The Quest for Relevant Air Power

POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES │ 31
manoeuvres. 107 When ground forces were pinned down by sandstorms,
American air power was able to strike decisive blows
against the Republican Guard. By means of air-to-ground surveillance
radars and Global Positioning System (GPS) guided
bombs, air power could hit point targets under most unfavourable
weather conditions. 108 It is estimated that all but 19 of the Republican
Guard’s 850 tanks were destroyed or abandoned during the
air strikes. 109
A particularly high level of jointness was displayed in the course
of Operation Iraqi Freedom during March and April 2003. 110 Confronted
with a swift and massive ground assault, the Iraqi military
had to move and concentrate its divisions, which were then annihilated
by coalition air power. Air power also covered the flanks
and the rear of the advancing coalition forces. 111 Air Chief Marshal
Sir Glenn Torpy points out that while Operation Desert Storm
involved a basically distinct air campaign followed by a discrete
land campaign, the high-intensity phase of Iraqi Freedom was a
truly integrated operation. 112 On top of that, the number of precision
munitions employed rose from a small percentage in Desert
Storm to a majority in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 113 Yet in contrast
to Desert Storm, the air coalition was much smaller. Besides
American and British aerial forces, the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) participated in the air campaign.
After these major combat operations had ceased, Western air
power continued to play an important role in Iraq by providing air
surveillance, reconnaissance, precision air strikes, and airlift. Air
power was particularly applied in so-called urban joint warfare, as
the battle for Fallujah in November 2004 demonstrated. 114
Western Air Operations over the Balkans
Immediately after Desert Storm, the Balkans emerged as the
second major trouble spot for Western governments in the post–
Cold War era. Unlike the case of the Gulf War in 1991, it was not
easy to reach political consensus on how to tackle the situation in
the Balkans throughout the 1990s. Thus, the execution of air operations
was influenced by political, diplomatic, and alliance friction.
Deny Flight. Operation Deny Flight started on 12 April 1993.
It was first supposed to enforce a declared NFZ over Bosnia by
means of round-the-clock combat air patrols (CAP). 115 In the