U.S. Air Force F-117s used GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided penetrators during Operation Desert Storm, including documented February 1991 strikes on hardened Iraqi targets at Al Muthanna.
| Claim | Sources |
|---|---|
| The GBU-27 was used by the U.S. Air Force in Operation Desert Storm. | |
| F-117s delivered GBU-27 bombs against Al Muthanna bunkers in February 1991. | |
| The weapon's Gulf War role was precision attack against fixed and hardened targets from F-117 aircraft. | Sources: GAO Precision Guided Munitions Report, Health.mil Al Muthanna Case Narrative |
| Public official reporting includes caveats on F-117 hit-rate and battle-damage-assessment data. |
Timeline
Health.mil records F-117s dropping one GBU-27 and five GBU-10 bombs on suspected chemical ammunition storage bunkers at Al Muthanna.
F-117s returned to Al Muthanna between February 7 and February 8 with additional guided-bomb attacks on suspected chemical-warfare-agent bunkers.
Health.mil records F-117s dropping ten GBU-27 bombs on Al Muthanna bunkers and says aircraft video confirmed the events.
The GBU-27 Paveway III was used by the U.S. Air Force in Operation Desert Storm during the 1990 Gulf War. GAO's precision-guided-munitions inventory report identifies the GBU-27 as an F-117-delivered weapon and records its Desert Storm use, while a Defense Department GulfLINK case narrative documents F-117 drops of GBU-27 bombs on Al Muthanna bunkers in February 1991.
The weapon's documented Gulf War role was hard-target attack from F-117A Nighthawk aircraft. GAO describes the GBU-27 as a GBU-24 modified for F-117 delivery with a 2,000-pound penetrating warhead, and Health.mil's GulfLINK narrative describes it as a 2,000-pound laser-guided bomb used against hardened structures at Al Muthanna.
Sources: GAO Precision Guided Munitions Report, Health.mil Al Muthanna Case Narrative
The available official sources give a general Desert Storm use claim and several dated Al Muthanna strike entries rather than a complete sortie-by-sortie GBU-27 log. Health.mil records that on February 4, 1991, F-117s dropped one GBU-27 and five GBU-10 bombs on suspected chemical ammunition storage bunkers at Al Muthanna.
The same case narrative says F-117s returned between February 7 and February 8 with additional guided bombs against suspected chemical-warfare-agent bunkers, and that on February 23 F-117s dropped ten GBU-27 bombs on Al Muthanna bunkers. It states that aircraft video confirmed those events.
In the Gulf War air campaign, the GBU-27 paired the Paveway III laser-guidance family with the F-117's internal-carriage strike role. The weapon was assigned to fixed and hardened target sets, including bunkers and other protected structures, where a penetrating 2,000-pound warhead was required.
GAO's later air-campaign evaluation places GBU-27 use inside the wider F-117 Desert Storm record. It reports that F-117s attacked targets in every strategic category, but it also notes data limits in reported F-117 hit claims and the effect of weather and aborts on scheduled strikes. Those findings support a narrow reading of the GBU-27 evidence: the weapon was fielded and used for precision hard-target strikes, but public sources do not provide a complete verified list of every target struck by GBU-27s.
At Al Muthanna, the clearest dated record shows the GBU-27 used alongside GBU-10 bombs by F-117s against bunkers associated in U.S. reporting with Iraq's chemical-weapons infrastructure. Health.mil's case narrative distinguishes earlier Navy and A-6 attacks from the later F-117 GBU-10 and GBU-27 attacks, and explicitly identifies GBU-27 drops on February 4 and February 23, 1991.
Sources: GAO Precision Guided Munitions Report, GAO Desert Storm Air Campaign Evaluation, Health.mil Al Muthanna Case Narrative
Official public sources support U.S. F-117 use of the GBU-27 in Operation Desert Storm and specific GBU-27 drops at Al Muthanna. They do not, in the sources used here, provide a comprehensive public inventory of all GBU-27 targets, nor do they independently verify every reported hit rate or battle-damage result.
Sources: GAO Precision Guided Munitions Report, GAO Desert Storm Air Campaign Evaluation, Health.mil Al Muthanna Case Narrative
