From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Military operation
Operation Southern Focus
was a period in the months leading up to the
2003 invasion of Iraq
(called "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in the
United States
) in which the military responses to violations of the southern
Iraqi no-fly zones
were increased, with more intensive bombing of
air defense artillery
installations and other military complexes. It also marked a period of increased
intelligence
gathering. The operation lasted from June 2002 until the beginning of the invasion in March 2003. It was intended to be a "softening up" period prior to invasion, degrading
Iraq
's air defense and communication abilities. Lieutenant General
T. Michael Moseley
revealed the operation's existence in mid-2003.
[1]
Operation
[
edit
]
The operation was not publicly declared at the time, and was just said to be an intensification of the already-existing
Operation Southern Watch
. When it began, the
United States Defense Department
and
CENTCOM
stated that increasing numbers of bombings of
Iraqi
installations in the region were merely in response to more attacks by the air-defense forces of that country. The Iraqi no-fly zones had been patrolled continuously since the end of the 1991
Gulf War
, and bombings by American and coalition
fighter aircraft
had taken place on a regular basis. However, Southern Focus saw many more
engagements
. Coalition forces responded to 651 attacks by dropping 606 bombs on 391 targets over the course of the operation.
[2]
Bombs usage
[
edit
]
The tonnage of bombs dropped increased from 0 in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 7 and 14 tons per month in May?August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6 tons in September ? prior to Congress' 11 October
authorisation of the invasion
. The September attacks included a 5 September 100-aircraft attack on the main air defence site in western Iraq. According to
New Statesman
this was "Located at the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shias, it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected."
Success
[
edit
]
Iraq's only success came on 23 December 2002, when a USAF
RQ-1 Predator
UAV was experimentally armed with
AIM-92 Stingers
and sent to patrol the no-fly zone in an attempt to bait Iraqi fighters into combat. It was spotted by two Iraqi
MiG-23s
and attacked, however both planes were unable to achieve a lock-on.
[3]
A
MiG-25
of the 1st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was then scrambled to assist.
[3]
Both aircraft fired missiles at each other, however, the Iraqi jet was outside of the range of the Stinger so the American missile fell short. The Iraqi missile hit the Predator, destroying it. This was the first time an unmanned aircraft had been used in air-to-air combat.
[4]
The first combat use of the U.S. Navy
'
s new
F/A-18E Super Hornet
fighter-bomber occurred in November 2002 during Operation Southern Focus, when aircraft from
Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115)
flying from the
aircraft carrier
USS
Abraham Lincoln
(CVN-72)
struck surface-to-air missile sites and command and control targets near
Al Kut
.
[5]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
|
---|
Background
| |
---|
Rationale
| |
---|
Issues
| |
---|
Dossiers
and memos
| |
---|
|
|
|
|
---|
Countries
| |
---|
Insurgent
groups
| Sunni
groups
| |
---|
Shia
groups
| |
---|
Ba'ath
loyalists
| |
---|
|
---|
|
|
|
---|
Operations
| 2003
| |
---|
2004
| |
---|
2005
| |
---|
2006
| |
---|
2007
| |
---|
2008
| |
---|
2009?2011
| |
---|
|
---|
Battles
| 2003
| |
---|
2004
| |
---|
2005
| |
---|
2006
| |
---|
2007
| |
---|
2008
| |
---|
2009?2011
| |
---|
|
---|
Related events
| |
---|
|
|
War crimes
|
---|
Occupation forces
| Killings and
massacres
| |
---|
Chemical
weapons
| |
---|
Torture
and abuse
| |
---|
|
---|
§
Other killings
and bombings
| 2003
| |
---|
2004
| |
---|
2005
| |
---|
2006
| |
---|
2007
| |
---|
2008
| |
---|
2009
| |
---|
2010
| |
---|
2011
| |
---|
|
---|
Other war crimes
| |
---|
Prosecution
| |
---|
§
All attacks listed in this group were either committed by insurgents, or have unknown perpetrators
|
|
|
Impact
|
---|
General
| |
---|
Political
controversies
|
|
---|
Reactions
| |
---|
Protests
| |
---|
Aftermath in Iraq
| |
---|
|
|
|
|
|