year in normal training accidents.
11:58And to be honest, the loss rate was no more than we would normally experience in peacetime, especially considering the amount of flying and the type of flying that was being done.
12:07Very low level, very demanding training indeed during the build up to the war.
12:11So losing friends is something that's not new.
12:15It's something that we are used to.
12:17I mean, it never comes very easy.
12:19But it's something that's not that unusual.
12:22Five tornado pilots were killed in action.
12:25Another seven were captured by the Iraqis and held as prisoners of war.
12:30Fortunately, the war was short.
12:32By March 1991, all Allied POWs were released to friendly forces.
12:41Another problem facing the RAF and all coalition pilots was the unusually poor weather in the Middle East.
12:48As any pilot will attest, things can get tricky when you're flying at night.
12:55The weather was not beautiful desert, clear blue sky weather.
13:00There were a number of thunderstorms and with great turbulence.
13:03Now, because this aeroplane is only a very small aeroplane, and it only carries a limited amount of fuel,
13:10all our operations involved air-to-air refueling with one of our tanker aircraft.
13:15On some nights, we were actually tanking in very, very nasty thunderstorm and electronic storm weathers,
13:21where the aeroplanes were being buffeted around quite significantly.
13:26And all the pilots to a man did extremely well to be able to make contact with the tanker aircraft and take the fuel.
13:33But the major safety threat was still Iraq's surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns.
13:42So after losing five planes in the first week, tornadoes were sent to higher, safer altitudes.
13:48The RAF claimed this was done not because of the high loss rate, but because air superiority had been so quickly achieved
13:55that tornadoes no longer needed to bomb airstrips.
13:58But the fact remains that although the tornado is a versatile airframe,
14:02it was not designed for medium-level bombing, nor had its crews ever trained for that mission.
14:07Dropping laser-guided bombs from medium altitudes was new to GR-1 pilots,
14:22who specialised in delivering their unguided JP-233 runway denial munitions from treetop level.
14:28But laser-guided bombs were also capable of blowing holes in Iraqi airstrips.
14:38However, JP-233s create a much wider circle of destruction.
14:43They carry 30 concrete cratering bomblets and 215 delayed-fused mines,
14:49making airstrip repair a hazardous enterprise.
14:53Switching to laser-guided bombs cut down tornado losses,
14:57but RAF pilots still praise the destructive power of the JP-233.
15:03The tornado was always going to be used for low-level attacks against the airfield using the JP-233.
15:11That is such a specialised weapon, only the tornado can drop it.
15:15It was always going to be used for that.
15:17And there's no way you can drop that weapon from medium-level.
15:20So the path was clear, we had to do that.
15:24Bloody marvellous, you little piece.
15:28Five tornadoes were lost during low-level attacks on Iraqi air bases.
15:33But although the bombers were sent to higher levels,
15:36the six reconnaissance tornadoes continued to fly high-speed, low-level missions for the duration of the war,
15:42without a single loss.
15:46I will say this, the Brits were very courageous.
15:50They took a lot of casualties, and my hat's off to them.
15:54They never missed a beat.
15:56One bomb gone, two, three, four, five, six bombs gone.
16:02Good hit.
16:03Splash.
16:04I'm still tracking it. Still tracking it. Still tracking it. Still tracking it. Still tracking it. Still tracking it. Happy.
16:16Happy.
16:25If you get this Norman, I buy you bourbon and coke tonight.
16:28The first tornado GR-1 fighter bombers sent to the Gulf weren't equipped with built-in laser designators.
16:35So the RAF sent over a dozen Buccaneer bombers armed with Pave Spike laser designators to mark targets for tornadoes.
16:42GR-1s carrying Paveway laser-guided bombs flew in three ships of two tornadoes and one Buccaneer.
16:49Buccaneer navigators called the shots.
16:52I'll be stopping the turn, mate.
16:53OK, fine.
16:54Drink it right and then left.
16:56Drink it right and left.
16:57Yeah, whatever you can.
16:58Hand or hold it.
16:59We're nearly over.
17:00I was sent to the Gulf three weeks into the war, actually, because I was involved in a new project,
17:06which was just coming into service at the time, which was a new laser designation pod called Tiled,
17:12and it was still under development at the time.
17:15So before we could take it out there, we had to actually develop it and get it fit to work,
17:20and prove it worked before we deployed.
17:22Tiled stands for thermal imaging and laser designation.
17:29It was an experimental system rushed into service for the Gulf War.
17:33Five tornadoes were modified to accept the Tiled pod.
17:36Tiled was successful, though, as with every new weapon system, problems did arise.
17:44Laser's not firing.
17:47Laser's not firing.
17:48Laser's not firing.
17:49Laser's not firing, you piglet.
17:50Fire.
17:51Because when you're fighting from the air, you don't actually see much of the enemy.
17:55In fact, you don't see them at all.
17:57Even when you can see the targets you're bombing, you don't actually see people,
18:00especially when you're bombing from medium level.
18:03So you don't actually get the impression that you're fighting anybody at all.
18:06In training, we've practiced against targets, just airfields or buildings out and around.
18:15And to a large extent, flying the war missions was exactly the same.
18:19It didn't feel any different, except for the fact that there was lead coming flying up at me every now and again.
18:24I didn't actually feel anything directly for or against the Iraqis.
18:37They were just the targets, the job we had to do.
18:40It's not like a soldier who gets more deeply involved and actually has the fight going on all around him.
18:45Yeah, I can see it's pretty bloody close, if not dead on.
18:49All the targets which were used during the precision bomb phrase were all military targets,
18:59whether they'd be hardened air shelters or ammunition bunkers.
19:03They were all designed to prevent the Iraqi war machine from operating effectively.
19:15It's not just a clean war. You can't just take out the targets without killing people,
19:26or killing innocent people, if you like.
19:28But you can go a long way towards it by using guided weapons.
19:32But they're expensive, very expensive.
19:34So you have to trade one against the other.
19:37When ceasefire was called on March 3rd, the RAF had flown over 6,100 sorties,
19:42the largest number flown by any nation except the United States.
19:46The five tiled tornadoes flew 72 successful sorties in 17 days.
19:51The six GR1A recon tornadoes flew 128 night sorties.
19:56And the 46 British GR1s in the Gulf flew over 1,600 sorties.
20:05There are a lot of people who say that air power won the Gulf War.
20:09I have a little trouble with that, because air power is only one part of the land, sea, and air campaign.
20:15I am very proud of the contribution that we made, working together, flying side by side.
20:22And it wasn't only the United States Air Force.
20:24It was the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Islamic allies, our European allies, the French, the British, the Canadians.
20:29We really pulled together as a team.
20:31And I believe one of the reasons the war got over so quickly and with so few casualties
20:37is because of the lethality and flexibility of modern air power.
20:4000.00.
20:4700.00.
20:4900.00.
20:50…
20:5100.00.
20:5200.00.
20:5300.00.
20:5400.00.
20:5900.00.
21:00The U.S. naval buildup during the Gulf War was the largest such mobilization since World
21:26War II. Six carrier battle groups massed in the Middle East, and the decks of those carriers
21:32roared nonstop. The sleek F-14 Tomcats were perhaps the best-known planes on board, and
21:39Marine Aviate Harriers were the other stars of the deck. But the Navy's key asset was actually
21:46the oldest, least glamorous plane on board, the venerable A-6. This late 50s design filled
21:53three crucial roles in the Gulf, tanking, electronic jamming, and long-range attack.
21:59Streaking in from the sea, A-6s were bold reminders of the deadly potential of power projection.
22:23A-6s have rolled off Grumman Aerospace Corporation assembly lines since the late 1950s. Over
22:35the years, the plane has gone from vacuum tubes to microcircuits. It was designed to fly in
22:41all weather conditions, both as a Marine close-air support plane and a Navy long-range medium bomber.
22:49Exploring complicated bombing missions requires a two-man crew. As with F-111s, which fly similar
22:55missions, two aviators sit side-by-side, pilot on the left, bombardier-navigator on the right.
23:04The first A-6A intruder was delivered to the Navy in 1963.
23:12Soon, A-6s were being mass-produced and flying directly into front-line combat in Vietnam.
23:22During the Vietnam War, the Navy's new attack plane underwent years of brutal field testing.
23:29Today, the A-6 looks much the same as it did 30 years ago. But inside, it's a different
23:40airplane. Computer bombing systems and terrain-following radar have been added to give the A-6 true,
23:47ground-hugging, day-and-night all-weather capability. The A-6E's target recognition attack multi-sensor,
23:53or tram-pod, lets the airplane drop laser-guided bombs with great precision.
23:59An important variant of the A-6 went into service in 1970. The EA-6B Prowler jams enemy radar
24:07and communications. It can also fire radar-seeking-harm missiles at hostile positions.
24:16The KA-60 tanker plane is another A-6 spinoff. KA-6s refuel Navy planes and transfer gas from huge
24:25KC-10 tankers and deliver it to carriers below.
24:31The A-6 has been fundamental to the Navy and its interdiction efforts and, again, proved very
24:38valuable in this war. We used the A-6, like the 111 and the F-15Es, early in the war to attack
24:45targets, such as airfields, communication sites. And then, later, we used them with
24:50precision munitions and also CBUs against troops in the field in Kuwait. So, you're never in
24:56this war alone. You're always working together, one unit with another. And it really doesn't
25:00matter what country or what service you come from. You mix and match the forces so you have
25:05the most capable systems working together.
25:08During the Gulf War, more than 150 coalition ships patrolled the waters near Iraq. More
25:16than 100 of these ships were part of the United States Navy. The six aircraft carriers in the
25:20Gulf region represented half the Navy's active carrier strength. Generally, each ship has
25:26about 85 planes on station.
25:29The aircraft carrier is there, forward deployed, kind of an offensive punch. And it provides
25:35us with some very unique opportunities. The A-6 has got a unique mission and one that there's
25:41two aviators in it. We can deliver those smart weapons. We can carry an enormous amount of
25:46ordnance. And even though that there's Air Force aircraft that can carry more than we can,
25:51as we're forward deployed and we can go to places that they can't, it gives us an opportunity
25:56to go out there and strike if we need to. It gives us that opportunity that it just can't
26:01be equaled with any other aircraft.
26:03The Gulf War gave the Navy yet another opportunity to prove the worth of power projection. When
26:09Operation Desert Shield became Desert Storm, Navy and Marine pilots flew alongside the U.S.
26:14Air Force and the rest of the coalition air wing in strikes across Iraq and Kuwait. Few intruder
26:20crews had previous combat experience. In fact, most A-6 pilots were younger than their planes.
26:27The hard part about combat is that you don't know how you're going to react. When you see
26:42that situation, it's not a game anymore. And that can be very scary. When you get to that
26:46case where it's not a simulator but it's actually a real missile or it's not, you know, a simulation,
26:53it's actually AAA, you've got real bombs on you and people are trying to shoot at you to kill you, that's when you really wake up and say, hey, if I have not studied, if I have not prepared, you know, am I really going to be ready? You don't know until you get to that situation. And I think if you ask them deep down truthfully, hey, did you have doubts? I'm sure every single guy had doubts. If they said they didn't have doubts, they're lying to you. Stand by, here they go. Good steering, man. Give me good steering.
27:05Easy. Here they go.
27:06There it is.
27:07Easing the turn. Flashing no impact point. You guys are just steady.
27:10Everything's steady.
27:11It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. Keep going.
27:14Pull it around so you get to that situation. And then I think if you get to that situation, and I think if you ask them deep down truthfully, hey, did you have doubts?
27:15I'm sure every single guy had doubts. If they said they didn't have doubts, they're lying to you.
27:19Stand by. Here they go. Good steering man. Give me good steering.
27:23Easy. Here they go.
27:26There they go.
27:27There they go.
27:28There they go.
27:29There they go.
27:30There they go.
27:31There they go.
27:32There they go.
27:33There they go.
27:34There they go.
27:35Aircraft carriers are floating cities where space is at a premium and all operations serve the needs of the flight deck.
27:47Deck activity is always frenzied, but never more so than during wartime when pilots, sailors, and aircrew work exhausting shifts with little regard for the rise and fall of the sun.
27:57Carrier life is extremely regimented, and for good reason. Standing in the wrong place at the wrong time can be fatal.
28:06The noise on deck is deafening. Crewmen communicate with hand signals, intercoms, and headsets.
28:13Shirt colors quickly let you know who does what. Blue shirts keep planes from rolling off the flight deck.
28:20Red shirts handle bombs, rockets, and ammunition. Below the deck, they ready the weapons that pilots take into battle.
28:28An accident here can cripple a ship, so every action is checked and double-checked. In wartime, though, the pace can be exhausting.
28:35White and silver are the colors of safety men.
28:43Yellow shirts direct taxi traffic.
28:46Green shirts hook planes up to catapults.
28:49And everyone answers to the airboss, the chief controller of flight operations.
28:56No plane leaves the deck without the boss's approval.
29:00The airboss is a veteran flyer, and his word is law.
29:04In the handler's room, men move toy airplanes on a replica of the flight deck.
29:08This is the handler's table, nicknamed the Ouija board.
29:16The Ouija board tells the traffic, fuel, ordnance, and safety men the status of every plane on the ship.
29:24When toy planes are moved on the board, real planes are moved on the deck.
29:28Once in the air, pilots are handed over to the carrier air traffic control center, a dark chamber in the bowels of the ship.
29:38Non-stop electronic communication keeps crews in touch with their mother ships.
29:47Combat missions can be taxing, but Navy pilots seem to unanimously agree that landing a plane on a carrier deck in bad weather is far more frightening.
29:58I had one where we were manning up on the carrier, it was about 11.30 at night, very, very dark, raining cats and dogs.
30:06And there was a thunderstorm that, for some reason, was centered right on top of the ship.
30:12And somebody said on the radio, oh, it's not that bad, it's going to pass here in a second.
30:16And I'm looking around at these cats and dogs coming down to the flight deck thinking, what are we doing, you know?
30:22And I was scared, I mean, I was scared.
30:24And down to two miles and just pouring down rain, can't see the ship, can't see the ship, at a mile, there it is, land.
30:32And, uh, whew, I tell you what, that's, uh, it's an eye-opener.
30:38It's an eye-opener.
30:39Typically, you'd come back from an overland mission and your heart had been racing, you've got the adrenaline pumping,
30:45you get over the gulf and now it's an opportunity for you to relax.
30:48Well, especially if you're coming back there at night, well, you get about 50, 60 miles away from the ship and that adrenaline starts pumping again.
30:55It's always difficult to get on board at night.
30:58Flying at high subsonic speeds 200 feet above the desert floor might also look difficult.
31:04But it's not, thanks to terrain-following navigation systems.
31:08But during the Gulf War, intruder pilots flew at much higher levels than they were accustomed to, often above 10,000 feet.
31:17This helped them survive flak and surface-to-air missile attacks.
31:23I'm sure every guy that's in this hangar can tell you there were times where he saw a missile coming up and you don't know for sure if it's guiding on you or not.
31:31You're going to be able to pick up that missile visually and you don't have a choice to take the chance of whether or not it's guiding.
31:37You're going to have to maneuver to defeat it.
31:39And the same thing with the triple-A.
31:41Another bomb's going off.
31:42Triple-A there.
31:43Triple-A down below.
31:44Gotcha.
31:46Man, that's got a lot of triple-A down there.
31:49A good buddy of mine in VA-65 was hit with triple-A one day when I was flying.
31:53We went and rendezvoused on his airplane and basically did an airborne check-out to see how much damage there was.
32:02There ended up being a hole in his wing about the size of a large chair that you could slide through.
32:09And we followed that airplane home and watched him land at a divert field.
32:14He, unfortunately, could not see the hole because it was near the outside portion of the wing and was blocked by some wing structure.
32:21He was talking about trying to lower his flaps and slaps and said, no, no, no, don't do that.
32:26So, again, the danger was out there.
32:28No matter how easy people thought it was, you could run into danger.
32:46The number of airplanes shot down by the Iraqis was low, but it did happen.
32:49I fly the A-6E intruder attack aircraft.
32:55It was extremely difficult.
32:57Jeff was assigned to VA-35 at the time, and that was my previous squadron.
33:02I had flown some with Jeff.
33:04I knew everyone in the squadron.
33:06And just prior to our first mission into Iraq is when we had gotten word that some of those airplanes, the A-6s off of the Saratoga, had actually been shot down.
33:14It was a difficult time.
33:17I could say that the night before that first mission, I laid awake in bed for quite a while just thinking about, thinking about exactly what was going on with Jeff, what were his thoughts, and what specifically was happening to him.
33:28In future wars, pilot losses will be reduced by using weapons such as the Tomahawk land attack missile.
33:38297 T-LAMs were fired from battleships and submarines at the most heavily defended targets in Iraq.
33:43At least two were shot down, but the rest flew some 600 miles at heights as low as 100 feet before hitting targets smaller than a garage door.
33:53T-LAMs are the metallic face of modern warfare.
33:55Given the mission of the A-6, the crew coordination is very important, and that's what gives us the advantage over other airplanes, is that the interaction that we have between the two crew members.
34:20Specifically during the war, the pilot, as we'd be approaching the target, would basically be flying an unpredictable flight path, so he'd be bending the airplane back and forth while the BN, the bombardier navigator, would have his head inside the hood trying to pick out the specific radar blip.
34:37As the pilot's doing that lazy maneuvering back and forth to evade the radar systems that are on the ground, he's looking for the missiles, he's looking for the AAA, and then the BN is sweetening up the targeting solution.
34:50And then there has to be good crew coordination, talking back and forth, the status of the system, where the threats are, what you're actually seeing out there, when the BN hands off from the radar to the flare, that he does have a good track, he's got good laser indications,
35:05that the pilot's got good indications on his screen, that he's releasing the weapons, and then as they're coming back off target again, that both crew members have their eyes outside the cockpit, they can talk back and forth, pick up the threats, maneuver the airplane to keep them out of harm's way.
35:20When you fly with one other guy, primarily, you get to the point where you can communicate using mic clicks and glances and not have to verbalize, it becomes very, very close, very, very coordinated, and that's what makes this airplane special, and that's what makes it work so well.
35:41I think that the whole experience was much easier than we thought it was going to be, however, we unfortunately lost an airplane and lost the crew.
36:03As a matter of fact, the pilot was my roommate, so one day you've got a roommate, and the next day you don't.
36:09So, yeah, the war was easy, but it was not without cost.
36:16Intruders usually flew in groups of four and dropped both laser-guided bombs and unguided gravity bombs.
36:22Laser-guided bombs were the weapons of choice, but poor weather over Iraq often made it impossible for laser designators to lock onto targets.
36:41On poor weather days, A6Es dropped cluster bombs and other unguided munitions.
36:48So, yeah, these go.
36:49Okay, coming to 237 on the heading.
36:50Roger.
36:51Pickling, just to make sure we've got them off.
36:52Roger.
36:53Right on the hunting cone that we were talking about going for.
36:55They're still dropping.
36:56Roger that.
36:57See how we do here.
36:58Oh, yeah!
36:59A little bit short, not bad.
37:00Nice picture.
37:01Yeah, nice picture, though.
37:02I'm going to leave it on there for a...
37:03Uh-oh!
37:04What do you got?
37:05Five fire, right around 15 land.
37:06Roger.
37:07Roger.
37:08Fresh aircraft in the break.
37:09Now land aircraft.
37:10Reblogged.
37:11Redbox.
37:12Redbox.
37:13Redbox.
37:14Redbox.
37:15No.
37:16No.
37:17No.
37:18No.
37:19No.
37:20No.
37:21No.
37:22No.
37:23No.
37:24No.
37:25No.
37:26No.
37:27No.
37:28No.
37:29No.
37:30No.
37:31No.
37:32No.
37:33No.
37:34Intruders were also sent out to stop Iraqi naval vessels
37:53carrying anti-ship missiles and sea mines.
38:00Those things are difficult because they're moving targets.
38:02It's not like a land target that you say,
38:04hey, I know where it is today, I know where it's going to be tomorrow.
38:07And because they're constantly moving,
38:09they're difficult to find and they're difficult to attack.
38:18Towards the latter stages of the war, with the depth of the water,
38:21you'd get situations where you have a sunk boat out there somewhere in the Gulf,
38:25and you'd get a radar blip, and you'd go up there to investigate,
38:28expecting it to be a target,
38:30and here it's something that's already sunk and still sticking up above the water.
38:34But not all A-6s were carrier-based.
38:36Marine Corps pilots flew intruders and prowlers from land bases in Saudi Arabia.
38:42During the peak of Operation Desert Storm,
38:4493,000 Marines, almost half the active duty force, were in the Gulf area.
38:50Marine intruders flew close air support and interdiction missions
38:54to protect the soldiers on the ground.
38:56The Marines brought 20 A-6E intruders and 15 EA-6B prowlers to the Persian Gulf.
39:03Like their Navy counterparts,
39:05Marine A-6 crews brought a variety of weapons to bear against hostile forces.
39:10But Marine pilots have closer ties to ground troops than other aviators.
39:15Their number one priority is to do whatever they can
39:18to aid and protect Marines on the ground.
39:36But whether flying from land or sea,
39:39A-6s proved that an old design is not necessarily an outdated design.
39:43I think the reputation that we have,
39:47the capability that we have with this airplane is just superb.
39:52Everybody here in this hangar, though,
39:53would tell you that they'd like a replacement for the A-6.
39:56It is old.
39:57It's been around since the early 1960s.
39:59And they've done a good job with improving it.
40:01You know, the internal systems, changing the software,
40:03giving us additional capability.
40:05But to have some things such as stealth technology,
40:09other technology to the internal components,
40:12would only make us more survivable.
40:13However, given the package that we have to work with,
40:17it's an exceptional platform.
40:20We always marvel at what the F-18 guys,
40:25for systems in their airplane.
40:26And they've got some very neat things,
40:28some very state-of-the-art capability that we don't have.
40:31And again, yeah, we'd like to have a new airplane.
40:35Everybody would like to have a new airplane.
40:36But again, given the jet that we have,
40:39I think we do very well.
40:40And I think if you look at the overall picture,
40:43our performance in Desert Storm was fantastic.
40:47You know, our squadron alone, nine airplanes,
40:50we dropped 1.2 million pounds of ordnance in Desert Storm.
40:53And that's a lot of bombs.
40:55Police.
40:56Bomb delay.
40:57No, 1-8-0 in the heading.
40:58I'll check this and see what happens.
41:01Come on.
41:04Get down to 19.
41:05Bomb, bomb, bomb.
41:07Good hit.
41:09Goddamn right across there.
41:10Decent hit.
41:11Up to 19, Ron.
41:13Up to 19.
41:14What a great hit.
41:18From January 17th to February 27th,
41:21Navy and Marine pilots flew some 26,000 combat and support sorties.
41:26After the war, the Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney, said,
41:29In a crisis overseas, the first thing somebody asks is,
41:33where's the nearest aircraft carrier?
41:36Certainly, carrier mobility was a critical factor in August 1990,
41:40when the USS Eisenhower and the USS Independents raced to the Gulf after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
41:46The swift deployment of Navy carriers, combined with the prompt arrival of Air Force F-15s,
41:52might have been the reason Iraq did not continue its push into Saudi Arabia.
41:58Sea power also might have helped dissuade Iraq from carrying out its threats to use chemical weapons against soldiers and civilians.
42:04The United States let it be known that its carrier battle groups might be equipped with special weapons,
42:10the military's polite term for nuclear arms.
42:14It is unlikely that the coalition would have permitted the use of nuclear weapons in the Gulf,
42:19but if thousands of Arabs, Israelis, and Americans had died in a nerve gas attack,
42:24opinions could have changed.
42:25In any event, just the threat of nuclear arms seems to have had a chilling effect.
42:32Aircraft carriers let the United States quickly respond to crises.
42:37In the Gulf War, naval aviation played a crucial part in the coalition victory.
42:42In the Gulf War, naval aviation played a crucial part in the Gulf War.
43:12Aircraft carriers were established in northern Analona along the Gulf War.
43:15Aircraft carriers surrendered in the Gulf War, naval Armstrong said to beσωwe
43:38Air lif делает UK-19994-1893,
43:41and we're off
43:56check out the hotels on the right
44:04little harbor
44:05there is two cars blocking the runway
44:12blocking the taxi where my
44:14there is one landing time at one zero
44:17thank you, we're closing
44:18ready
44:19dead eye, final stop
44:20dead eye, clear to land three four, the wind is coming
44:23lead trigger
44:25speed, green
44:25Falcon 9, Falcon 10
44:28on the line
44:2933 green
44:303, on the field now
44:313, on the field, 34
44:33Okay, they are calling you on 15, Sam.
44:35Okay, cool.
44:41That's got to be them right there.
44:43There's a flare. Good.
44:45And a bundle of chaff.
44:47Oof, good.
45:03I'm going to lock up the trailing F1 here.
45:29I really appreciate that.
45:31Like Norm said.
45:33Yeah, it looks like the F1s are climbing now.
45:37You can see they're at 21,000 feet now.
45:41Let me see who this is.
45:45Aha. There's the trailers right there.
46:01It's our Victor what?
46:15Three.
46:17It's our Victor what?
46:19Three.
46:21All right, copy. Let's go Victor three.
46:23Still on push crawl five.
46:25Thanks, check.
46:27Falcon, thanks with you.
46:29Falcon, thanks with you.
46:31Falcon 01 from Falcon 05 and Red 4, ready to check.
46:35Thank, land clear.
46:37Now I'm clear, we are over.
46:39Roger, we'll go Sahab 14.
46:41Sahab 14.
46:43Spot 11 searching.
46:45Uh, positive.
46:47Hold up, you can verify.
46:49Bang 01 from Falcon 05.
46:51Okay, got you.
46:53Latin clear now. Thanks.
46:55Okay, got your lab clear now, thanks.
47:07Too weak and not readable, say again.
47:12I did a 290, we'll take off there, sir.
47:16Looking.
47:19Still 9 o'clock high.
47:22Axe 2-1, you up?
47:24Okay, tell me with the other two F-1s, they are about 2 miles behind them.
47:31Okay, TM-270, and you will catch 3-0-1.
47:36Thank you, 1-1, come up, carry 3.
47:38Roger, I just want 0-9 to look at you.
47:41Okay, ready 3, ready 3.
47:43Number 4, come here, you are the right man.
47:46Roger, I am just joining you from your 3 o'clock now low.
47:51All players pulled up, because you're clean.
47:58Falcon, picture clean.
48:00Roger, there's something.
48:03Looks like the last guys in the group are right there, and that's about 10 miles in front of me still.
48:09Go ahead, keeper.
48:11Home star, keeper 0-5, we've just been up in the region of 2-8 International.
48:17There's various indications up there.
48:19Go, go, go, go, go.
48:21Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
48:25Say again?
48:26Okay, right, right, follow me, I'll take you to the target.
48:28Confirm right.
48:30And right now it's on the scope.
48:32Reverse port, reverse port, reverse port.
48:36Visual with me, I am visual with the target.
48:38Okay.
48:43For the road junction.
48:45Eagle's left 9 o'clock, shackle.
48:47Target.
48:48Roger.
48:49I will tip in first, sir.
48:51Say again?
48:52I will tip before you.
48:54Okay, I'm coming now in.
48:56Roger, 0-9, target south, 2 miles from the road junction.
49:02Stand by for tip in.
49:06Stand by, sir, stand by, 2 air leak.
49:08Negative.
49:09It is 2 air leak.
49:11Okay.
49:15Leader visual radio.
49:16Okay, 2 is tipping in now.
49:18Say again?
49:19Tip in now, tip in now.
49:21Stand underneath.
49:23Who's that right there?
49:30Who's that right there?
49:35Is, uh, confirm now, uh, uh,
49:38One star, uh.
49:40One star, uh.
49:42One star, uh.
49:43One star lead.
49:45Skyrim to the west, heading 0-9-0.
49:47Roger, 0-9-0, going.
49:49Okay, F-16 on top.
49:54I visit heading.
49:57F-16.
49:58Kelly, who?
49:59Sorry.
50:00F-1.
50:01Roger that.
50:02There's F-4 is also hiring.
50:11Point two, shot them all.
50:12Are you directing?
50:13Who's that?
50:14Copy that.
50:15Offset, right?
50:16Go ahead.
50:17S-6.
50:26Okay, off Falcon.
50:31Leader will descend, 25,000.
50:34Eh, 25,000.
50:35Okay.
50:36Okay.
50:37Police check height.
50:38Launch defend 3, clean scope.
50:39Leader, and out kg.
50:40I go.
50:41Leader, uh, Over D-1 now, 29.
50:4429
50:46Okay, just off please
50:48Um, just off
50:50And now
50:52Tag 1 then
51:001-0 check position
51:021-0 now
51:04Cross the out now, 0-9-0
51:06There you go
51:08Boom
51:10Check high
51:121-9-0
51:14Roger 2, vigil with 3 only
51:18Join up
51:20Check your position
51:221-0
51:24Roger, check your position, we can join up
51:26Well, it's so short
51:322-1-0
51:34Roger 2 is 2-7-0
51:36From bullseye 2, 1-0-1-0
51:381-0-1
51:402-1-0
51:42On your left, 9 o'clock
51:44Woohoo!
51:45There's a CBE here
51:46Copy lead
51:47There's more
51:48There's more
51:49Picture
51:501-0-1-0
51:511-0-5
51:521-0-5
51:531-0-0
51:541-0-0
51:55Roger, we are in front of me, Stowe
52:01Hold on, Keeper
52:02Keeper, go ahead
52:04Copy, go ahead
52:05Pull out
52:06We're heading up
52:07I'm gonna die
52:10Do that
52:11Start to cover
52:12I'm gonna cut down
52:13Checking down
52:14There's more
52:15Copy
52:16She can get a
52:17Find out
52:18Go ahead
52:19Go ahead
52:208-0-1-0
52:211-0-1-0
52:221-0-1-0
52:231-0-1-0
52:241-0-1-0
52:251-0-1-0
52:261-0-1-0
52:271-0-1-0
52:281-0-1-0
52:291-0-1-0
52:301-0-1-0
52:311-0-1-0
52:321-0-1-0
52:331-0-1-0
52:34I'll get in your left window, it's 9 o'clock. Range 2.
52:41Affirmative.
52:43Stand right.
52:45IP to our right side.
52:49Set in.
52:50Your right is to your right side.
52:53Stand.
52:54Boy, these guys are something.
52:56They're just tracing the radio.
53:01Roger.
53:02Falcon 5 from the night.
53:04Go ahead.
53:05Velvet IP.
53:09Heading south.
53:11I love Bingo.
53:13Red Crown, 5-3-2-4.
53:17And I've got a 100 story in the base.
53:20You don't think the message ever got you that true?
53:23Yeah, I don't think so.
53:25Okay, looks good.
53:50Okay, looks good.
53:55Hang one on the go.
53:57Close.
53:58Let's go.
53:59Report final.
54:00Rest count family.
54:03Okay, ready?
54:04Ready.
54:05Report over 090.
54:07Okay.
54:0899.
54:09We are following in 737.
54:11Not final.
54:12Continue your left page.
54:1599.
54:17100.
54:18340.
54:19On top.
54:20647 left.
54:21448.
54:22548.
54:23548.
54:25548.
54:26948.
54:28815.
54:29448.
54:30310.
54:31948.
54:32Or 1100.
54:33948.
54:341048.
54:35949.
54:361048.
54:381048.
54:4110.
54:421048.
54:431048.
54:441048.
54:46We are back in the face of the G20, as you see, and we have to move to the G20, and we are back in the front of us.
Recommended
53:19
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