Direct proof of use
U.S. Air Force and National Museum of the U.S. Air Force fact sheets both document GBU-15 use during Operation Desert Storm. The Air Force identifies F-111F pilots using GBU-15 glide bombs against flaming Kuwaiti oil pipeline manifolds sabotaged by Iraqi forces, while the museum describes F-111 aircraft employing the weapon to destroy Kuwait oil manifolds and stop oil flowing into the Persian Gulf.
The Federation of American Scientists records that all 71 GBU-15 modular glide bombs used in Desert Storm were dropped from F-111F aircraft. Contemporary Washington Post reporting from January 27, 1991, described F-111 fighter-bombers attacking coastal manifold facilities with television-guided smart bombs and said Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf showed bomb-nose video from GBU-15s as they struck the manifolds.
Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact Sheet, FAS GBU-15 Smart Weapons, Washington Post Kuwaiti Pipeline Strike
Timeline
Operation Desert Storm's air campaign began on January 17, 1991. By January 23-25, published chronologies and reporting described Iraqi actions dumping Kuwaiti oil into the Gulf and sabotaging Kuwaiti petroleum infrastructure.
On January 27, 1991, F-111s using GBU-15 guided bombs attacked an oil-pumping manifold at a Kuwaiti terminal. Air & Space Forces Magazine's Gulf War chronology says the strike drastically reduced oil flow into the Gulf, and the Washington Post reported the attack was intended to sever the pipeline between inland oil fields and the offshore supertanker terminal.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Gulf War Chronology, Washington Post Kuwaiti Pipeline Strike
Narrative
In Gulf War service, the GBU-15 was a U.S. precision glide bomb carried by F-111F aircraft. Its television or imaging-infrared seeker and data link allowed the launching aircraft's crew to observe weapon video and guide or lock the bomb after release, giving the F-111F a standoff precision option for fixed targets.
The best documented Desert Storm use was the Kuwaiti oil-manifold mission. Iraqi forces had opened or sabotaged oil facilities during the war, and coalition commanders selected F-111 strikes against manifold structures as a way to reduce the flow without destroying the wider oil field. The available sources describe the target set as Kuwaiti pipeline or oil-pumping manifolds linked to the Sea Island terminal and the desired effect as stopping or sharply reducing oil entering the Persian Gulf.
The record does not show GBU-15 use by Iraq or by other coalition states in this conflict. The sourced operator is the U.S. Air Force, with F-111F aircraft dropping the weapons during the coalition air campaign.
Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact Sheet, FAS GBU-15 Smart Weapons, Washington Post Kuwaiti Pipeline Strike
