Air Campaign Against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations

摘要

The air campaign against the Iraqi army in the Kuwait Theater of Operations (KTO)began on the opening day of the war. Eighty B-52s bombed Republican Guard positions, almost 300 A-10 sorties were flown against troop positions along the border, and F-16s attacked ground force command and control positions. Additionally, over 250 other sorties were flown in the KTO on the first day of the war against strategic air offensive targets. The number of attack sorties rose to over 1000 a day in the ensuing weeks. The campaign against the Iraqi ground forces comprised several objectives of the larger air campaign. The objectives of the KTO campaign were to: (1) Gain air supremacy in the KTO by suppressing air defenses; (2) Isolate the Iraqi forces in Kuwait; (3) Render the Iraqi army ineffective; and (4) Support coalition ground forces in the execution of the ground campaign.