On January 18, 1991, an Italian Panavia Tornado, piloted by Major Gianmarco Bellini, with Captain Maurizio Cocciolone as his navigator, took off as part of a multi national 48 planes squadron. Bellini and Cocciolone were the only members of the squadron able to execute in-flight refueling, while the other 47 aircraft failed and had to abort. The mission profile dictated that the operation could be performed even by a single plane, so Bellini and Cocciolone went on.
Their plane was hit by Iraqi anti aircraft fire and they had to eject. They were captured by Iraqi ground troops, even though their status was unknown at the time.
On January 20, 1991, Cocciolone was shown on Iraqi television as part of a propaganda effort by his Iraqi captors. First the voice interviews, followed by the videotapes, were released by CNN. Cocciolone appeared to be speaking under extreme duress, and his face showed signs of physical abuse. No news of Bellini was given initially, and he was feared to be a casualty. The two were kept separate for the whole time of their captivity.
Released by Iraq on March 3, 1991, Bellini and Cocciolone were the only Italian POWs captured during the entire war.
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the Tornado ECR SEAD aircraft and the Tornado ADV interceptor aircraft.
The Gulf War was an armed conflict between Iraq and a 42-country coalition led by the United States. The coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and Operation Desert Storm, which began with the aerial bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led Liberation of Kuwait on 28 February 1991.
Australia joined a U.S.-led coalition in the Iraq War. Declassified documents reveal that the decision to go to war was taken primarily with a view to enhancing its alliance with the United States.
The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intended to protect the ethnic Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by the United States and the United Kingdom until 2003, when it was rendered obsolete by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. French aircraft patrols also participated until France withdrew in 1996.
Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. Forty-seven British personnel were killed during Op Granby and many more were injured during the hostilities there. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion (1992), of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200 million of equipment was lost or written off.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1991.
Number 17 Squadron, currently No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was reformed on 12 April 2013 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as the Operational Evaluation Unit (OEU) for the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning.
Number 9 Squadron is the oldest dedicated Bomber Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Formed in December 1914, it saw service throughout the First World War, including at the Somme and Passchendaele. During the Second World War, No. IX (B) Squadron was one of two Avro Lancaster units specialising in heavy precision bombing and sank the battleship Tirpitz on 12 November 1944 in Operation Catechism. Between 1962 and April 1982, the squadron flew the Avro Vulcan B.2 as part of the V-Force. In June 1982, it became the first front-line squadron in the world to operate the Panavia Tornado GR.1. In May 1998, No. IX (B) Squadron received the RAF's first Tornado GR.4, which it operated until reequipping with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 at its present home base of RAF Lossiemouth on 1 April 2019.
Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps on 10 January 1915 and went on to fly the Martinsyde G.100, the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2, the SPAD VII and SPAD XIII, the Sopwith Dolphin during the First World War. In the Second World War it started out operating the Westland Lysander for army cooperation. From late 1942 it used Blenheims in North Africa but in 1943 squadron converted to Ventura for coastal patrols and convoy escort duties. Post war it operated Mosquito before transitioning to the new jet aircraft Gloster Meteor and English Electric Canberra for photoreconnaissance. From 1 January 1990, it operated the Panavia Tornado, initially the GR1A at RAF Honington and later the GR4/4A at RAF Marham where it temporarily disbanded on 13 May 2011.
Ar-Rutbah is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province, completely inhabited with Sunni Muslims. The population is approximately 28,400. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman–Baghdad road, and the Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline. Considered a "wet spot", it receives 114.3 mm (4.5 inches) of rain annually, and is located on a high plateau. It has been described as "the most isolated town of any size in Iraq."
The Iraqi Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well as the policing of its international borders. The IQAF also acts as a support force for the Iraqi Navy and the Iraqi Army, which allows Iraq to rapidly deploy its military. It is headquartered in Baghdad; the current commander is Gen. Shihab Jahid Ali.
The history of the Royal Air Force, the air force of the United Kingdom, spans a century of British military aviation.
Al Udeid Air Base is one of two military bases southwest of Doha, Qatar, also known as Abu Nakhlah Airport.
Gianmarco Bellini is an Italian Air Force officer who served with U.N. Coalition forces and was a prisoner of war during the First Gulf War.
Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154), also known as the "Black Knights", is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The Black Knights are an operational fleet squadron flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet. They are currently attached to Carrier Air Wing Eleven and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Their tailcode is NH and their callsign is "Knight".
Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003.
The Gulf War of 1990–1991 included an air campaign, as the air forces of the coalition carried out an extensive aerial bombing campaign from 17 January 1991 to 23 February 1991 against Iraq. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. The air campaign was commanded by United States Air Force (USAF) lieutenant general Chuck Horner, who briefly served as Commander-in-Chief—Forward of U.S. Central Command while general Norman Schwarzkopf was still in the United States. The British air commanders were Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Wilson and Air Vice-Marshal Bill Wratten. The air campaign had largely finished by 23 February 1991 when the coalition invasion of Kuwait took place.
Ar Rumaylah Southwest Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Basra Governorate of Iraq.
Shaibah Air Base is an Iraqi Air Force airfield in the Basrah Governorate of Iraq.
Operazione Locusta is the code name given to the contribution of the Italian Air Force in the Gulf War.
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