iscover
The USAF F-4G Wild Weasel was one of the most important types used in the initial assault. This aircraft carries the precision direction finding APR-47 radar homing equipment, which can exactly pinpoint and classify emitters in high density environments, under conditions where less capable equipment saturates with targets. The Wessels hit key sites with AGM-88 HARM antiradiation missiles. Other critical SEAD assets were the Navy/USMCF/A-18s which accounted for most HARM frings, in spite of their less sophisticated radar warning equipment (T).
Technology Explained – Desert Storm Electronic War Pt 2
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Desert Storm Analysis – The Electronic Battle Part II
The Allied assault on Iraq saw the collapse of a formidable integrated air defence system, probably the most lethal outside the Warsaw pact.
The Iraqi system had much in common with the Soviet system, including equipment, deployments, operational doctrine and diversity of types. The ease with which the Allies crippled and then demolished this system testifies to fundamental flaws in Warpac air battle doctrine, which would have had a decisive influence in any NATO-Warpac conflict. What follows is how it was done.
Planning and Preparation
The Allies had monitored the Iraqi IADS closely throughout the buildup period of Desert Shield, deploying a range of Elint (Electronic Intelligence gathering) assets to the theatre. These assets served the principal purpose of mapping out the Iraqi Electronic Order of Battle (EOOB), ie pinpointing the deployments and composition of Iraq’s air defence batteries and supporting radar systems, and mapping out the stations and frequencies used for command and control of the network. Key systems employed were various subtypes of the EC/RC-135 Rivet Joint, the high flying TR-1 (U-2), the US Navy’s EP-3 and EKA-3B aircraft and the RAF’s Nimrod R. 1. These aircraft were strategically positioned to cover particular sectors of IADS coverage when Allied aircraft, in the period preceding hostilities, feigned penetrations of Iraqi airspace. This is the oldest trick in the electronic warfare book and the Iraqis fell for it repeatedly, lighting up their radars to engage the would be inbounds, in doing so they provided the monitoring Elint platforms with their positions and the identities of their radars, in turn betraying the composition of their batteries. It is also very likely that the Iraqis indulged in the luxury of live testing and calibration of their radars, further assisting the Allied effort.
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