Summary: The 43-day air campaign during Operation Desert Storm was the first large use of U.S. air power since Vietnam. The Air Campaign employed nearly every type of fixed-wing aircraft in the U.S. inventory, flying about 40,000 air-to-ground and 50,000 support sorties. About 1,600 U.S. combat aircraft were deployed by the end of the war. By historical standards, the intensity of the air campaign was substantial: The U.S. bomb tonnage dropped per day equaled 85 percent of that dropped by the United States on Germany and Japan during World War II. The air campaign incurred minimal casualties and resulted in the liberation of Kuwait and the collapse of Iraqi forces. However, GAO's analysis of the air campaign revealed several issues that should be addressed before the next military campaign. For example, pilots found that infrared, electro-optical, and laser systems were all seriously affected by clouds, rain, fog, smoke, and even high humidity. Pilots said that they were sometimes unable to tell whether a presumed target was a tank or a truck or whether it had already been destroyed. Meanwhile, the Pentagon and defense contractors have made overstated and misleading claims about the weapons used during the air campaign, particularly the F-117 stealth fighter, the Tomahawk cruise missile, and laser-guided bombs. GAO questions the military's increased reliance on precision guided munitions given their limited effectiveness during the Persian Gulf War.
