Great photos which were made on board of the US aircraft carrier USS "George Washington" (CNV-73) in early 1998. At that time, the carrier and its Air Wing supported Operation "Southern Watch" in the Persian Gulf. A US led multinational Operation which established a No Fly Zone over Southern Iraq to prevent Saddams Forces, specifically its Air Force to conduct air strikes against civilians in Southern Iraq. Operation "Southern Watch" resulted of an UN resolution which led to the established of this No Fly Zone. This came not without any reason, as Iraqi Forces already attacked Shiits in the South of Iraq, which launched an uprising against Saddams regime in the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991.
"Southern Watch" included Air and Naval assets from the US, France, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia and lasted from late 1992 until March 2003, the start of the US led invasion of Iraq.
Visible are some greatly painted F-14B "Tomcats of VF-102 "Diamondbacks". I personally love the times where US Navy jets were still very colorful, something which sadly vanished during the early 2000s. At that time the squadron was part of Carrier Air Wing 1, which consisted in early 1998 a mix of F-14Bs and F/A-18Cs, with VF-102 the only squadron on board of the carrier which operated the "Tomcat". F/A-18C`s were used among attack squadrons. (Plus of course additional assets like E2C "Hawkeye", S3 "Viking" etc.)
The armament of the F-14s which is visible on the photos is pretty typcial for some CAP missions. It included 1-2 AIM-54 "Phoenix" AAM and 2-4 AIM-9L "Sidewinder" AAM carried under the inner wings. Thats in this case interesting, as the AIM-54 was mostly carried on pylons under the fuselage of the "Tomcat". Note also the LANTIRN (Low Altitude Naviation and Targeting Infrared for Night) POD, carried under the right wing which is visible on some photos. Such capabilties were introduced to the F-14Bs (Later also to the few manufacutured F-14Ds) mid of the 1990s, which gave the "Tomcat" from the late 1990s on a real effective ground attack capabiltiy and possibitily to use in a effective way laser guided ammuntion. The "Tomcat" changed to the "Bombcat".
"Southern Watch" included many still pretty unknown air strikes and Operations against Saddams Forces on the ground and in the air. Including many intercepts of Iraqi jets and nearby "kills" of Iraqi MIG`s. Pretty interesting!
