Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
psychological weapon, so too were the Patriots. They provided
great theater, with live videos of fiery launches, smoke trails,
and aerial fireworks made more vivid with a dark, night background
that had a positive impact on civilians and decision
makers in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. (There is
no indication that any Iraqis saw this very visible performance,
and, if so, what impact it had on them.) The situation was
manageable for the defenders as long as the Scud attacks were
limited in number, accuracy, and lethality. Missile warning
protected civilians from death and injury, while active missile
defenses bolstered morale. The Patriots were an important factor
in keeping Israel out of the war.
Another factor in deterring Israel’s intervention was the intense
direct offensive campaign waged against the Scuds. The
Airmen flew almost 4,000 sorties, about 3.5 percent of the total
scheduled by the coalition and three times the planned effort. 81
The Army joined the Air Force in the anti-Scud campaign with
both surface-to-surface rockets ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile
System) and American and British Special Forces. According
to secondary sources, they claimed between 10 and 20 Scud
launchers destroyed. But to be clear, despite this massive
coalition air and ground effort, similar to the World War II
experience against the V-2, there is no confirmation of the
destruction of a single mobile Scud launcher. 82
In short, the Scuds were the greatest difficulty encountered
by US forces in the Gulf War. Although not a military threat
and inflicting few casualties, they certainly presented a valid
challenge to the coalition’s unity and diverted considerable resources.
While the Airmen did not perform as they would have
liked against the Scuds, they did enough to help keep the Israelis
out of the war. The Airmen also can take some credit for reducing
the Iraqi launch rates from a one-third to one-half that seen
in the Iran-Iraq War, even though the Iraqis had more missiles
in 1991. Suppressing the launch rate meant the Iraqis could not
fire in salvos that had the potential to swamp the Patriots. 83
The Scuds were much less deadly than the German V-2s. In
brief, although the Iraqis beat the coalition tactically with the
Scuds, as coalition forces could not find and thus destroy the
dated tactical ballistic missiles, the coalition was able to manage
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