Flight Operations Summary
USAF's in-theater fighter, bomber, and attack aircraft numbered
693 at the height of the war, or 58 percent of US in-theater air
assets. They flew 38,000 wartime sorties.
USAF aircraft dropped nearly 160,000 munitions on Iraqi targets,
72 percent of the US forces total.
Air Force aircraft dropped 91 percent of all precision bombs and
96 percent of precision missiles used in the war.
Air Force B-52 bombers flew 1,624 combat missions and dropped 72,000
bombs, or 26,000 tons of ordnance.
Before the ground battle began, the USAF-led
air campaign against Iraqi ground forces destroyed 1,688 battle
tanks (39 percent of total), 929 armored personnel carriers (32
percent), and 1,452 artillery tubes (47 percent).
USAF combat support aircraft numbered 487 at the height of the war,
54 percent of the US support assets in-theater.
Air Force C-5, C-141, KC-10, and Civil Reserve Air Fleet lifters
flew 14,000 long-range missions to the Gulf, delivering some 539,000
tons of cargo and nearly 500,000 troops and other passengers
KC-10 and KC-135 tankers flew 17,000 sorties and conducted
52,000 aerial refuelings, off loading 800 million pounds of fuel.
Air Force Special Operations Forces aircraft flew 830 missions.
During Desert Storm, C-130 tactical transports flew nearly
14,000 sorties, including many dedicated to the redeployment
westward of Army forces.
