Package Q Strike

Package Q Airstrike
Part of the Gulf War
Remains of F-16C 87-0257 as found by U.S. Marines in Iraq during Desert Storm.[1] The canopy was recovered by U.S. forces in the 2003 invasion.
Date 19 January 1991 Location Baghdad, Iraq Result Iraqi victory[2] U.S. tactics revised[3]
Belligerents
United States	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Norman Schwarzkopf Buster Glosson	Saddam Hussein Muzahim Hassan
Units involved
Ninth Air Force	Iraqi Air Force
Strength
56 F-16s 6 F-4s 14 F-15Cs 2 EF-111s Total: 78 aircraft	Thousands of SAMs & AAA guns 25 MiG-23s 20 MiG-25s 10 MiG-29s Total: 55 aircraft
Casualties and losses
2 pilots captured 2 F-16s shot down[1]	Hundreds of military & civilian casualties Serious damage done to air defenses Critical oil refinery damage

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The Package Q Airstrike was the largest airstrike of the Gulf War and the largest strike of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft in military history. Many aircraft, including the F-117 Nighthawk, were used to attack targets in Baghdad, which was the most heavily defended area of Iraq. The same target was hit several times by F-117s, and the last package consisted of seventeen F-111F Aardvarks on the 19th day of the war.

The main target of the strike was the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad, which was the site of the Osirak Nuclear Reactor that was attacked by the Iranian Air Force in 1980 and again by the Israeli Air Force in 1981, along with many other military sites across the city. Two aircraft were shot down, with two pilots becoming POWs. The mission goal was not met, with the reactors of the research facility only slightly damaged, although many of the secondary targets were hit. F-117 aircraft re-attacked the facility later, causing significant damage.^[4]

The attack was the largest of the war and represented an attempt to strike Iraqi defenses a serious blow. The raid illustrated how a number of small incidents or stresses, none by themselves necessarily serious, could contribute to an unsatisfactory outcome,^[5] which eventually convinced United States Air Force (USAF) commanders to call off further airstrikes against downtown Baghdad by conventional (non-stealth) aircraft.^[2]