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File: 120596_aadab_18.txt
Page: 18
Total Pages: 25

	A thick fog set in at King Fahad Air Base as the first
wave was returning to base, [(b)(1)sec3.4(b)(4)]

				A total of thirty-nine extra
sorties were flown, as returning aircraft recovered at other bases
in Saudi Arabia and then flew short sorties to return to King Fahad
Air Base to prepare for the second wave. The other aircraft
orbited the base until the fog lifted enough to allow safe
landings. Even with these problems, all of the aircraft returned
safely to base.

	The second wave of the first day of Operation Desert
Storm included twenty-six F-lllF fighters and ten EF-1llA
electronic countermeasures aircraft. These sorties took place the
night of 17 January, with some of the aircraft not returning to
base until shortly after midnight on the morning of l8 January.
All ten of the EF-lllA sorties were rated as successful, with the
Ravens providing effective jamming of enemy radar systems over
target areas. Two ground aborts affected the F-lllF wave, leaving
twenty-four sorties flown. Of the twenty-four bombing sorties
flown, fourteen were rated as unsuccessful for a variety of
reasons, resulting in a success rate of forty-two percent for the
wave.

	The second wave of F-lllF aircraft launched on the first
day of the war included six separate flights of aircraft attacking
six different targets. Most of the aircraft carried GBU-24 guided
bombs for high accuracy, while three carried GBU-15 guided bombs
and three others used CBU-89 and CBU-87 cluster bombs. The first





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