Desert Storm 1991

The most shattering air campaign in history

Desert Storm 1991 cover

Description

An expertly written, illustrated new analysis of the Desert Storm air campaign fought against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which shattered the world's fourth-largest army and sixth-largest air force in just 39 days, and revolutionized the world's ideas about modern air power.

Operation Desert Storm took just over six weeks to destroy Saddam Hussein's war machine: a 39-day air campaign followed by a four-day ground assault. It shattered what had been the world's fourth-largest army and sixth-largest air force, and overturned conventional military assumptions about the effectiveness and value of air power.

In this book, Richard P. Hallion, one of the world's foremost experts on air warfare, explains why Desert Storm was a revolutionary victory, a war won with no single climatic battle. Instead, victory came thanks largely to a rigorously planned air campaign. It began with an opening night that smashed Iraq's advanced air defense system, and allowed systematic follow-on strikes to savage its military infrastructure and field capabilities. When the Coalition tanks finally rolled into Iraq, it was less an assault than an occupation.

The rapid victory in Desert Storm, which surprised many observers, led to widespread military reform as the world saw the new capabilities of precision air power, and it ushered in today's era of high-tech air warfare.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY
ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES
-The airpower of a global coalition
-Ordnance
-Training
DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES
-Iraq's military machine
-The invading armed forces
-Saddam's air power
-Organization
-Air defenses
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
-Resolution and resolve
THE CAMPAIGN
-42 days to Kuwait City
-Final countdown
-Opening night: an assessment
-Grappling in the Central Blue
-Preventing resurgence: the shelter-busting campaign
-Per Ardua: Tornado at war
-The Iraqi SAM threat: suppressed but not eliminated
-Targeting Iraq's power infrastructure and forces
-Weather
-The battle against the Scuds
-Clash of arms at al-Khafji: Saddam's calculated lashing-out
-Victory at sea: securing the northern Persian Gulf
-Phase III: “preparing the battlefield” or “destroying the
battlefield?”
-The intelligence debate
-The al-Firdos bunker bombing
-Phase IV: to G-Day and afterwards
-Endgame
AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS
FURTHER READING
INDEX

Product details

Published Feb 17 2022
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 96
ISBN 9781472846945
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations Illustrated throughout with around 60 photos and at least 14pp of colour illustrations
Series Air Campaign
Short code ACM 25
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Richard P. Hallion

Richard P. Hallion holds a Ph.D. in history from t…

Illustrator

Adam Tooby

Adam Tooby is an internationally renowned digital…

Resources

Discover More

Visit our exclusive member's website to see artwork, maps, and more from this book.

Resources

Book Vote

Tell us what titles you would like to see published by Osprey, then vote for your favourites in our monthly book vote!

Related Titles

Sign up for Osprey membership for access to thousands of plane profiles, maps, battle scenes and more. Plus up to 30% off website purchases

Free US delivery on orders $35 or over