This book explores the role of the US Navy Hornet units in the northern Iraqi campaign. These units were the first Navy Reserve unit to be mobilized since the Korean War, and their attacks were launched from carriers off the coast of Turkey. The conflict for these squadrons was very different from the campaign fought in southern Iraq: they worked almost exclusively with clandestine Special Forces teams from the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy SEALs, British and Australian SAS and Kurdish guerrillas. First-hand accounts accompany the indispensable role these units had in the battle to liberate Iraq.
The F/A-18 Hornet in its various guises was the 'universal soldier' of OIF, with around 250 seeing combat. Flown by various squadrons and groups, the Hornet attacked a range of targets including tanks of the various Iraqi Republican Guard units and government buildings housing elements of the Baath party regime. Apart from its ability to drop precision munitions such as laser-guided bombs, the Hornet was also capable of launching anti-radar missiles and acting as an aerial tanker and reconnaissance platform for other strike types. This book explores the Hornet's versatility which has enhanced its reputation as one of the world's leading strike-fighter aircraft.
Some 84 of the 250 Hornets committed by Central Command to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) proudly bore MARINE titling on their rear fuselages. A further 14 were marked with the distinctive kangaroo roundel of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The exploits achieved by the units that flew these jets into combat is detailed in this volume, the third of three titles published in the Combat Aircraft series on what has been dubbed by many TACAIR insiders the 'Hornet's War'. Although the bulk of this book deals with the major hostilities phase of OIF I, which ran from 20 March to 20 April 2003, the decade of pre-war OSW missions and ongoing post-war OIF II operations are also covered in significant detail from the Marine Corps perspective. Profusely illustrated with rare frontline photography and more than 30 specially commissioned colour artworks, this book also features the combat experiences of 24 pilots and Weapons Systems Officers.
This book explores the role of the US Navy Hornet units in the northern Iraqi campaign. These units were the first Navy Reserve unit to be mobilized since the Korean War, and their attacks were launched from carriers off the coast of Turkey. The conflict for these squadrons was very different from the campaign fought in southern Iraq: they worked almost exclusively with clandestine Special Forces teams from the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy SEALs, British and Australian SAS and Kurdish guerrillas. First-hand accounts accompany the indispensable role these units had in the battle to liberate Iraq.
The AV-8B Harrier was, and still is, the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with the US Marine Corps on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. Having seen action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Harrier II returned to the theatre from March 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the initial conflict some 76 AV-8Bs were deployed, providing more than 40 per cent of the 3rd Marine Air Wing's fixed-wing offensive firepower. Around 60 of these aircraft were sea-based aboard four 'Harrier Carriers', while a unit flew jets from Ahmed al Jaber, in Kuwait. Unlike in 1991, when Harrier IIs employed unguided weapons, 79 per cent of the ordnance dropped was precision-guided. This was primarily due to the AV-8B's upgrading to Night Attack or radar-equipped configuration, and the introduction of the Litening II targeting pod. Following the occupation of Iraq by Coalition troops, Harrier IIs remained in-theatre supporting anti-insurgent operations through to 2008 as part of OIF II-VI.
In the 1970s the USMC bought the AV-8A Harrier from the UK whose VTOL capabilities allowed it to serve as a tactical aircraft that could deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support from large deck aircraft carriers. Third in a trilogy on US Marine Corps Harrier IIs in combat, it will be the first volume to cover the whole story of the AV-8B's service employment during peacekeeping operations and then in Afghanistan. With profile artwork for all frontline AV-8B units detailing the unique colours and markings applied by each squadron, this volume presents the widest variety of first-hand accounts of AV-8B air operations and missions by pilots and ground forces involved in Operation Enduring Freedom published to date.
Since the limited Desert Fox campaign against Iraq in December 1998, the Tomcat has been integral to virtually all combat operations involving the US Navy in the Arabian Gulf. Indeed, on every carrier deployment to the Persian Gulf since Desert Fox, the F-14 unit(s) on station has ventured into 'The Sand Box' over southern Iraq and prosecuted targets operating in contravention to United Nations security council resolutions. This book covers the F-14 Operation Iraqi Freedom actions against battlefield targets and integrated air defence sites, command and control centres, regime leadership targets and military installations in Baghdad, Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk.
Some 84 of the 250 Hornets committed by Central Command to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) proudly bore MARINE titling on their rear fuselages. A further 14 were marked with the distinctive kangaroo roundel of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The exploits achieved by the units that flew these jets into combat is detailed in this volume, the third of three titles published in the Combat Aircraft series on what has been dubbed by many TACAIR insiders the 'Hornet's War'. Although the bulk of this book deals with the major hostilities phase of OIF I, which ran from 20 March to 20 April 2003, the decade of pre-war OSW missions and ongoing post-war OIF II operations are also covered in significant detail from the Marine Corps perspective. Profusely illustrated with rare frontline photography and more than 30 specially commissioned colour artworks, this book also features the combat experiences of 24 pilots and Weapons Systems Officers.
An illustrated study of premier US anti-ship missile, the AGM/RGM-84 Harpoon, and its 1986 and '88 uses against Libyan and Iranian naval vessels. In this study, defence technology expert Lon Nordeen details the role played by the Harpoon missile in two Cold War flare-ups in the 1980s. The Harpoon was the first tactical anti-ship missile developed by the US Navy to provide a counter to the anti-ship missiles exported around the world by the Soviet Union and China. It was deployed on ships, aircraft, submarines and land vehicles and soon became the most widely used anti-ship missile system in the West, with 7,000+ having been produced since 1977, operated by the military forces of more than 30 nations. This exciting book explores the engagements of the Harpoon by the US Navy against its Libyan and Iranian adversaries, using original photographs and specially commissioned artwork to examine the naval systems and weapons employed by both counterparts. Drawing upon interviews with the US Navy A-6 Intruder crews that deployed the AGM084 variant of the Harpoon in 1986 and 1988, the author brings unique insight to his examination of these fascinating duels.
America’s second war against Iraq differed notably from its first. Operation Desert Storm was a limited effort by coalition forces to drive out those Iraqi troops who had seized Kuwait six months before. In contrast, the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 was a more ambitious undertaking aimed at decisively ending Saddam Hussein’s rule. After several days of intense air strikes against fixed enemy targets, allied air operations began concentrating on Iraqi ground troops. The intended effect was to destroy Iraqi resistance and allow coalition land forces to maneuver without pausing in response to enemy actions. Iraqi tank concentrations were struck with consistently lethal effect, paving the way for an allied entrance into Baghdad that was largely unopposed. Hussein’s regime finally collapsed on April 9. Viewed in hindsight, it was the combination of allied air power as an indispensable enabler and the unexpected rapidity of the allied ground advance that allowed coalition forces to overrun Baghdad before Iraq could mount a coherent defense. In achieving this unprecedented level of performance, allied air power was indispensable in setting the conditions for the campaign’s end. Freedom from attack and freedom to attack prevailed for allied ground forces. The intended effect of allied air operations was to facilitate the quickest capture of Baghdad without the occurrence of any major head-to-head battles on the ground. This impressive short-term achievement, however, was soon overshadowed by the ensuing insurgency that continued for four years thereafter in Iraq. The mounting costs of that turmoil tended, for a time, to render the campaign’s initial successes all but forgotten. Only more recently did the war begin showing signs of reaching an agreeable end when the coalition’s commander put into effect a new counterinsurgency strategy in 2007 aimed at providing genuine security for Iraqi citizens. The toppling of Hussein’s regime ended the iron rule of an odious dictator who had brutalized his people for more than 30 years. Yet the inadequate resourcing with which that goal was pursued showed that any effective plan for a regime takedown must include due hedging against the campaign’s likely aftermath in addition to simply seeing to the needs of major combat. That said, despite the failure of the campaign’s planners to underwrite the first need adequately, those who conducted the three-week offensive in pursuit of regime change performed all but flawlessly, thanks in considerable part to the mostly unobserved but crucial enabling contributions of allied air power.
