The Quest for Relevant Air Power

28 │ POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES
aircraft had already been dispatched to the crisis area, forestalling
any potential Iraqi thrust into Saudi Arabia. 84 Unlike ground
power, air power enabled the allies to bring to bear their numerical
and technological superiority at an early stage.
The European combat aircraft contributors to Operations Desert
Shield and Desert Storm were the United Kingdom, France,
and Italy. In variety and scale, the UK contribution was second
only to that of the United States. 85 The French deployed the third
largest air force contingent to the Gulf area. While France was
willing to commit combat aircraft to Operation Desert Shield at
an early stage, it was more hesitant to commit forces to Desert
Storm, the offensive campaign. The French government only decided
to do so just prior to the attack. The Italian Air Force contributed
by deploying eight Tornado GR1 bombers. Belgium, Germany,
and the Netherlands augmented the protection of Turkey
by dispatching combat aircraft as well as GBAD batteries. Yet,
these aircraft were not involved in combat action during the war. 86
In the course of the air campaign, European losses amounted to
eight aircraft out of a total of 38 lost allied aircraft. 87
Despite these various European contributions, a transatlantic
gap in the air war effort was obvious. In total, fixed-wing aircraft
flew 118,661 sorties in Desert Storm. Of these, US services logged
85.4 per cent. The UK, France, and Italy flew 6.7 per cent, with the
UK contributing more than two-thirds of the European share. 88
Early on 17 January 1991, after the diplomatic negotiations had
failed, the allies embarked upon their concentrated air campaign
against Iraq and the Iraqi armed forces in Kuwait. In a delicately
orchestrated effort, the coalition hit virtually every target set in
the initial strikes, from strategic leadership targets in Baghdad to
Iraqi ground forces in the Kuwaiti theatre of operation. 89 Attacking
so-called strategic, operational, and tactical target sets simultaneously
was referred to later as parallel warfare. 90 Two main enablers
of Operation Desert Storm were precision-guided munitions
(PGM), which offset the need for mass attacks to achieve a high
probability of success, and stealth aircraft, which provided access
into high-threat environments. 91 Whereas the number of aircraft
equipped to laser-designate targets was relatively small, the larger
number of aircraft not equipped to do so dropped unguided munitions
in large quantities to reduce Iraqi combat strength in the