How The Tomahawk Missile Shocked The World In The Gulf War | Battlezone | War Stories

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Came for Tomahawks, stayed because I was high and forgot this was supposed to be about Tomahawks

Desert Storm was probably the greatest exhibition and employment of the next gen weapons technology in history. German invasion of France in 1940 had a similar effect but was executed with known weapon systems that were employed in innovative and different ways. Desert Storm introduced a whole slew of technologies that were, by that time, largely unknown to the general public. From the precision guided munition, (although on a relatively small scale and still without the GPS guided bombs), to Tomahawk cruise missile to stealth to modern targeting systems.. And all that tech came together in a perfect moment in history, under the command of the greatest US generals since the WW2. From generals Norman Schwartzkopf and Colin Powell to the chief of air operations general Chuck Horner.. This command structure was incredibly important given the abysmal performance of the US military's high command during the Vietnam War...

Few people know that the key component of the Tomahawk is the motor that powers it. The Chrysler corporation R&D division had worked for many years to build a gas turbine car. They built 100 of them and tested on the highway, and they performed really well. At the time, this was the smallest turbine ever made, and it was a miracle of metallurgy and engineering. Chrysler fell into financial trouble, and the turbine car was cancelled, but one of the 3 top engineers kept going on the motor, and the DoD eventually realized that this motor would be ideal for their devious purposes. The missile goes over 1500 miles on a single tank of gas. (Can your car do that?) It's an amazing engine; a bit too powerful for a car, but is a tragedy of history that we don't have turbine cars. The faster they go, the more the air gets squished, and the motor improves in efficiency. Would be great for high speed trains too; at 200 MPH you would get good intake compression. Only 1 moving part! Anyway there is a great book on the Turbine car you can get.

Gotta love the 16 inch guns on the battleships being fired. Lobbing rounds that weigh as much as a car 23 miles!!!

I remember the whole lead up to Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield as I was married to an active duty marine stationed in Yuma, AZ. 8/2 is when Hussein invaded Kuwait..8/5 Daddy Bush told Hussein get out or we will make you....8/7 I gave birth to mine and my husband's first child and 8/9 I was standing on the tarmac at MCAS Yuma with a 2 day old baby saying good bye to my husband as he loaded onto a C130 to go to Saudi. I watched every single minute that I could when I was not working or taking care of my baby.

An SF guy in my Chapter 99 of the Special Forces Association managed to get a slot as an MP for this action. He was a former Louisville KY police officer. He ended up being a body guard and assistant to General Norman Schwarzkopf. Rudy had a couple of marvelous stories about his adventure. He had a heart attack a few years ago and passed but he is remembered in the Association.

One thing I learned from this documentary is that I am getting old. 😊

I thought this was about the tomahawk , it's about everything else but the tomahawk

39:30 "The gulf war demonstrated that the human factor is as important as weapon quality" That seems key to the issues Russia has in Ukraine

Basic "primitive" tactics and weapons training are a must. Whatever technical wizardry that an EMP attack would disable needs shielded.

I remember that very well! I remember feeling they where using up their stock of "OLD' 1st generation Tomahawk's so they could buy a whole bunch of NEW ones!!

The T-72 was a good tank for its time and for what it was. What most people don't realize is how much smaller it is than the M1 Abrams. Critical concessions had to be made due to its smaller size, including crew protection and overall armor. The result is a tank that is potentially a killer, but not a survivor.

Great video but a horrible title. The title should read something about the Persian Gulf war

Remember when History Channel had history docs like this on them all day long… sigh…

I remember camping in Northern Maine in the seventies and eighties when the Tomahawk was being tested. The Tomahawk Missiles didn’t make a ton of noise but the chase fighters let you know a test Missile was coming.

Got to love the USAF throwing shade on their Iraqi counterparts for not even trying to put up a fight.. '80% of their aircraft are still intact, on the ground'.

The “Second Best Military in the world” should’ve watched this before launching a global embarrassment of a warrantless invasion.

Takes me back to realizing what my desert training was for just before it started. We already knew that was the direction the compass was pointing at.

My uncle Randall Falcon flew the A-10 Warthog 2 in Desert Storm and retired flying the F-16 Viper and survived the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11/01