Coalition Air-to-Air Victories in Desert Storm
Sources: Gulf War Airpower Survey, Volume 5; Craig Brown, Debrief: A Complete History of U.S. Aerial Engagements, 1981 to the Present; Steve Davies and Doug Dildy, F-15 Eagle Engaged; Norman Friedman, Desert Victory; Robert Wilcox, Wings of Fury; World Air Power Journal, with additions from Doug Beal, Mark Bovankovich, Stu Broce (formerly of VF-1, whose 6 Feb Hip-killing mission is listed here), Andreas Gehrs-Pahl, LTJG Joe Guerrein of VFA-82, Darryl Shaw, CPT Dave Sveden (whose own air-to-air victory is also listed here), and Colin Wells. Items in parentheses indicate a disagreement between sources that I'm still trying to resolve. All errors mine. -RJL.
Highlight by: kill - engagement - weapon - range - shooter
Highlight by: kill - engagement - weapon - range - shooter
| Beyond Visual Range |
Within Visual Range |
| DATE | CALLSIGN |
UNIT |
CREW |
AIRCRAFT |
SERIAL/BUNO |
TARGET |
ORDNANCE |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
PENNZOIL 63 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Jon "JB" Kelk |
F-15C |
(85-119) |
MiG-29 |
AIM-7M |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
CITGO (61) |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rob "Cheese" Graeter |
F-15C |
85-105 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-7M |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
CITGO (61) |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rob "Cheese" Graeter |
F-15C |
85-105 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
Ground |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
QUAKER 11 |
71 TFS/1 TFW |
Steve "Tater" Tate |
F-15C |
83-017 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-7M |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
(ZEREX 71) |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Chuck "Sly" Magill |
F-15C |
(85-125) |
MiG-29 |
AIM-7M |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
(ZEREX 73) |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rhory "Hoser" Draeger |
F-15C |
(85-119) |
MiG-29 |
AIM-7M |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
QUICKSAND 64 |
VFA-81 |
Mark "MRT" Fox |
F/A-18C |
163508 |
F-7B Fishbed |
AIM-9 |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
QUICKSAND 62 |
VFA-81 |
Nick "Mongo" Mongillo |
F/A-18C |
163502 |
F-7B Fishbed |
AIM-7 |
| 17 Jan 1991 |
(Unknown) |
390 ECS/366 TFW |
James Denton Brent "Brandini" Brandon |
EF-111A |
66-016 |
Mirage F-1 |
Ground |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
CITGO 21 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rick "Kluso" Tollini |
F-15C |
85-099 |
MiG-25 |
AIM-7M |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
CITGO 22 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Larry "Cherry" Pitts |
F-15C |
85-101 |
MiG-25 |
AIM-7M |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
(CHEVRON) 26 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Craig "Mole" Underhill |
F-15C |
85-122 |
MiG-29 |
AIM-7M |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
(CHEVRON) 25 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez |
F-15C |
85-114 |
MiG-29 |
Ground |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
RAMBO 03 |
525 TFS/36 TFW |
Dave "Spyro" Prather |
F-15C |
79-069 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-7M |
| 19 Jan 1991 |
RAMBO 04 |
525 TFS/36 TFW |
David "Abby" Sveden |
F-15C |
79-021 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-7M |
| 24 Jan 1991 |
(Unknown) |
No. 13 Sqn RSAF |
Ayhed Saleh al-Shamrani |
F-15C |
80-068 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-9P |
| 24 Jan 1991 |
(Unknown) |
No. 13 Sqn RSAF |
Ayhed Saleh al-Shamrani |
F-15C |
80-068 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-9P |
| 26 Jan 1991 |
CITGO 25 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rhory "Hoser" Draeger |
F-15C |
85-108 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 26 Jan 1991 |
CITGO 26 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Tony "Kimo" Schiavi |
F-15C |
85-104 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 26 Jan 1991 |
CITGO 27 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez |
F-15C |
85-114 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 27 Jan 1991 |
OPEC 01 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Jay "OP" Denney |
F-15C |
84-025 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-9M |
| 27 Jan 1991 |
OPEC 01 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Jay "OP" Denney |
F-15C |
84-025 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-9M |
| 27 Jan 1991 |
OPEC 02 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Ben "Coma" Powell |
F-15C |
84-027 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 27 Jan 1991 |
OPEC 02 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Ben "Coma" Powell |
F-15C |
84-027 |
Mirage F-1EQ |
AIM-7M |
| 28 Jan 1991 |
BITE 04 |
32 TFG |
Donald "Muddy" Watrous |
F-15C |
79-022 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 29 Jan 1991 |
(CHEVRON 17) |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
David "Logger" Rose |
F-15C |
85-102 |
MiG-23 |
AIM-7M |
| 2 Feb 1991 |
RIFLE 01 |
525 TFS/36 TFW |
Greg "Dutch" Masters |
F-15C |
79-064 |
Il-76 |
AIM-7M |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
ZEREX 53 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz |
F-15C |
79-078 |
MiG-21 |
AIM-9M |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
ZEREX 53 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz |
F-15C |
79-078 |
MiG-21 |
AIM-9M |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
ZEREX 54 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann |
F-15C |
84-019 |
Su-25 |
AIM-9M |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
ZEREX 54 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann |
F-15C |
84-019 |
Su-25 |
AIM-9M |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
SAVAGE 01 |
706 TFS/926 TFG |
Robert "Swaino" Swain |
A-10A |
77-275 |
Bo-105 |
GAU-8 |
| 6 Feb 1991 |
WICHITA 103 |
VF-1 |
Stuart "Meat" Broce Ron "Bongo" McElraft |
F-14A |
162603 |
Mi-8 |
AIM-9 |
| 7 Feb 1991 |
CHEVRON 22 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Rick Parsons |
F-15C |
84-124 |
Su-7 |
AIM-7M |
| 7 Feb 1991 |
CHEVRON 21 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Anthony "ET" Murphy |
F-15C |
85-102 |
Su-22 |
AIM-7M |
| 7 Feb 1991 |
CHEVRON 21 |
58 TFS/33 TFW |
Anthony "ET" Murphy |
F-15C |
85-102 |
Su-22 |
AIM-7M |
| 7 Feb 1991 |
KILLER 03 |
22 TFS/36 TFW |
Randy "May Day" May |
F-15C |
80-003 |
Mi-24 |
AIM-7M |
| 11 Feb 1991 |
PISTOL 01 |
525 TFS/36 TFW |
Steve "Gunga" Dingee |
F-15C |
80-012 |
0.5 x Mi-8 |
AIM-7M |
| 11 Feb 1991 |
PISTOL 02 |
525 TFS/36 TFW |
Mark McKenzie |
F-15C |
79-048 |
0.5 x Mi-8 |
AIM-7M |
| 14 Feb 1991 |
PACKARD 41 |
335 TFS/4 TFW |
Tim "TB" Bennett Dan "Chewie" Bakke |
F-15E |
89-487 |
Hughes 500 |
GBU-10 |
| 15 Feb 1991 |
SPRINGFIELD 27 |
511 TFS/10 TFW |
Todd "Shanghai" Sheehy |
A-10A |
81-964 |
Mi-8 |
GAU-8 |
| 20 Mar 1991 |
AMOCO 34 |
22 TFS/36 TFW |
John "Nigel" Doneski |
F-15C |
84-014 |
Su-22 |
AIM-9M |
| 22 Mar 1991 |
ZEREX 21 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz |
F-15C |
84-010 |
Su-22 |
AIM-9M |
| 22 Mar 1991 |
ZEREX 22 |
53 TFS/36 TFW |
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann |
F-15C |
84-015 |
PC-9 |
Ground |
NOTES
17 Jan: Graeter. The second Mirage kill was mistakenly cited as an AIM-7 kill in an earlier version of this table; however, Graeter actually only shot once. The second Mirage impacted the ground during the night engagement. "As best we can tell," Graeter later wrote, "the No. 2 guy went into a hard right turn to the west to get away from us, got spatial disorientation, and flew into the ground." Brown gives Graeter's callsign as CITGO 51, which conflicts with GWAPS and Davies.
17 Jan: Magill. CPT Chuck "Sly" Magill was a Marine exchange pilot serving with the 58th TFS. GWAPS and Davies state that Magill's flight was ZEREX 71; however, Brown asserts that it was CITGO 1. I think the former is more probable, as all sources agree that Graeter's earlier flight was CITGO and it seems unlikely that the air tasking order would assign the same callsign for a different flight later in the day.
17 Jan: Fox. This continues to be listed as an AIM-7 kill in official records, but what actually occurred was that the pilot had accidentally had his arming switches set to HEAT when he initially pulled the trigger. This launched an AIM-9M, which does not have the characteristic smoke trail of the "Great White Wonder" Sparrow. When he did not see the smoke trail, the pilot checked his switches, reset them (assuming a weapons fault), and proceeded to fire an AIM-7. The AIM-9 got there first, however, and destroyed the MiG-21 before the Sparrow could get there.
17 Jan: Denton/Brandon. This is not an official kill credit. Some sources believe that this is the same Mirage as Graeter's second kill.
19 Jan: Rodriguez. After Underhill shot the first MiG-29, both Rodriguez and Underhill had the remaining MiG-29 bracketed. In an attempt to dive into an escape window that had already closed, the Iraqi MiG-29 pilot attempted to execute a split-S from a starting altitude of about 2,000 feet. Rodriguez, who was the engaged low man, recognized the problem and took it upstairs; the MiG-29 attempted to follow through with the split-S and hit the desert floor.
The Underhill-Rodriguez engagement occurred as CHEVRON was clearing the six of CITGO flight, which had just killed its pair of MiG-25s and was retreating south to the tanker track. It is said to have been the only turning fight of the war. In post-war interviews, Rodriguez expressed his opinion that they had been extremely lucky in the intercept, since AWACS did not call the pair of MiG-29s approaching from the left beam until they were roughly 13 miles away. Prior to that call, CHEVRON had been unaware of the MiGs' presence.
Brown states that the callsign on that day was CITGO rather than CHEVRON, which conflicts with GWAPS.
26 Jan: Draeger-Shiavi-Rodriguez. This triplet of kills was a "textbook" BVR offensive sweep, with the four CITGO F-15Cs (the fourth was flown by Bruce Till) picking up four MiG-23s and bouncing three (one of them returned to H-2 early in the intercept, presumably because of mechanical problems). The targets were sorted and shot at by all four F-15s at over 13 miles (Till's AIM-7 arrived slightly after the others and thus he did not receive a kill credit).
29 Jan: Watrous. CPT Watrous was a 32nd TFG pilot detached to the 525th TFS/36th TFW during the war.
29 Jan: Rose. Brown states that the callsign was CITGO 3, which conflicts with GWAPS.
6 Feb: Broce/McElraft. GWAPS incorrectly lists the date of this event as 7 Feb. Broce was the most junior pilot in the squadron at the time, but his original flight lead aborted (and the spare was the second most junior pilot in the squadron). Since Broce had the squadron commander in the back seat, he assumed the lead. With respect to the "Wichita" callsign, the unusual three-digit number reflected the side number of the jet. Broce recalls that this was the standard practice for VF-1 missions at the time, and does not recall a separate ATO-directed callsign (with two-digit mission number). See here for some further thoughts.
7 Feb: Parsons. COL Rick Parsons was the commander of the 33rd TFW, flying a 58th TFS aircraft on this date.
11 Feb: Dingee-McKenzie. This was a shared kill.
14 Feb: Bennett-Bakke. This was the famous laser-guided-bomb kill. The helicopter was on the ground at the time that PACKARD 41 released the GBU-10, but took off while the bomb was in flight. The WSO kept lasing the helicopter anyway, and the bomb guided straight through the rotor disc, destroying the Hughes 500 instantly. The kill was witnessed by a Special Forces team on the ground.
22 Mar: Hehemann. The PC-9 pilot ejected immediately after observing the immediately preceding Su-22 kill by ZEREX 21.
17 Jan: Graeter. The second Mirage kill was mistakenly cited as an AIM-7 kill in an earlier version of this table; however, Graeter actually only shot once. The second Mirage impacted the ground during the night engagement. "As best we can tell," Graeter later wrote, "the No. 2 guy went into a hard right turn to the west to get away from us, got spatial disorientation, and flew into the ground." Brown gives Graeter's callsign as CITGO 51, which conflicts with GWAPS and Davies.
17 Jan: Magill. CPT Chuck "Sly" Magill was a Marine exchange pilot serving with the 58th TFS. GWAPS and Davies state that Magill's flight was ZEREX 71; however, Brown asserts that it was CITGO 1. I think the former is more probable, as all sources agree that Graeter's earlier flight was CITGO and it seems unlikely that the air tasking order would assign the same callsign for a different flight later in the day.
17 Jan: Fox. This continues to be listed as an AIM-7 kill in official records, but what actually occurred was that the pilot had accidentally had his arming switches set to HEAT when he initially pulled the trigger. This launched an AIM-9M, which does not have the characteristic smoke trail of the "Great White Wonder" Sparrow. When he did not see the smoke trail, the pilot checked his switches, reset them (assuming a weapons fault), and proceeded to fire an AIM-7. The AIM-9 got there first, however, and destroyed the MiG-21 before the Sparrow could get there.
17 Jan: Denton/Brandon. This is not an official kill credit. Some sources believe that this is the same Mirage as Graeter's second kill.
19 Jan: Rodriguez. After Underhill shot the first MiG-29, both Rodriguez and Underhill had the remaining MiG-29 bracketed. In an attempt to dive into an escape window that had already closed, the Iraqi MiG-29 pilot attempted to execute a split-S from a starting altitude of about 2,000 feet. Rodriguez, who was the engaged low man, recognized the problem and took it upstairs; the MiG-29 attempted to follow through with the split-S and hit the desert floor.
The Underhill-Rodriguez engagement occurred as CHEVRON was clearing the six of CITGO flight, which had just killed its pair of MiG-25s and was retreating south to the tanker track. It is said to have been the only turning fight of the war. In post-war interviews, Rodriguez expressed his opinion that they had been extremely lucky in the intercept, since AWACS did not call the pair of MiG-29s approaching from the left beam until they were roughly 13 miles away. Prior to that call, CHEVRON had been unaware of the MiGs' presence.
Brown states that the callsign on that day was CITGO rather than CHEVRON, which conflicts with GWAPS.
26 Jan: Draeger-Shiavi-Rodriguez. This triplet of kills was a "textbook" BVR offensive sweep, with the four CITGO F-15Cs (the fourth was flown by Bruce Till) picking up four MiG-23s and bouncing three (one of them returned to H-2 early in the intercept, presumably because of mechanical problems). The targets were sorted and shot at by all four F-15s at over 13 miles (Till's AIM-7 arrived slightly after the others and thus he did not receive a kill credit).
29 Jan: Watrous. CPT Watrous was a 32nd TFG pilot detached to the 525th TFS/36th TFW during the war.
29 Jan: Rose. Brown states that the callsign was CITGO 3, which conflicts with GWAPS.
6 Feb: Broce/McElraft. GWAPS incorrectly lists the date of this event as 7 Feb. Broce was the most junior pilot in the squadron at the time, but his original flight lead aborted (and the spare was the second most junior pilot in the squadron). Since Broce had the squadron commander in the back seat, he assumed the lead. With respect to the "Wichita" callsign, the unusual three-digit number reflected the side number of the jet. Broce recalls that this was the standard practice for VF-1 missions at the time, and does not recall a separate ATO-directed callsign (with two-digit mission number). See here for some further thoughts.
7 Feb: Parsons. COL Rick Parsons was the commander of the 33rd TFW, flying a 58th TFS aircraft on this date.
11 Feb: Dingee-McKenzie. This was a shared kill.
14 Feb: Bennett-Bakke. This was the famous laser-guided-bomb kill. The helicopter was on the ground at the time that PACKARD 41 released the GBU-10, but took off while the bomb was in flight. The WSO kept lasing the helicopter anyway, and the bomb guided straight through the rotor disc, destroying the Hughes 500 instantly. The kill was witnessed by a Special Forces team on the ground.
22 Mar: Hehemann. The PC-9 pilot ejected immediately after observing the immediately preceding Su-22 kill by ZEREX 21.