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Ukraine’s Sky Guardians
Patriots, F-16s, and the Power of Collaboration
In August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s forces swiftly overran Kuwait, prompting global outrage and concern over the potential disruption of the region’s stability and global oil supply. In response to Saddam’s aggression, a coalition of 42 nations, led by the United States, swiftly intervened to defend Kuwait.
The subsequent military buildup, known as Operation Desert Shield, saw American troops and those of other coalition members deployed to the region to deter Iraq from expanding the war into other countries.
The United Nations and the Arab league gave an ultimatum to Iraq: withdraw by January 15th, 1991, or face military action.
Two days later, coalition forces started their aerial campaign.
“The American goal was to reduce Iraqi combat effectiveness by 50 percent, which entailed striking targets in Iraq and Kuwait for 38 days. This was a tremendously difficult task which demanded superior performance on the part of every piece of the air power machine.”
When the air campaign began, the Iraqis swiftly responded by attempting to complicate the coalition’s political stability. Saddam did so by launching its Scud ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia and Israel.
