Air Force F-16 pilot explains how he dodged 6 missiles during insane Gulf War mission
“They knew we were coming.”
BY JEFF SCHOGOL | PUBLISHED JUL 11, 2022 1:24 PM
Air Force Maj. Emmett Tullia II escaped death half a dozen times on Jan. 19, 1991, when he maneuvered his F-16 through a fusillade of Iraqi surface-to-air missiles during a mission in which two of his fellow Viper pilots were shot down and taken prisoner.
Tullia was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his aerial acrobatics that day, which can be seen on video that was posted on social media several years ago. His ability to dodge six surface-to-air missiles is made even more extraordinary by the fact that his flares and chaff that were meant to confuse enemy missiles failed to deploy during his dance over Baghdad.
It was just a few days after the start of the U.S.-led campaign to push Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait when Tullia took part in a mission to attack an oil refinery in southern Baghdad.
“They knew we were coming, and as we were getting closer to the target area, the triple-A [anti-aircraft artillery] started coming up, the 35 mm stuff,” Tullia told Task & Purpose. “You could see an undercast of clouds from the triple-A going off.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/history/air-force-f-16-gulf-war-missiles/?traffic_source=Connatix
