Direct proof of use
The LUU-2 illuminating flare is directly documented in U.S. Navy A-7E Corsair II combat accounts from Operation Desert Storm. Robert F. Dorr's Defense Media Network account of A-7E operations describes a VA-72 mission to H-2 airfield in western Iraq in which eight LUU-2 parachute flares illuminated the runways before A-7E strike aircraft attacked Iraqi aircraft on the ground.
HistoryNet's later account of the same A-7E Gulf War community gives a second direct-use reference. It reports that VA-72 continued missions against H-2 and H-3 air bases after the opening night, that later A-7E attack missions used SUU-25 flare launchers, and that on February 26, 1991 the VA-72 executive officer's mission was to drop LUU-2 illumination flares before the strike element rolled in on H-2.
Sources: Defense Media Network A-7E Desert Storm, HistoryNet Corsair Last Hurrah
Timeline
Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991 with a large coalition air campaign against Iraqi command, air-defense, airfield, and fielded-force targets. The Gulf War Air Power Survey provides the campaign context for these air operations, while the A-7E accounts place VA-46 and VA-72 aboard USS John F. Kennedy in the Red Sea during the opening phase.
The strongest dated LUU-2 event in the reviewed sources is February 26, 1991, two days before the cease-fire. HistoryNet says a VA-72 mission was redirected from support to advancing coalition troops to H-2 airfield and that the strike leader's role was to drop LUU-2 illumination flares before other A-7Es attacked.
Sources: Gulf War Air Power Survey, Defense Media Network A-7E Desert Storm, HistoryNet Corsair Last Hurrah
Operational role
In this conflict record, the documented user was the U.S. Navy and the documented role was target illumination for night strike missions. The sources do not describe the LUU-2 as an attack munition in the H-2 airfield mission; they identify it as an illumination store used to expose runways and target areas for aircraft carrying bombs and cluster munitions.
General LUU-2 references explain why that role fits the weapon. GlobalSecurity describes the LUU-2 as an air-deployed high-intensity illumination flare suspended from a parachute, while Magellan Aerospace describes the modern LUU-2 as an air-deployed visual illumination flare producing about 1.8 million candlepower for five minutes. Those specification sources support the flare's function, but the conflict-use claim is limited to the Desert Storm A-7E accounts that directly name LUU-2 employment.
Sources: Defense Media Network A-7E Desert Storm, HistoryNet Corsair Last Hurrah, GlobalSecurity LUU-2 Flare, Magellan LUU-2 Flares for CAF
