Gulf War air campaign

Gulf War Air Campaign (Operations: Desert Storm, and Desert Shield)
Part of Gulf War
Date 17 January 1991 – 23 February 1991 Location Iraq and Kuwait Result Coalition victory Air superiority gained in a week Start of the ground offensive
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  Saudi Arabia  Canada  France  Italy	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Chuck Horner Norman Schwarzkopf Colin Powell Andrew Wilson Bill Wratten Khalid bin Sultan Saleh Al-Muhaya	Saddam Hussein Ali Hassan al-Majid
Strength
2,250 combat aircraft	500 combat aircraft, numerous air defence systems
Casualties and losses
46 killed or missing 8 captured 75 aircraft ‒ 52 fixed-wing aircraft and 23 helicopters	10,000–12,000 killed 105 aircraft lost on the ground 36 aircraft shot down in air-air combat
2,000—3,000 Iraqi civilians killed

The air campaign of the Gulf War, also known as the 1991 bombing of Iraq, started with an extensive aerial bombing campaign on 17 January 1991. The coalition flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. The air campaign was commanded by USAF Lieutenant General Chuck Horner, who briefly served as Commander-in-Chief – Forward of U.S. Central Command while General Schwarzkopf was still in the United States. The British air commanders were Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Wilson (to 17 November) and Air Vice-Marshal Bill Wratten (from 17 November). The air campaign largely finished by 23 February 1991 when the coalition invasion of Kuwait took place.

The initial strikes were composed of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from warships situated in the Persian Gulf, F-117A Nighthawk stealth bombers with an armament of laser-guided smart bombs, and F-4G Wild Weasel aircraft armed with HARM anti-radar missiles. These first attacks allowed F-14, F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 fighter bombers to gain air superiority over the country and then continue to drop TV and laser-guided bombs.

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