Direct proof of use
A declassified Royal Air Force mission report directly records BL-755 use in the 1990 Gulf War. The 31 January 1991 Jaguar mission report for mission 4402A lists the target as a ZSU-23-4 and support vehicles at 28 degrees 47 minutes north, 48 degrees 16 minutes east, and records eight CBU BL755 weapons expended.
The same mission report assessed one ZSU-23-4 and one truck destroyed. It also records that the sortie involved two aircraft, that this was the first BL755 use on the first ZSU-23-4 found by the Muharraq-based Jaguar detachment, and that a missile was fired at the lead aircraft after the attack.
Sources: RAF Selected Tornado and Jaguar Mission Reports
Timeline
The RAF Jaguar force deployed to the Gulf in August 1990 and moved to Muharraq, Bahrain, before Desert Storm. The official RAF Jaguar narrative says the detachment was chiefly used for air interdiction against ground targets in Kuwait and Iraq, with secondary reconnaissance and anti-surface unit warfare roles.
The BL-755 release came during the January 1991 battle around Khafji. According to the RAF Jaguar narrative, two Jaguars carrying BL-755 were diverted by AWACS while conducting a combat air patrol and were retasked against Iraqi armor moving south toward Khafji.
Sources: RAF Jaguar Operation Granby Narrative, RAF Selected Tornado and Jaguar Mission Reports
Role in the sortie
In this conflict the BL-755 was used as a low-level air-delivered anti-armor munition by RAF Jaguars. The RAF Jaguar narrative describes the weapon choice as a low-level-only option considered after doubts about CRV-7 rocket accuracy during surface combat air patrol missions.
The same RAF narrative says the two Jaguars flew low up the Saudi coast, found Iraqi armor on the main north-south road, and attacked trucks and a vehicle later identified as a ZSU-23-4. It states that these were the only BL-755s released in the campaign and that the remaining BL-755s were returned to store.
Imperial War Museums describes the BL-755 as a 600 lb airborne cluster munition designed to deliver bomblets over a rectangular target area, supporting the anti-armor role reflected in the RAF mission report. The cited Gulf War sources do not support a broader pattern of BL-755 use beyond the eight bombs released on 31 January 1991.
Sources: RAF Jaguar Operation Granby Narrative, RAF Selected Tornado and Jaguar Mission Reports, IWM BL755 Object Record
