Recognizing the 25th anniversary of Desert Storm: AEDC tested technology that gave U.S. military the edge

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Twenty-five years ago on Jan. 16, 1991, coalition aircraft led the largest air campaign since the conflict in Southeast Asia. That conflict, known as Operation Desert Storm, followed a Congressional concurrence with United Nation efforts to enforce a resolution to withdraw Iraq from Kuwait and prevent seizure of other neighboring Persian Gulf states.

Several weapon systems used by U.S. military during Desert Storm were tested at AEDC, and according to AEDC Historian Christopher Rumley, these systems directly aided in the outcome of the war.

"The technology perfected in part at AEDC gave American Forces an unprecedented advantage in the air and ground war," he said.

Prewar predictions downplayed the Air Force role.  Experts insisted the invaders would need to be forced out by the bayonet.  Some predicted 10,000 to 30,000 casualties. These new technologies were untested in war and no one was sure how they were going to change the battlefield.  The magnitude of the air war success astonished even the AF planners who quickly re-doubled their targeting efforts over Baghdad once it became clear we could operate with impunity.

For the Air Force, the initial phase air campaign sought air superiority. More than 30 aircraft types were used and more than 69,000 sorties were flown, which ultimately led the Air Force to gain and maintain control of the air domain.

Military aircraft flown during Desert Storm include the A-10 Thunderbolt II, B-52 Stratofortress, C-12 Huron, C-130 Hercules, C-141 Starlifter, F-117A Nighthawk, AV-88 Harrier, the F-15/F-15 E Eagle, F-111 Aardvark, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, F-4 Phantom II and F-14 Tomcat, among others.

According to an Air Force Association report, B-52 bombers were the first aircraft to launch on Jan. 16, 1991, from Barksdale AFB, La. They were armed with the AGM-86C Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile, the first missiles to use satellite guidance. Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles were also used, as were F-117 stealth attack aircraft, which at the time had never been flown against modern air defenses. The launch of these aircraft would kick off a six-week air campaign.

While testing of the B-52 aircraft didn't occur at AEDC until after Desert Storm, the capability for the Air-Launched Cruise Missile was developed in the Propulsion Wind Tunnel and Engine Test Facility during the mid-to-late 1970s. These missiles, the AGM-86B and AGM-86C/D, were developed to increase the effectiveness of the B-52H bombers by diluting an enemy's forces and complicating defense of its territory.

The 600-pound-thrust turbofan jet engine, the F107, completed Preliminary Flight Rating Tests at AEDC in 1975, and testing of a full-scale operating model of the ALCM prepared the missile for its first powered flight by March 5, 1976. The missile was dropped from a B-52 bomber at 15,000 feet above sea level and flew for 11 minutes.

The AGM-86C/D uses an onboard Global Positioning System coupled with its inertial navigation system to accurately guide itself to the target. The final acceptance and qualifications for GPS were conducted at AEDC in 1977, the same year of its initial launch. A space-based radio navigation system, GPS provides reliable positioning, navigation and timing services to military.

Rumley said these were very important during Desert Storm.

"GPS allowed for accurate missile guidance and allowed our ground forces to know exactly where they were in relation to the enemy in a featureless desert environment. The work by AEDC on satellites and Patriot Missiles was a major contribution to the war effort," he said.

In addition to the B-52, an aircraft used for its close air support of ground forces was the A-10, which specializes in defense against ground targets including tanks and other armored vehicles.

Preliminary store separation testing of two A-10 prototypes was conducted in AEDC wind tunnels, and exploratory testing of the General Electric TF34-GE-100 turbofan jet engine and the Avco Lycoming ALP502, the two potential power sources for the A-10, also took place at the Complex. 

Scale models of the aircraft and several types of stores began testing at AEDC on Jan. 31, 1974. These tests, sponsored by Air Force System Command's Aeronautical Systems Division determined if the stores would separate cleanly when dropped or launched at various flight speeds.

In April 1974, a series of developmental tests of the 30-mm ammunition to be used with the new A-10 close air support aircraft were completed. Since Desert Storm, developmental tests of the TF34 Engine for the A-10 have continued at AEDC, with Accelerated Mission Testing in the sea level test cells.

The F-111 Aardvark also played a part in Desert Storm as a multipurpose tactical fighter bomber capable of supersonic speeds and altitudes up to 60,000 feet.
Production of the F-111 prototype began in the fall of 1963, and in that same year, the first wind tunnel models of the F-111 were tested in AEDC's Propulsion Wind Tunnel facilities. Soon after the aircraft's Pratt & Whitney TF30-P103 turbofan engines were being tested in the Engine Test Facility. The first F-111 rolled out Oct. 15, 1964.

This aircraft proved versatile in the skies over Vietnam in 1972-73 and again in spring 1986 against terrorist targets in Libya. Then on Jan. 17, 1991, the F-111 was used during the bombing raids of Desert Storm. More than 100 F-111 aircraft of different versions joined the first strikes against Iraq both as bombers and radar jammers.

Another aircraft tested at AEDC that aided in gaining air superiority in Kuwait was the F-15 Eagle, a tactical fighter, and the F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft has been extensively tested at AEDC since the early 1970s. Several AEDC facilities were instrumental in the engine testing and weapons separation testing of the various munitions systems used by the F-15. The weapons separation tests in the 4-foot transonic wind tunnel were the first steps in certifying the Air-Guided Missile (AGM)-154A Joint Standoff Weapon and the Join Direct Attack Munition Guided Bomb Unit (GBU)-31.

AEDC engineers also performed a great deal of testing on the F-16 Fighting Falcon and its engines. Store separation investigations of the aircraft and work on external munitions and payloads were also conducted. In 1982, a test was conducted on external load effects of external navigational and targeting pods, including a Low Altitude Navigation Targeting Infrared for Night pod on the inlet of the F-16. This capability has been deemed useful because it significantly increases the combat effectiveness, allowing aircraft to fly at low altitudes, at night and under-the-weather to attack ground targets with a variety of precision-guided weapons.

The U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Hornet, the nation's first designated strike-fighter designed for traditional strike applications, underwent aerodynamic tests at AEDC in the 1970s that examined the flight characteristics. Additionally, aerodynamic loads and store separation testing was conducted on the aircraft's payloads, including the GBU-10, GBU-24 B/B, Joint Standoff Weapon, Joint Direct Attack Munition and Standoff Land Attack Missile Extended Range.

In 1990, a year prior to Desert Storm, the F/A-18 returned to the Complex so that AEDC engineers could determine if the High-speed Anti-radiation Missile (HARM) would safely separate from the aircraft. Using HARM missiles, the Air Force destroyed Saddam Hussein's air defense network of surface-to-air missiles.

Known for its stealth technology, the F-117 Nighthawk was deployed in Desert Storm and validated its potential as an aircraft, demonstrating it could penetrate the dense threat environment at night. About the size of an F-15 Eagle, the twin-engine could employ a variety of weapons and was nearly undetectable by radar.

The F-117 has undergone extensive testing at AEDC since the war that assisted in the continual development of its capabilities. For example, in 1998, a weapons separations test was performed to obtain Mk-84 and Bomb Live Unit-109 Joint Direct Attack Munitions weapons certification.

As a carrier-based, strike aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II was utilized during Desert Storm as well. AEDC involvement with the F-4 involved validation of a number of pioneering test and data collection technologies and techniques, and in March 1972, a scaled model of the modified F-4E Phantom II, was tested in 4T to determined flight characteristics of bombs, fuel tanks and missiles dropped or launched from an aircraft with the wing leading edge modified to improve maneuverability. A model was back in the same wind tunnel in July of that year for study of the aerodynamic effects of external stores on the fighter's flight characteristics. Scale models of advanced guided cluster weapons and external fuel tanks were mounted on the F-4 model to determine their effect on basic aircraft stability, drag characteristics and transonic trim changes. Conditions simulated flight speeds from 300 to 950 mph at various angles of attack.

Less than a year prior to Desert Storm, in April 1990, a model of the Navy's F-14 Tomcat aircraft, configured with the General Dynamics/Westinghouse concept for the Advanced Air-to-Air Missile, underwent wind tunnel testing in 4T to ensure the structural integrity of the aircraft/missile matchup and reduce risks during the demonstration/validation phase.

The Tomcat's armament was occasionally updated to maintain pace with new technology. Years after the war, in 1995, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) asked AEDC to perform wind tunnel tests on the aircraft configured with an Air Intercept Missile-7F Sparrow missile and a Guided Bomb United-24 B/Bs, a laser guided bomb.

Coalition air, ground and naval forces were also greatly aided and made more combat lethal due to employment of space technology -- weather satellites, US LANDSAT multi-spectral imagery satellites, GPS, early warning satellites, tactical receive equipment and related applications satellite broadcast, the Tactical Information Broadcast Service and communication satellites.

In all, Desert Storm introduced stealth, precision-guided munitions, widespread use of space assets, and parallel warfare to modern war. It was followed by 12 years of aerial blockade of Iraq or Northern and Southern Watch, which ended when the US launched Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Long after Desert Storm ended, AEDC continues to play a role in advancing the latest technology, and Rumley notes that the U.S. military remains dependent upon these advancements.

"Technology is still a theme that continues as we strive to create the next generation of game-changing technologies in an environment that is much more competitive than it was in 1991," Rumley said.

Much of the information used in this release was taken from the AEDC publication "Beyond the Speed of Sound."

-AEDC-