In this article, we will share with you a video of USAF fighter jets evading enemy SAM missiles
Opening days of Operation Desert Storm on Jan. 19, 1991. US fighter jets were roaring through Iraqi airspace, and anti-aircraft crews were waiting for them with surface-to-air missiles (SAM).
U.S. F-16s were trying to attack a rocket production facility north of Baghdad this day. For Air Force Major E.T. Tullia, this was certainly an unforgettable mission that saw him cheating death not once, but six times.
But here are the details: As the flight approached the Baghdad IP, Anti-Aircraft Artillery began firing at tremendous rates. Most of the AAA was at 10-12,000ft 3,500m, but there were some heavy, large calibre explosions up to 8,230m.
Low altitude AAA became so thick it appeared to be an undercast. At this time, the 388th TFW F-16’s were hitting the Nuclear Research Centre outside of the city, and the Weasels had fired off all their HARMs in support of initial parts of the strike and warnings to the 614th F-16’s going further into downtown went unheard.
Many of the F-16 pilots that day had to deal with SAM missiles locking on to them and were forced to take evasive manoeuvres. Maj. Tullia (Callsign: Stroke 3) had to dodge six of those missiles, at times banking and breathing so hard that he was losing his vision. Here is the video of the event:
Here is another video of F-15C evading SAM launches in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Here is another video of F/A-18F Super Hornet Recon vs SA-13 “Gopher” 9K35 Strela-10 SAM in Hollywood-Style or rather MACROSS-Style
The Video is from the 2001 American war film Behind Enemy Line. The film tells the story of Lieutenant Chris Burnett, an American naval flight officer who is shot down over Bosnia and uncovers genocide during the Bosnian War.
During the Bosnian War, United States Navy flight officer Lieutenant Chris Burnett and pilot Lieutenant Jeremy Stackhouse, who are stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Adriatic Sea, are assigned an aerial reconnaissance mission by their commanding officer, Admiral Reigart.
The mission goes smoothly until they spot suspicious activity in the demilitarized zone where NATO aircraft and the warring factions are prohibited from engaging in military activity.
Burnett persuades Stackhouse to fly their F/A-18F Super Hornet off-course to get a close look and photograph the target. They are unaware that they photographed mass graves, and Serb paramilitaries see the jet.
The local Bosnian Serb paramilitary commander, General Miroslav Lokar, is conducting a secret genocidal campaign against the local Bosniak population. Not wanting the mass graves to be discovered, Lokar orders the jet being shot down.
Despite trying to outmanoeuvre the missiles fired at them, their jet is hit and both men are forced to eject.
