Richard Hallion's Storm Over Iraq
On January 17 1991 combat aircraft from several coalition countries took off from land based or sea based runways with one common goal, drop their munitions on preselected targets deep inside Iraq. The Gulf War was about to begin. Downtown Baghdad was off-limits to conventional aircraft due to their sophisticated air defense network. The only thing permitted were cruise missiles and the most advanced fighter/bomber the world had seen, the F-117 stealth aircraft that was invisible to radar and could deploy their bombs with deadly accuracy. Storm over Iraq was written by Richard Hallion and provides a history lesson of sorts about the evolution of airpower from WWI to Grenada and ending with the Gulf War. He also has a chapter that deals with what went right, what went wrong and what can be improved. There are also appendixes that explain the information and capabilities better. The one message that is portrayed loud and clear throughout is the effectiveness of stealth technologies like the F-117 Nighthawk. The one example that stands out is where he writes that thirty-eight support aircraft were needed so that eight attack aircraft could attack am airfield whereas twenty-one F-117s could carry out thirty seven missions by themselves. It also is a testament to
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To say he is a subject matter expert is an understatement. He is a former professor at the Army War College and has written many books about aerial warfare. In the preface he states what this book is not which would be a definitive account of the Gulf War because the history was still being written. I believe Hallion should have waited for all the facts before writing this book. Ultimately, Storm Over Iraq is a good book for someone who wants a history lesson about the air campaign during the Gulf War but other than that it falls flat. The book should have contained more information about the strengths and weaknesses of
To say he is a subject matter expert is an understatement. He is a former professor at the Army War College and has written many books about aerial warfare. In the preface he states what this book is not which would be a definitive account of the Gulf War because the history was still being written. I believe Hallion should have waited for all the facts before writing this book. Ultimately, Storm Over Iraq is a good book for someone who wants a history lesson about the air campaign during the Gulf War but other than that it falls flat. The book should have contained more information about the strengths and weaknesses of