The National Naval Aviation Museum of Pensacola, Florida, has updated its inventory with some serious additions that memorialize critical junctures in military aviation history. Some of the new attractions include legendary F/A-18C Hornets that made history during Operation Desert Storm and a MiG-21bis “Fishbed” that will be refurbished to represent an Iraqi Air Force aircraft.
In this war, the share of contribution came from F/A-18C Hornets, flown by Lt. Cmdr. Mark Fox and Lt. Nick Mongillo, from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. The contributions of these a/c were on January 17, 1991, when they flew as part of a strike on Al Walid Air Base H-3 in western Iraq. While approaching their target, an E-2C Hawkeye radar aircraft warned them about the closing-in, at supersonic speeds, of two Iraqi MiG-21s. “At three miles, I could see them,” Mongillo recalled, describing the intense moments leading up to the engagement.
Despite carrying a full load of four 2,000-pound Mk.84 bombs, the F/A-18C Hornets easily transitioned from an air-to-ground to an air-to-air role. Fox and Mongillo scored the first MiG kills by Navy aviators since 1968, achieving aerial superiority in a matter of seconds. “Our relative rate of closure was over 1,200 knots,” Fox noted, underlining just how fast the whole encounter was. The Hornets continued with their task at hand, laying down their ordnance over the intended target.
These historic aircraft are now set to be unveiled at the National Naval Aviation Museum on the 30th anniversary of their actions in Desert Storm, January 17, 2021. This exhibit will also feature a MiG-21bis ‘Fishbed,’ donated by Draken International, which will be restored to represent one of the Iraqi MiG-21s involved in the Gulf War skirmish.
The restored MiG-21, once in service with the Polish Air Force, will be repainted with Iraqi markings to represent the very aircraft that confronted the Hornets of the U.S. Navy during hostilities. Thus, visitors to the museum will be allowed to view the whole story of air battles during Operation Desert Storm.
A new exhibit at the National Naval Aviation Museum puts visitors right in the cockpit of the aircraft that played a pivotal role in one of the biggest air battles of the Gulf War.