Battle Damaged Aircraft of the Gulf War

The A-10 "Warthog"was the most heavily damaged aircraft of the campaign due to it's low and slow flying mission. They'd circle areas making them extremely vulnerable to ground fire and surface to air missiles.  Due to the severe damage, a couple of aircraft listed below didn't come home with us. We stripped'm of parts and buried them in the Saudi desert. The rest were repaired, some more than once, and sent back to action. Some of the repairs were major depot level repairs, such as Center Wing splits and Outer Wing replacements not thought possible in the field. But the 2951st CLSS proved they were possible... and successful!

These tabs include Major Battle Damaged A-10's


Summary of Gulf Conflict U.S. Air Force Battle Damage and Repair (not a complete list)

Aircraft, Tail Number, Date of Incident, Unit, Severity Description of Damage, Repair Time, Event Number, Footnote

  1. A-10 810964 17 Jan 91 10TFW Damaged Hole left wing leading edge, also in mid spar web. 5 m/h est E 5

  2. A-10 820664 17 Jan 91 354TFW Damaged Small calibre holes, 2 severed hydraulic lines, front spar web damage. Pilot interview indicates overnight fix, 2 m/h est on AFTO 97 E 4 4

  3. A-10 790182 23 Jan 91 23TFW Damaged Left leading edge wing, 5 6 dime size punctures. 0.25 m/h (est) on AFT0 97 using speed tape E 12

  4. A-10 820664 28 Jan 91 354TFW Damaged Holes in honeycomb, left elevator, and left horizontal stab. 0.5 m/h F 25

  5. A-10 780715 29 Jan 91 354TFW Damaged #5 Pylon broke off, couple of small holes in engine and stab. 0.30 m/h (est) E 16

  6. A-10 760547 31 Jan 91 23 TASS Damaged Flack damage on left windscreen. 30 m/h est E 19

  7. A-10 780686 31 Jan 91 354TFW Damaged 8" gouge in vert stab. 2 m/h (est) F 31

  8. A-10 760450 31 Jan 91 926TFG Damaged with 378 battle damage holes in the Vert tail, horz tail, aft fuselage, both wings, left engine cowling. Pilot Col Bobby Efferson. Blew left main tire after landing, skidded off the runway.  2 weeks to recover to MOB and then cannibalized E 18

  9. A-10 770268 31 Jan 91 926TFW Damaged Shrapnel damage in left cockpit area, rt engine, 37MM AAA. about 79 m/h (est), no data on when completed F 32 5

  10. A-10 800186 1 Feb 91 23TFW Damaged Front windscreen below HUD." R&R front windscreen, 24 hour cure E 20

  11. A-10 780715 1 Feb 91 354TFW Damaged Minor flak damage left engine inlet wing. Speed tape flying next morning, 1.0 hour to repair F 33

  12. A-10 790248 2 Feb 91 23TFW Lost F 34

  13. A-10 780675 2 Feb 91 354TFW Damaged Wing fence and pylon damage. Speedtape, 1.8 m/h est F 35

  14. A-10 770255 5 Feb 91 354TFW Damaged Large holes left wing, left engine, right tail. 4 5 days, 174.5 m/h est F 36

  15. A-10 820664 6 Feb 91 354TFW Damaged Struck between Station 9 and right gear pod, hydraulics lost. no data F 24

  16. A-10 790206 11 Feb 91 23TFW Damaged Rt engine F.O.D, shrapnel. 13.5 m/h, system 23 only F 28

  17. A-10 800186 15 Feb 91 23TFW Damaged Hits both rudders, right elevator gone. 11 days 2 weeks, 139 m/h F 23

  18. A-10 780722 15 Feb 91 354TFW Lost F-37

  19. A-10 790130 15 Feb 91 354TFW Lost F-38

  20. A-10 790181 22 Feb 91 23TFW Lost F-29

  21. A-10 800166 25 Feb 91 23TFW Left engine AAA fire