| Operation Northern Watch | |
|---|---|
| Part of theIraqi no-fly zones conflict | |
 Three British RAFJaguars on a Northern Watch mission in September 2002 | |
| Type | No-fly zones |
| Location | NorthernIraq |
| Date | 1 January 1997 – 1 May 2003 |
| Executed by | United States Armed Forces Royal Air Force Turkish Air Force |
| Outcome | Operational success Successful maintenance of an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq No-fly Zones ended after2003 invasion of Iraq |
Operation Northern Watch (ONW), the successor toOperation Provide Comfort,[1] was a Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing its ownno-fly zone above the36th parallel in Iraq. Its mission began on 1 January 1997.
The coalition partners of the United States, United Kingdom, andTurkey provided approximately 45 aircraft and more than 1,400 personnel to support Operation Northern Watch.[2] The joint U.S. forces of some 1,100 U.S. personnel, included airmen, sailors, soldiers, and Marines, as well as aircraft from every arm of theUnited States Armed Forces.
The original mandate from theTurkish government allowed the operation to continue for six months. Turkey subsequently approved two 6-month extensions, but indicated that it would not become a permanent mission.
For the first year of the mission, northern Iraq was quiet, with no combat between Coalition aircraft and Iraqi forces.
Operation Northern Watch forces did not take part inOperation Desert Fox in December 1998. After Desert Fox, Iraq announced they would no longer recognize the no-fly zones and urged their troops to attack Coalition aircraft. On 28 December 1998 Iraq firedSA-3 surface to air missiles against coalition aircraft patrolling the northern no-fly zone. In response, U.S. Air Force (USAF)F-15Es,F-16CJs, and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC)EA-6Bs launchedanti-radiation missiles and droppedprecision guided munitions (PGMs) on the SA-3 ground-based missile site that fired on the ONW aircraft, and destroyed it.[3] From December 1998 to March 1999, U.S. aircraft over northern Iraq came under almost daily fire from Iraqisurface-to-air missile sites and anti-aircraft guns. U.S. aircraft responded by bombing Iraqi air-defense sites, usinglaser-guided bombs as well asAGM-88 HARM missiles andAGM-130 long range air-to-surface missiles.[4][better source needed][5] The first combat use of the AGM-130 was conducted during ONW, whenF-15Es deployed a pair to destroy two Iraqi SAM sites.[5]
Coalition aircraft flew patrols on an average of 18 days per month, and were usually fired upon. The most common threat was from anti-aircraft guns. DespiteSaddam Hussein offering a $14,000 reward for downing a Coalition aircraft, no warplanes were shot down.[4][better source needed]
Low level conflict continued up until theinvasion of Iraq in 2003, although the number of response incidents declined dramatically after 1999. The finalcombat air patrol occurred on 17 March 2003 (from theIncirlik Air Base) by the 181st FWIndiana Air National Guard and the 55th FW Shaw AFB SC.[citation needed] Six weeks later the operation concluded with an official stand down on 1 May 2003.[1]
A grand total of 36,000 sorties were flown during Operation Northern Watch, and 40,000 personnel had been deployed at some point during the operation.[4][better source needed] Operation Northern Watch was the longest combat operation in the history of the European Command.[3]