Combat Ops and Analysis: Precision Guided Weapons

Desert Storm
Desert Strike
Desert Fox
Deliberate Force
Allied Force
Enduring Freedom
Other Action
Use of Cruise Missiles

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Use of Cruise Missiles in Military Campaigns

Desert Storm  (January 16 - February 28, 1991)

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Deliberate Force  (August 29 - September 14, 1995)

Laser Guided Bomb
LGB/GBU 10 303
LGB/GBU 12 125
LGB/GBU 16 215
LGB/GBU 24 6
LGB/GBU AS30L 4
LGB/GBU TOTAL 653

Electro-Optical
EO/IR SLAM GUIDED MISSILE 10
EO/IR GBU-15 GUIDED MISSILE 9
EO/IR MAVRICK GUIDED MISSILE 23
EO/IR TOTAL 42

Tomahawk Cruise Missile 13

GRAND TOTAL 708

NON-PRECISION MUNITIONS:TYPE MUNTION TOTAL
MK 82 175
MK 83 99
MK 84 42
CBU-87 2

GRAND TOTAL 318

567 laser-guided bombs (303 GBU-10, 115 GBU-12, 143 GBU-16, and 6 GBU-24), 42 electro-optical or infrared-guided weapons (10 SLAM, 9 GBU-15, and 23 Maverick), and 13 TLAMs. American airmen dropped only 12 dumb bombs, consisting of 10 Mk 83’s, and 2 CBU-87s.

A total of 293 aircraft, based at 15 European locations and operating from three aircraft carriers, flew 3,515 sorties in Operation Deliberate Force, to deter Serbian aggression. (11 days of actual airstrikes)

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Desert Strike  (September 3, 1996)

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Desert Fox  (December 16-20, 1998)

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Allied Force  (March 24 - June 20, 1999)

Mk-82 500-pound, M-117 750-pound and Mk-84 2,000-pound general-purpose bombs more than 11,650 weapons averaging about 45 per sortie "That equates to about 5.4 million pounds of steel and 1.9 million pounds of high explosives."
Together the bombers flew over 300 sorties.

Eight B-52 aircraft and more than 70 people deployed to RAF Fairford, England in support of NATO operations to end the crisis in Kosovo. While deployed to RAF Fairford, the B-52s and B-1s flew more than 270 combat sorties, releasing more than 11,000 weapons in more than 2,000 flight hours since March 24, 1999.

Between 6 April and 9 June, CVW-8 aircraft flew 4,270 total sorties and 3,055 combat sorties--with zero losses--executing the most precise air campaign in history, resulting in the lowest levels of collateral damage ever. These sorties involved essential combat support missions, such as close air support, battlefield airborne interdiction, electronic support and airborne battlefield command and control, as well as strike missions. The Hornets, Prowlers and F-14 Tomcats of CVW-8 destroyed or damaged a total of 447 tactical targets and 88 fixed targets.

Six ships and three submarines from two U.S. Navy battle groups and one UK submarine launched 218 TLAMs in preplanned and quick-reaction strikes.

A total of 24? F-117s were involved in Allied Force. Twelve F-117s deployed to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in February. Twelve additional F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighters from Hollomann AFB were ordered to depart for Europe in support of Operation Allied Force by Secretary of Defense William Cohen on April 1st.
2 AGM-142s were used during the conflict.
AGM-130
ALCM
SLAM
HARM more than 1,000 HARMs were fired by U.S. and coalition forces
GBU-15

Aircraft Commited to Allied Force (Manned and Unmanned)

UNITED STATES: A-10, B-1B, B-2, B-52, EA-6B, F-15, F-16, F-18, F-117, EC-130, KC-130, AC-130, MC-130, C-135, RC-135, KC-135, KC-10, MH-53J, MH-60G, E-8C, E-3B/C, P-3C, U2-S, HUNTER UAV, PREDATOR, and aircraft on USS Roosevelt (F-14 and F-18)

Navy F-18s and EA-6Bs have fired 147 HARM missiles, or 47 percent of all HARMs fired by U.S. forces. CVW-8 F-14s provided laser guidance to targets for U.S. Air Force A-10s. Navy F-14s also served as forward air controllers and were airborne for approximately 50 percent of all close air support missions. More than 3,100 combat sorties were launched from carrier without a single loss of aircraft or personnel.

HARM missiles fired by U.S. forces ~312
The 'Stingers' of the 22nd FS flew a total of 632 combat sorties and 2,991 flying hours. The 'Fighting Hawks' of the 23rd FS flew 802 sorties in 3,662 flying hours, while the 'Panthers' of the 81st flew 1,181 sorties in 4,705 flying hours. The F-117’s assigned to the 52nd AEW flew 315 combat sorties during the campaign.
Tornado ECR (Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance)

UK Allied Force Contribution:

HMS SPLENDID Swiftsure class nuclear powered attack submarine 24 March - 11 June 1999 Armed with TLAM cruise missiles.

officially supported by all 19 members and 13 NATO countries contributed military aircraft to Allied Force. The United States provided 700 of the 1055 aircraft commited.

France

Germany

UK

Italy

Netherlands

Belgium

Sortie Type France Germany Italy Netherlands Kingdom Aerial refueling 389 0 90 126 291 Combat air patrol 458 0 362 656 148 Close air support 396 0 358 110 686 Battlefield air interdiction 821 0 90 319 415 Suppression of enemy air defenses 0 414 170 0 4 Reconnaissance 230 205 10 41 205 Airborne early warning 49 0 0 0 163 Electronic intelligence 71 17 1 0 38

Belgium 12 F-16 Canada 18 CF-18 Denmark 9 F-16 France 12 Jaguar 1 C-160 3 KC-135 1 E-3F SDCA 4 Super Frelona 3 Mirage IV-P 6 Mirage F1CR 8 Mirage 2000C 8 Mirage 2000D 4 Etendard IV Pa Germany 14 Tornado 1 C-160 Italy 22 Tornado ECR/IDS 1 Boeing 707T 6 AMX 6 F-104 ASA 6 Tornado IDS 4 Tornado ECR/IDS 4 F-104 ASA Netherlands 18 F-16 2 KDC-10 Norway 6 F-16 1 C-130 Portugal 3 F-16 Spain 6 EF-18 1 KC-130 1 CASA 212 Turkey 11 F-16 UK 16 Harrier GR-7 4 L-1011 3 VC-10 2 E-3D 10 Sea Kinga 1 Canberra PR-9 12 Tornado 7 Sea Harrier FA-2a

a Indicates carrier-based aircraft.

US

28 percent of the sorties flown were devoted to direct attack
12 percent SEAD
13 percent to attacks against dispersed enemy forces in Kosovo
16 percent to defensive counterair patrols
20 percent to inflight refueling
11 percent to other combat support missions (including AWACS, Joint STARS, ABCCC, EC-130 jammers, airlift, and combat search and rescue).

A total of 28,018 munitions were expended (excluding TLAM) in Allied Force.
U.S. dropped 83 percent munitions (23,315)
Allies total came to 17% (4,703)

A later report to Congress by Secretary Cohen and General Shelton claimed that more than 23,300 combat missions, including defensive counterair patrols and defense suppression attacks, were flown altogether, entailing weapon releases against roughly 7,600 desired mean points of impact (DMPIs) on fixed targets and slightly more than 3,400 presumed mobile targets of opportunity.119

Between the 8th EFS and the 9th EFS, the F-117As flew more than 850 sorties.

As of 8 June, F-16s from Aviano had flown over 4,500 sorties and 21,000 hours in Allied Force missions, dropping and launching over 7,700 bombs, rockets, and missiles.

The F-16s usually carry precision-guided munitions, mostly laser-guided bombs, though they occasionally employ general purpose bombs. On forward air control missions, they carry rocket pods with white phosphorous rockets to mark potential targets for aircraft flying close air support missions.

The air war commenced with 250 committed U.S. aircraft, including 120 land-based fighters, 7 B-52s, 6 B-2s, 10 reconnaissance aircraft, 10 combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft, 3 airborne command and control center (ABCCC) aircraft, and around 40 tankers.10 As for NATO’s additional 18 members, 13 contributed aircraft for use in the operation, with 11 allies (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Turkey) eventually participating in offensive and defensive air combat operations of all types. The first wave of attacks on the night of March 24 consisted of cruise missile launches only, featuring TLAMs fired by four U.S. surface ships (including USS Gonzales and USS Philippine Sea), two U.S. fast-attack submarines (USS Albuquerque and USS Miami), and a British attack submarine (HMS Splendid) operating in the Adriatic Sea. This initial wave further included AGM-86C CALCMs launched against hardened enemy structures by six B-52s flying outside Yugoslav airspace. The latter were the first shots fired in the operation.

In the final tally, allied aircrews flew 38,004 out of a planned 45,935 sorties in all, of which 10,484 out of a planned 14,112 were strike sorties.

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Enduring Freedom

Aircraft Participating in Operation Enduring Freedom

Other Actions:

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