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

GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENSE SINCE 1990
The Marines and Navy fielded 39 EA-6B Prowlers. These aircraft
also dated back to the Vietnam War and used both jammers
and missiles to counter enemy radars. They flew 1,630
combat sorties while firing more than 150 HARMs without a
combat loss. The Navy claimed it flew 60 percent of the suppression
of enemy air defenses (SEAD) missions. 24
The Air Force also used two dozen EF-111A Ravens. The aircraft
had a speed and range advantage over the Prowler, while
the latter had jammers that were more effective. The EF-111’s
airframe also dated back to the Vietnam War era when they
were used as bombers. (The US Air Force converted 42 to the
electronic warfare role.) The Raven carried equipment to detect
and jam enemy radars in both a standoff role and along with
the penetrating attackers. The EF-111s flew 1,105 combat
missions with one noncombat loss. 25
Another Air Force jamming platform was the EC-130H Compass
Call, a modified C-130 four-engine turboprop transport.
Its mission was to intercept and jam enemy radio communications
to confuse and disrupt the Iraqis. Although automated,
the crew included nine Airmen who operated the electronic
equipment. The US Air Force had 18 of these aircraft that flew
450 sorties during Desert Storm. 26
The coalition used direct attack as well and employed a variety
of air-to-surface missiles that homed in on the Iraqi radars.
Shrike was the oldest of these missiles, having first seen service
in Vietnam in 1965. Carrying a 149-pound warhead against
Iraqi radars, the missile was limited by its range. American
forces fired 78 of these during the campaign, more than half
by the US Air Force. 27
The most used antiradiation missile, however, was the HARM.
This missile first flew in 1979 and achieved IOC in 1984. It could
carry its 145-pound warhead more than 10 miles (dependent
on launch altitude). 28 Because of the HARMs, after the first
three hours of the war, the Iraqis seldom used their radars to
guide their SAMs. The Air Force concluded that 45 percent of
the HARMs fired by the Wild Weasels caused Iraqi radars to
stop operating. Instead, the Iraqis fired their radar-guided
SAMs ballistically, scary—but ineffective. On the first night,
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