Saturday, January 22, 2011

A Pair of Air to Air Firsts: Part One Spark Vark 1, Mirage F.1EQ 0


Photo U.S. Air Force Museum


The F-15C was the “premier” air to air fighter in OPERATION DESERT STORM.  Actually both the U.S.A.F and the Royal Saudi Air Force scored kills in the conflict. While the F-15s were not new to combat, the first F-15 kill occurred 1979 by the IDFAF,  33 of 36 U.S.A.F.  air to air victories were by the F-15C.  However they weren’t the only aircraft to score a shoot down on day one.

The first kill of that January 17th morning was by the most unlikely of aircraft an unarmed EF-111A Raven!   Yes, the Spark Vark was the first aircraft to be engaged by  a Dassault  Mirage F.1EQ.  The F.1 was configured for air to air with two Matra R.550 Magic air to air missiles, a French short range AAM, similar to AIM-9 Sidewinders. 

The Spark Vark was over the western desert of Iraq orbiting. Its mission was to create a corridor for the air armada streaking overhead into Iraq, by jamming the Iraqi radars.   The Vark was crewed by Pilot Capt. Jim Denton with Electronic Weapons Officer Capt Brent Brandon.  The Mirage broke out of a flight of four after being engaged by F-15C vectored by an AWACS.  The Mirage broke, popped flares and the F-15Cs missile missed. 

The Iraqi pilot then saw the unarmed aircraft and engaged.   The Magic came off the wingtip rail and headed directly at Denton and Brandon in AF 66-0016.   Denton began evasive action and Brandon popped flares in defense.   The Magic missed.   Denton decided to use the Vark’s advantage and dove the beast to the deck.

 The Iraqi pilot decided to follow.  He was going to take out that aircraft.   Denton began using his Terrain Following Radar to evade the hostile behind him.   Screaming across the desert he finally jinked right and pulled up, pushing the throttles. The TF-30s pushed the craft to over Mach 1.   Behind them the Mirage pilot, wasn’t so lucky he did not make the pull out in time, plowing his aircraft into the desert sand.  

Though there is much documentation about the incident Denton and Brandon were not given credit officially by the U.S.A.F.  I think the idea that an unarmed mudmover was the first kill of the war did not sit well with the Fighter Mafia.

AF 66-0016 survived and is serving gate guard duty at Cannon Air Force Base, in New Mexico.  It carries the names of Capt Douglas L. Bradt and EWO Capt Paul R. Eichenlaub, who were the only combat casualties in the EF-111.  Bradt and Eichenlaub lost their lives on February 14, 1991, when their Spark Vark, AF 66-0023, took evasive action and flew into the ground.



Sunday, January 16, 2011

TASK FORCE NORMANDY 20 Years Ago today


The desert is dark, cold, and flat on moonless nights. There are no landmarks for navigation. The sand rises and falls and there is no real way to tell how high or low you are. You have no depth perception. Just vast amounts of nothing. On January 17th 1991 it was no different. In the western desert of Iraq there were some important targets; these targets did “light” the skies with RADAR. The Soviet designed RADARs were scanning the skies over the border with Saudi Arabia. These RADARS were constantly tested over the previous weeks. Allied forces would do what was called a “Fence Check” in the Cold War. They would streak towards the border, heading for Baghdad then, just before crossing into Iraq and would break off the attack. This happened so frequently that the Iraq RADAR operators got lulled into a sense of security. However these RADARs needed to be taken out.
Originally, the plan was to insert special operations forces to take over the RADAR sites. That was overruled by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf in November of 1990. The replacement mission became known as TASK FORCE NORMANDY. It was a joint service operation. In 1991, the AH-64As did not have the sophisticated navigation the current generation has. They could not find their targets easily in the dark nothingness of the Western Iraqi Desert. It was decided that USAF MH-53J PAVE LOW IIIs could act as navigators with their large all weather RADARs, and new-fangled Global Positioning System.
After practicing for three months, 12 aircraft, 10 United States Army and 2 United States Air Force, were prepositioned at Al Jouf Airport on January 14 from King Fahd International Airport. The MH-53s were from the 1st SOW 20th SOS; the 9 Apaches and 1 UH-60H were from the 1-101st Airborne.
The team did not wait too long. A day and a half later, they would be taking off in two groups. The AH-64s were given asymmetric load on their stub wings—with a rack of 4 AGM-114 HELLFIRE on each rack. On the left wing, a Fuel Tank; the right, a 70 mm HYDRA unguided rockets. The 30 MM chain gun was loaded with its full 1,200 rounds of ammo. One AH-64 would be a spare. The UH-60H would be set up, should there be a loss and a need to recover the crews. CH-47 Chinooks would take off and act as “Fat Cows;” they would be loaded with fuel to gas up the teams on the return, hot fueling the ships in the middle of the dark Iraqi desert.
Since there were two targets the team was divided into two flights, Red Flight and White Flight. Four AH-64s with its shepard MH-53 took off and headed northwest; 12 minutes later, the process was replicated but headed southwest.
The Flights were done with little to no communications. When there was a waypoint change, the MH-53 Crews came up with a novel way to point it out to the other Helos. They would drop out chemical lights (large light sticks) onto the desert floor.
Anyone who has ever heard a 53 will know the big Sikorsky isn’t quiet. They would not go all the way to prevent detection. So thirty nautical miles from the targets, the AH-64s surpassed the 53s and proceeded to approximately 2 miles from the RADAR sites; H HOUR was 3 AM local time. The Two flights of 64s split again into 4 flights with a mile separation, settled into a hover, and waited.
What the Army didn’t know was 37th TFW F-117s, lead by Col. Alton “Al” Whitley, had already snuck by the RADARS and were well on their way “Downtown.”
At precisely 2:38 AM Local time TASK FORCE NORMANDY released HELL FIRE on some poor unassuming Iraqi RADAR operators.
The Attacks lasted approximately 2 minutes. The Electrical generations were destroyed first. The RADARs went dark; next were the manned communications buildings and lastly were the RADARs themselves. In two minutes, 27 HELLFIRES, 100 HYDRAs and 4000 rounds of 30 Mike Mike were expended. The Iraqis had two new smoking ruins added to the landscape. The Corridor for the largest Air Armada in modern history had been opened. The Army had been the battering ram on Saddam’s Fortress Iraq. The door was down and now the troops were flooding through the door.
The Apaches headed back to friendly territory; however, even with the extra tank of gas, they were low on fuel. They needed to rendezvous with a Fat Cow; CH-47 had been prepositioned in the desert. It was loaded with precious gas. After the bloodied helos tanked up, they flew back to Al Jouf untouched.
As a side note, the Cow wasn’t so lucky. It took ground fire on its return home and lost its aft landing gear, from a shoulder launched surface-to-air missile. It did return safely and no crew was lost. A testament to the quality built in Ridley, PA!
It was only the beginning of the Apache in Iraq—a mission that still exists today.

Also check the posting time!

Works Cited
"1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .
"A Legacy of Heroes, Part 3 1975-1991 « Threedonia.com." Threedonia.com. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .
Morse, Stan Ed. "DESERT STORM." Gulf Air War Debrief. Westport, CT: Airtime Pub., 1991. 49-52. Print.
"Task Force Normandy Fired the Opening Shots of Desert Storm." Defense Media Network. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .
"Task Force Normandy: Iraq Veteran Recounts Desert Storm." Hurlburt Field - Home. 03 Feb. 2006. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .