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As the first night of the Gulf War unfolded in January 1991, the skies over Iraq belonged to the United States Air Force. Coalition aircraft thundered across the desert, executing one of the most devastating air campaigns in history. But while precision-guided bombs rained down on command centers, radar sites, and communication hubs, another, more specialized aircraft had a singular mission—ensure that the Iraqi Air Force never got off the ground. That aircraft was the F-117 Nighthawk, a stealth fighter that changed the nature of air warfare forever.
The Iraqi Air Force had over 700 aircraft at the start of the war, including Soviet-built MiG-29s, Mirage F1s, and older but still dangerous MiG-23s and MiG-25s. While not a match for the technologically superior Coalition forces, these planes still posed a threat if allowed to take off. Iraq had hidden many of them in hardened shelters, relying on Soviet-style dispersal tactics to survive an initial air assault. The U.S. knew that if these aircraft launched, they could prolong the war, harass bomber formations, and even disrupt the massive logistical efforts needed for the upcoming ground invasion.
Enter the F-117, an aircraft unlike anything Iraq had ever faced. Cloaked in radar-absorbing materials and designed to deflect enemy signals, it was virtually invisible to radar. This allowed it to penetrate deep into Iraqi airspace, completely undetected. Armed with precision laser-guided bombs, it could strike with pinpoint accuracy, eliminating key targets before the Iraqis even knew they were under attack.
On the opening night of Operation Desert Storm, F-117s led the charge. Their targets were the heavily fortified airbases where the Iraqi fighters were housed. With surgical precision, they dropped 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs through the roofs of hardened aircraft shelters, turning the Iraqi Air Force into a graveyard of twisted metal before the pilots inside ever had a chance to scramble. Some of the most important strikes occurred at bases like Al Taqaddum, Qayyarah West, and Balad, where dozens of Iraqi fighters were stored. Within hours, the Coalition had crippled Iraq’s ability to mount an air defense.
The effectiveness of these strikes was staggering. Iraqi pilots, realizing their jets were sitting ducks, attempted to move aircraft to civilian areas or even flee to neighboring Iran. But the damage was already done. With their air force neutralized on the ground, Iraq was left with no means to challenge Coalition air superiority. This allowed U.S. and allied aircraft to continue pounding military targets with little resistance. The feared dogfights between American F-15 Eagles and Iraqi MiGs never materialized on a large scale because most of the Iraqi aircraft never made it off the runway.
While the F-117 played the starring role in these surgical strikes, it wasn’t acting alone. The Coalition executed a masterful suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses (SEAD) campaign, using F-4G Wild Weasels and EF-111 Ravens to destroy Iraqi radar installations and surface-to-air missile sites. This ensured that the stealth fighters could operate with minimal risk. Meanwhile, F-15s and F-16s were on standby, ready to intercept any Iraqi aircraft that attempted to take flight.
By the time the war ended, the Iraqi Air Force had been effectively wiped out. Over 100 Iraqi aircraft were destroyed on the ground, many before they ever had a chance to take off. Another 140 planes fled to Iran in a desperate attempt to escape destruction, only to be confiscated by the Iranian government. What was once one of the largest air forces in the Middle East had been reduced to a scattered, ineffective remnant.
The success of the F-117 in Operation Desert Storm marked a turning point in aerial warfare. It proved that stealth technology wasn’t just a theoretical advantage—it was a decisive game-changer. In a single night, the U.S. had demonstrated that it could strike with impunity, crippling an enemy's ability to fight before they even knew they were under attack.
Though the F-117 was eventually retired in favor of more advanced stealth aircraft like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, its legacy lives on. It was the plane that showed the world that the future of air combat wasn’t about speed or sheer firepower—it was about being unseen, striking first, and ensuring the enemy never had a chance to fight back.