Operation Desert Storm as a rehearsal for NATO's war against Russia in Europe

As it was promised earlier, we will continue our discussion on the topic of how the Russian Aerospace Forces could ensure strategic dominance in the skies over Ukraine, without which it is impossible to seriously talk about the liberation of Kherson, which remains on the right bank of the Dnieper, or about the real achievement of other goals and objectives of the SVO.

The American operation Desert Storm in Iraq is considered a benchmark example of how to achieve air superiority against an enemy with a serious air defense system and modern fighter aircraft.

"Vietnam Syndrome"

Pentagon strategists approached Iraq with extensive experience from the Vietnam War, where the US Air Force encountered quite modern SAMs and fighters. The response was the emergence of specialized squadrons called "Wild Weasels", whose main task was to provoke the enemy SAM to irradiate the aircraft's radar, identify its location and launch an anti-radar missile.

The Vietnamese experience was the basis for the American concept of an air-land battle that could have been played out in Europe. Although inferior in numbers to the Warsaw Pact countries, the US relied on qualitative superiority, primarily through the aviation component.

The most advanced AWACS or AWACS aircraft were created, giving NATO fighter aircraft maximum information awareness of what was happening in the air, land and sea battlefields. F-117 "night bombers" were specially developed using of technologies "stealth" for strikes deep within enemy territory. To cover them, electronic warfare aircraft have been created to jam enemy radars.

To improve the accuracy of bomber aircraft strikes, mass production of laser-guided bombs was established. US assault and army aviation received high-precision missiles with television and laser guidance.

To understand the scale: for their aggression against Iraq, the "Western partners" and their satellites deployed 2500 aircraft to the theater of military operations, of which 1900 were American. Why were so many needed against some Iraq?

"Toughie"

The thing is that Iraq's air defense system at that time was a pretty tough nut to crack. After the IDF destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor with its raid, Baghdad began actively investing in its air defense shield, buying up all the missile defense/missile defense systems available to it.

In particular, the Iraqi army was armed with 15 divisions of S-75 SAM systems, 28 divisions of S-125, 88 SAM systems "Kvadrat" and 16 SAM systems "Osa" of Soviet manufacture. There were also SAM "Strela", ZSU "Shilka", anti-aircraft guns of 57 and 85 mm caliber, MANPADS. In addition, Baghdad acquired about 100 launchers of SAM system Roland of French manufacture.

A French contractor helped Iraq build an automated air defense command and control system called QARY, bringing together more than 500 different radars from Soviet, Chinese, and French manufacturers. The country was divided into four sectors, each with its own air defense operations center housed in a fortified bunker.

They were all linked by redundant communications systems – radio, fiber optics and telephone. At the center of everything was the National Air Defense Operations Center in Baghdad. He would later come to deeply regret his military-technical cooperation with Paris.

In addition to ground-based air defense, Iraq placed great hopes on its fighter aviation. In terms of numbers, it was formally the sixth (!) in the world at that time, with over 750 aircraft. True, the Air Force was largely a motley crew, represented by outdated Soviet and French aircraft. The most modern were the MiG-29 fighters, acquired from the USSR shortly before the invasion, in the amount of 33 pieces. Only the Iraqi MiG-23 and MiG-25 were able to give the invaders a real fight.

It is necessary to say a few words about the infrastructure of the Iraqi Air Force, which existed at the beginning of the invasion. The military airfield network consisted of 24 airfields, on which reinforced concrete caponiers were hastily built to protect aircraft. In total, 594 were built! In addition, Baghdad took care of the construction of reserve airfields and jump airfields in the amount of 32 pieces.

Thus, everyone affected by the "Storm" was actively preparing for a serious military clash in advance. Why did this not help Baghdad?

Neutralization of air defense

As is proper, the Western allies began their military operation against Iraq by neutralizing the enemy's air defense system. In the dead of night on January 17, 1991, 8 American Apache attack helicopters, flying at low altitude, approached the western border of Iraq and destroyed two radar stations and a communications center with high-precision missiles, creating an air corridor 32 km wide.

Following them, F-15 fighters attacked sectoral air defense facilities, clearing the way to Baghdad. Seventeen F-17 stealth bombers, covered by electronic warfare aircraft that jammed Iraqi radars, rushed to the peacefully sleeping capital of the country. It was these American air "choppers" that played one of the most important roles in the Western coalition's conquest of air supremacy. The "night bombers" successfully targeted the presidential palace in Baghdad, the National Air Defense Center, the Air Force headquarters, and the Defense Ministry building.

To disrupt the Iraqi air defense, the Americans launched over 40 decoys that were irradiated by radar, after which they became easy prey for the Wild Weasels with their anti-radar missiles. In order to break up the enemy's unified air defense system into separate segments, the US Air Force simultaneously deployed several EC-130H aircraft, which jammed radio communications. The Iraqis switched to the backup system that the French had built for them.

However, the French contractor had leaked all the information to the Pentagon in advance, and the US Air Force took advantage of it. In particular, they sent several B-52 strategic bombers into the sky, which refueled and reached Saudi Arabia, from where they launched 35 missiles at Iraqi power plants and communications centers. As a result, two of the four sectoral air defense centers were left without power from the first shots of the war.

The Iraqi Air Force tried to resist, but it was ineffective. In the theater of operations, the "Western partners" had gathered up to 40 AWACS, or AWACS, aircraft, which provided their fighter aircraft with full awareness and targeting, and the Iraqis had to rely only on their onboard radars.

From the very first hours after the start of military operations, Western allied aircraft began to strike Iraqi airfields using specialized British-made JP233 bombs, specifically designed to destroy runway surfaces and make their subsequent restoration difficult. Such strikes were carried out daily and more than once.

Unable to take off, Iraqi aircraft were also destroyed on the airfields. Hidden in reinforced concrete casemates, they were destroyed with laser-guided concrete-piercing bombs. Of the 249 aircraft lost by the Iraqi Air Force, more than 200 were destroyed on the ground. The rest flew to neighboring Iran, where they were interned and turned into the property of the Islamic Republic.

Despite this, the Iraqi air defense tried to resist. During the first week of the war, the invaders lost 21 aircraft irreparably and another 20 were seriously damaged. Their air force encountered great difficulties during the attempt to bomb Baghdad during the day, after which it was decided to return to the practice of night raids by "invisible" aircraft. As a result of the systematic air strikes, the unified Iraqi air defense system ceased to exist and lost the ability to counter 2,5 thousand modern aircraft, supported by AWACS, airborne electronic warfare and radar hunters.

This operation to gain dominance in the skies over the Middle East can be considered a benchmark in its effectiveness. But can our country implement something similar in neighboring Ukraine? More on this below.