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detachment and eight from Muharraq were
the first RAF Tornado GR1s into Operation
Desert Storm as the air campaign started
in the early hours of January 17, 1991.
Led by their respective detachment
commanders, the Tornado package launched
shortly before 01.00hrs local time, headed
for Tallil air base. Meanwhile, just over an
hour later Wg Cdr Travers-Smith led his
Tabuk four-ship towards Al Asad air base,
accompanied by an ALARM-carrying pair.
Mark Roberts was to fly the first of his
26 missions as number three in a four-
ship formation. “I flew at the end of the
first wave – a JP233 attack on Al Asad. I
remember as we were flying low across the
desert at a couple of hundred feet we could
see the triple-A [anti-aircraft artillery, AAA]
lighting up from about 200 miles away.
“We commented: ‘Christ, thank goodness
we’re not going there,’ only to turn onto our
final attack heading and realise that it was
exactly where we were going. There were
over 100 active triple-A pieces there – which
was a piece of information we’d received as
we walked out to the jets back at Tabuk.
“The optimum height for JP233 was around
the same as the ‘TF’ was operating. On the
first raids a lot of crews found that the triple-A
was so heavy that the sensitive TFR would
appear to ‘see’ the artillery in the air and pull
up over the lead as something to be avoided.
“Certainly, something caused the aircraft
to pull up, but we learned really quickly
how to adapt. Generally, we would
turn in on the target and disconnect
the autopilot so we could manually
fly across the airfield, effectively just
using the radalt, just sub-200ft.
“As I approached the target I remember quite
vividly that the triple-A was being arc-fired.
I disconnected the autopilot and flew low
across the airfield into what felt like a wall of
lead. We flew right into it and your senses tell
you that everything is going upwards, so the
visual stimuli is that you’re going downwards.
“We were doing a co-ordinated attack and
I remember looking across and seeing the
JP233 going off [on another jet] and effectively
saying ‘I’m here!’ right inside the triple-A ring.
“Then we went from all the visual stimuli in
the world to absolutely nothing. All I could
see was the triple-A in my mirrors. I’m sure
I wasn’t the only person who thought, as the
spent JP233 canisters punched off with two
significant thumps, that they’d been hit.”Intense and terrifying
What the Granby Tornado crews went through
on those first few nights of Desert Storm has
been compared to some of the most intensive
bombing raids of the Second World War.
Roberts recalls meeting RAF Bomber
Command veterans when he returned to
the UK. “We collectively talked about
exactly the same thing. The fears and
the experiences. It was intense and
an extremely big part of my life.
“In truth, we had no idea what we were
getting into. We knew Iraq had an advanced
air defence system and a significant air
threat, and we believed they’d be up for the
fight. When I think about it, it was quite
extraordinary what we did when you compare
it with the way things are done today – with
night-vision goggles, forward-looking infrared,
standoff weapons – but actually what we did
back then was really advanced for its time.”
Roberts flew many of his missions in ZA465
‘FK’ Foxy Killer – a pool of jets meant it was
just coincidence that it worked out that way.
“We were rapidly turning the aircraft around.
It was a pattern of get up, mission plan, fly,
debrief, rest. In the early period we essentially
got airborne 24 hours after we’d landed. I had
ambient anxiety that was already heightened,
and it grew as we drew towards the mission,
but my recollection is that once I was in the
jet and busy, that anxiety started to fall away.
It really was an emotional rollercoaster.”
During the first three nights of the war the
Tornado crews flew 63 JP233 raids on various
airfields, with other aircraft either employing
ALARM or 1,000lb bombs that were lofted
onto air defence sites. Three aircraft were lost
during this period, two of which were carrying
1,000lb bombs and were the likely victims
of Roland surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
“I became extremely superstitious and had
a strict sortie preparation process,” says
Roberts. “The only time I didn’t follow
my process was on the night of January 20
when we attacked Al Taqaddum airfield.
“The plan was for us to loft 1,000lb bombs
onto the air defences there. It was a huge
‘gorilla’ package with ALARM support and
US Navy air cover. We had to replan the
attack and got a TOT [time on target] slip of
a few hours. We knew there were SA-8 sites,
and we knew we’d be flying straight through
their MEZ [missile engagement zone].
“We got airborne and our lead crew almost
immediately had a flight control problem
and banged out. The rest of us headed
for the tanker with the number two crew
now leading. At the tanker it was really
rough; some were able to get fuel, others
weren’t and they had to turn for home.
“Then the lead crew received a radio
message of another TOT slip. They perceived
it as a new delay, but we realised it was old
information. Believing there wasn’t sufficient
fuel to accept the new delay, the lead crew
knocked it on the head and turned back. I
was in the second four-ship and my leader
said: ‘We know what’s happening, let’s
press on,’ which was the right thing to do.Operation Granby
Above: ZA447 ‘EA’ ‘MiG Eater’ of No XV Squadron fl ew 40 missions during Operation Granby. Its
nickname came about because it was thought to have destroyed a MiG-29 on the ground during an
airfi eld attack; it was later discovered that it hit a Mirage F1. Ian Black
Above: The then Wg Cdr Mark Roberts led No 12(B) Squadron into Operation Telic. He’s seen with a
Union Jack to mark the 85th anniversary of the RAF on April 1, 2003. Jamie Hunter Collection
Tornado
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