“I didn’t think anything like this could exist. The intensity of the response coming from the ground was incredible,” l’Armée de L’Air Jaguar pilot.
A dozen SEPECAT Jaguar A strike-fighters from the 11e Escadre de Chasse of l’Armée de l’Air took off from Al Ahsa air base in Saudi Arabia at 0530L on January 17, 1991, on their way to raid Ahmad Al Jaber airfield in Kuwait. Some aircraft carried four Matra-Thomson BLG 66 Belouga parachute-retarded cluster bombs (each with 151 submunitions), as described by Richard P. Hallion in his book Desert Storm 1991, The most devastating air campaign in history, while others had a centerline Thomson-CSF ATLIS (Automatic Tracking and Laser Integration System) target designation pod and a single Aérospatiale AS-30L, a superb Mach 1.75 laser-homing missile with (6.2 miles).
In case Iraqi fighters seemed to contest the mission, they installed an ESD Barax electronic jamming pod under the left wing and a Matra-MBDA Magic 2 air-to-air missile under the right.
They formed into two groups of six aircraft and entered Kuwaiti airspace after receiving refueling from three French Boeing KC-135FR Stratotankers from the 93e Escadre de Ravitaillement. They were protected by USAF McDonnell-Douglas F-4G Wild Weasels and a top cover of USAF General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcons. Each group launched a low-level attack, racing by some of their targets at less than roof height while dodging powerlines and towers as they swirled over the field as the F-4Gs targeted Iraqi radars. The Jaguars also dived to almost ground level.
The second wave, which attacked shortly after the first wave of six, flew into a hornet’s nest of intense fire from 9K32 Strela-2 (NATO SA-7 Grail) IR-homing missiles, ZSU-23-4 Shilka 23mm and ZPU-30-2 30mm rapid-firing light cannon, and various small arms. The first wave of six had caught the Iraqis by surprise. “I didn’t think anything like this could exist,” one pilot wrote afterward, adding, “The intensity of the response coming from the ground was incredible.”
The sky erupted in flak and tracer, and smoky trails of SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles crisscrossed the sky. Three of the four Jaguars that were hit were critically injured, but all four survived.
The starboard engine of the Jaguar A104 (11-EK), the ninth assault aircraft, was hit by a small-caliber projectile and damaged. The aircraft broke away, flowing a banner of black smoke from the failing engine. The twelfth and last that struck, Jaguar A91 (11-YG), had an even closer call after sustaining a direct hit from an SA-7 that blew much of its right engine away and ignited an engine fire. Its pilot maintained a high rate of speed until the fire was extinguished and then, along with A104, returned to Saudi airspace.
At the Saudi naval airbase at al-Jubayl, which is home to US Marine Harrier and Hornet aircraft, both aircraft made an emergency landing. Another Jaguar pilot narrowly avoided being seriously injured when a small-caliber round broke his canopy, hit and held his helmet, and just mildly hurt him. He returned to Al Ahsa safely despite being dazed and by using all of his sheer courage and skill reserves.
The raid demonstrated that French airmen still possessed the bravery, verve, and vigor that their forebears had displayed throughout many conflicts, but it also served as a stark warning about the perils of low-level attack, particularly in the face of the legendary Shilka and Strela threats. Following this initial low-altitude attack, further attacks were launched from medium altitude, like the rest of the Coalition’s airmen.
French airmen flew more than 2,250 sorties during the war without being hit by Iraqi fire, but as their day-one experience demonstrated, things could have been very different.
Desert Storm 1991, The most shattering air campaign in history, is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Adam Tooby