One of the more memorable chapters in the history of military aviation unfolded on January 17, 1991, across the skies of Iraq. American, British, French, Kuwaiti and Saudi planes thundered into the air to begin the Gulf War’s air campaign, Operation Desert Storm. Among them were four F/A-18C Hornet pilots flying from the USS Saratoga: Lt. Cmdr. Mark Fox and Lt. Nick Mongillo, on an Independence Day-style bombing mission over Al Walid Air Base H-3 in western Iraq.
A radar-equipped E-2C Hawkeye detected two Iraqi MiG-21s traveling at supersonic speeds, heading directly for the Hornets. “At three miles, I could see them,” Mongillo recounted to The New York Times, describing the thick tension at a moment when enemy aircraft were seconds away. Mongillo fired a missile at two and a half miles, hammering the MiG-21, which burst into flames.
Although lugging a payload of four 2,000-pound Mk.84 bombs, the F/A-18C Hornets were designed to transition effortlessly from air-to-ground to air-to-air. It was that versatility that allowed the Americans to gain aerial superiority. “Our relative rate of closure was more than 1,200 knots,” Fox recalled in the book Gulf War Air Debrief. He described the quick fight, a Sidewinder missile hit his target, followed by a Sparrow missile flying into the resulting fireball. All of the exchange, from detection to missile impact, beginning to end, took less than 40 seconds.
Fox and Mongillo’s actions made them the first MiG killed by Navy aviators since 1968. Continuation of mission delivery, the aircraft dropped its bombs over the target area. With his four previous kills in combat, Mongillo became an “ace” and was awarded the Silver Star. It is believed this mission marked the first time in history a fighter aircraft won a dogfight while carrying bombs and then completed its bombing mission.
Those very MiG-killing F/A-18C Hornets are destined for display at the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola on the 30th anniversary of their actions in Desert Storm, January 17, 2021.
A former Polish Air Force MiG-21bis ‘Fishbed’ has also been delivered to the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida, and will be refurbished in Iraqi markings for the Gulf War display. This MiG-21 will represent one of the Iraqi fighters downed by the Hornets from the USS Saratoga.
The two MiG-killing Hornets, F/A-18 Cs Bu.163502 and Bu.163508, arrived at Pensacola in June. On the historic day, Lt. Mongillo flew F/A-18C ‘502, while Cdr. Fox was in ‘508. The Hornets, each loaded with four 2,000-pound bombs, received an urgent alert from an E-2C Hawkeye about the approaching MiG-21s. Fox and Mongillo quickly switched to air-to-air mode and successfully engaged the enemy aircraft.
Speaking to the strike-fighter concept of the F/A-18, Fox said, “This is the first time to my knowledge that an airplane scored a kill while carrying four 2,000-lb bombs, then continued on to hit its target.” It was a model engagement and follow-on bombing mission that encapsulated the versatility and efficacy of the Hornets.
As those activities’ 30th anniversary is approaching, the National Naval Aviation Museum prepares to salute those historic aircraft and the pilots that flew them, immortalizing a defining moment in military aviation history.