The Desert Camouflage Uniform used in the First Gulf War and a related experimental camouflage livery that was developed at the time serve as inspiration for this “What if” design
On June 17, 2022, an F-16D Fighting Falcon painted in a historical color scheme was unveiled at the 310th Air Maintenance Unit hangar by the 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Luke Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona. It was the first American F-16 to achieve an aerial victory, as Senior Airman Caleb F. Butler explained in the article Luke AFB Unveils Newest Heritage Jet.
“The aircraft before you earned the moniker ‘MiG Killer’ as a result of the events that took place on Dec. 27, 1992,” said 1st Lt. James Mobbley, 56th EMS Fabrication Flight officer in charge, at the unveiling ceremony. “On this day, Lt. Col. Gary “Nordo” North, who was flying this F-16D, tail number 0778, led a flight of four F-16s on a routine Operation Southern Watch mission in Iraq.”
An armed MiG-25 Foxbat flew into the no-fly zone during this mission.
According to what we have already said, Nordo ordered a tactical offset to the north to “bracket” the F-16s between the MiG and the 32nd parallel, resulting in a blocking maneuver and trapping the Iraqi fighter in forbidden airspace. Without a fight, the MiG was unable to return to Iraqi territory. “Someone was going to die within the next two minutes, and it wasn’t going to be me or my wingman,” North said.
North recognized the aircraft as a MiG-25 Foxbat outfitted with AA-6 “Acrid” radar-guided missiles and asked for permission to fire. He again asked permission to fire before ordering his wingman to use his electronic jamming pod. On his headset, he eventually heard “BANDIT-BANDIT-BANDIT, CLEARED TO KILL.” AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Anti-Aircraft Missile) was fired by North after locking up the MiG-25 at three nautical miles, fifteen degrees nose high, and fifteen degrees right bank. The missile was directed to hit and completely destroyed the Foxbat built in Russia.
In addition to being the first aerial victory for an American F-16, this battle also saw the first AIM-120 AMRAAM kill.
To commemorate North’s actions and the Air Force’s heritage, 12 Fabrication Flight Airmen who were assigned to Luke AFB’s corrosion control department created the paint scheme for this jet. Almost 13 gallons of paint and 1,500 man-hours were used for the paint job.
“This ‘What if’ design pulls cues from the Desert Camouflage Uniform worn during the first Gulf War and a similar experimental livery of camouflage that was tested at that time,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Cichonsky, 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron F-35 low-observable aircraft structural maintainer. “Very few pictures exist of the test scheme since it was hand-rolled using latex paint and only lasted a week before being removed. With this design, we not only pay homage to the history of General North and 0778, but it also allows us to reimagine if this paint scheme was selected for use during Operation Southern Watch.”
Photo by Senior Airman Caleb F. Butler / U.S. Air Force
