List of Gulf War pilots by victories

The following is a list of air force pilots of the Gulf War by number of aerial victories.

List of air-air victories

Name	Country	Service	Aircraft Flown	Victories	Notes
Capt. Thomas Dietz[1]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	3	—
1st Lt. Robert Hehemann[1]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	3	If scored two more kills in another air battle it would have made him the war's only "ace". According to the IQAF he was shot down by Capt. as-Sammarai, while the USAF maintain that his aircraft was only damaged.[2][3]
Capt. Cesar Rodriguez[4]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	Rodriguez would go on to score another air-air kill in 1999 over Yugoslavia.
Capt. Rhory Draeger [5]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	—
Capt. Robert Graeter [6][5]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	His second credit was maneuvered into the ground by an unarmed American EF-111. Graeter received credit for the kill as he was giving chase to the Iraqi fighter jet at the time.
Capt. Jay Denney[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	—
Capt. Anthony Murphy[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	—
Capt. Benjamin Powell[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	2	—
Capt. Iyad Al-Shamrani[8]	Saudi Arabia	Air Force	F-15C	2	Shot down two Iraqi Mirage F1s who were attempting to bomb a Saudi oil refinery. Was the first coalition pilot to shoot down multiple aircraft.
Zuhair Dawood[9]	Iraqi Republic	Air Force	MiG-25	1	Credited with downing Commander Michael Speicher, in the US's first combat loss of the war.
Nafie Al-Jubouri[10]	Iraqi Republic	Air Force	Dassault Mirage F1	1	Credited with an aerial maneuvering kill of an EF-111 that crashed into the ground while attempting to evade a missile fired by Al-Jubouri.[10][11]
Capt. Mohammed Jassim as-Sammarai[3][12][2]	Iraqi Republic	Air Force	MiG-25	1	Credited with shooting down an F-15C after a Bedouin smuggler discovered wreckage of an F-15 just inside Saudi Arabia, very close to where Iraqi radars had lost track of a falling F-15 during Operation Samurra. USAF claim only the left wing was damaged by the missile.
Jameel Sayhood[13]	Iraqi Republic	Air Force	MiG-29	1	Was shot down by Cesar Rodriguez in a dogfight later.
Capt. Richard Bennett / Capt. Dan Bakke [5][7][14]	United States	Air Force	F-15E	1	Captain Daniel Bakke was the Weapon Systems Officer and Captain Richard Bennett was the pilot for the kill. It is the only known instance in history of one aircraft purposefully bombing another aircraft in mid-air.
Capt. John Donesky[7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Jon Kelk[1]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	Kelk was the first to claim an air-to-air kill of the war by shooting down an Iraqi MiG-29. He is also the first pilot to claim a victory in an American F-15 Eagle.
1st Lt. David Sveden[5][7][1][15][16][17]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Maj. Randy May[5][7][1][15][16][17]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Greg Masters[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Charles Magill[5][7]	United States	Marines[18]	F-15C	1	—
LT. Donald Broce / CDR Ron McElraft[19]	United States	Navy	F-14A	1	Commander Ron McElcraft was the Radar Intercept Officer and LT. Stuart Broce was the pilot credited with the kill.
LCDR Mark Fox[5][7]	United States	Navy	F/A-18C	1	—
LT Nicholas Mongillo[5][7]	United States	Navy	F/A-18C	1	—
Col. Rick Parsons[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Lawrence Pitts[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. David Prather[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. David Rose[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Anthony Schiavi[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Tod Sheehy[5][7]	United States	Air Force	A-10A	1	—
Capt. Robert Swain[20]	United States	Air Force	A-10	1	Captain Robert Swain attained his aerial victory in an A-10 Warthog, a close air support aircraft that was not designed for aerial combat. It was the first of two air-air victories of that aircraft type.[20]
Capt. Steven Tate[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Richard Tollini[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Craig Underhill[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Donald Watrous[5][7]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	1	—
Capt. Stephen Dingee[21]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	0.5	Captain Stephen Dingee and Captain Mark McKenzie shared a kill of a Mi-8 helicopter.[21]
Capt. Mark McKenzie[21]	United States	Air Force	F-15C	0.5	Captain Stephen Dingee and Captain Mark McKenzie shared a kill of a Mi-8 helicopter.[21]

Claims

Name	Country	Service	Aircraft Flown	Victories	Notes
James Denton[22]	United States	Air Force	EF-111	1	Captain James Denton was the pilot of an unarmed EF-111 when he came under attack from an Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter. After evading several missiles fired at them, Denton managed to goad the Iraqi pilot into low altitude maneuvering whereupon the Iraqi fighter crashed.[23] Denton and his electronic warfare officer Captain Brent Brandon were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their achievement.[24] The Smithsonian Channel in 2021-22 researched the EF-111 / F-1 low-altitude engagement and subsequently produced and aired in May 2022 the EF-111 Raven's encounter with the Mirage F-1EQ.[25]

See also

• Air engagements of the Gulf War

Sources

1. Skaarup, Howard (October 2001). Hawaii Warbird Survivors 2002: A Handbook on Where to Find Them. Writers Club Press. ISBN 9780595203796. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
2. Cooper, Tom. "Exhumating the Dead Iraqi Air Force". ACIG. Air Combat Information Group. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
3. "A 1991 Dossier on the Role of the Iraqi Air Force in the Gulf War" (PDF). Iraqi Air Force. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
4. Bowden, Mark (March 2009). "The Last Ace". The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
5. Cooper, Tom. "US Air-to-Air Victories during the Operation Desert Storm". Air Combat Information Group. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
6. "Dogfights of Desert Storm". Youtube. History. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
7. "Aces of Desert Storm". Safarikovi.
8. Francona, Rick (1999). Ally to Adversary. Naval Institute Press. p. 106. ISBN 9781557502810.
9. Yarsinske, Amy (2013). An American in the Basement. Walterville, OR: Trine Day LLC. ISBN 9781937584214.
10. "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 153060". Aviation Safety Net. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
11. Mailes, Yancy (2007). Mountain Home Air Force Base. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. p. 112. ISBN 9780738548050. {{cite book}}: External link in |ref= (help)
12. Cooper, Tom (2016). F-15C Eagle vs. MiG-23/25, Iraq 1991. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781472812704.
13. Cooper, Tom (2016). F-15C Eagle vs MiG-23/25: Iraq 1991. Osprey Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 9781472812711. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
14. Leone, Darion (14 February 2016). "Gulf War 25th Anniversary: how a U.S. F-15E shot down an Iraqi Mi-24 gunship with a GBU-10 bomb 25 years ago today". The Aviationist. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
15. "Coalition Air-to-Air Victories in Desert Storm". www.rjlee.org. History. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
16. "Gulf War Airpower Survey, Volume 5; Norman Friedman, Desert Victory; Robert Wilcox, Wings of Fury; World Air Power Journal". History. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
17. "Mig Killers". skytrailer.nl/mig-killers. History. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
18. Steve, Davies (1 January 2005). F-15C Eagle Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-1841767307.
19. "USS Ranger". America's Navy. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
20. Frantz, Douglas. "Pilot Chalks Up First 'Warthog' Air Kill". Los Angeles Times. LA Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
21. "Coalition Air Air Victories in Desert Storm". Estimative Error Probably. RJLee. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
22. "A Brief History of Weird Shootdowns". War is Boring. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
23. "Dogfights of Desert Storm". Youtube. History. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
24. "The EF-111 Raven Managed to Take Down an Iraqi Mirage… Without Ever Firing a Shot". Tactical Air Network. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
25. Smithsonian Channel "Air Warriors" S10 E3