Direct proof of use
U.S. Navy SH-60B Seahawk helicopters are directly documented in the 1990 Gulf War as part of coalition anti-surface warfare operations in the northern Persian Gulf. A U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings article published after the campaign says Royal Air Force Nimrods, U.S. Navy P-3Cs, and SH-60Bs maintained radar surveillance over the northern Gulf, and that SH-60B radar and electronic-support measures became increasingly important for locating Iraqi vessels.
The same account describes SH-60Bs operating off Faylaka and Bubiyan Islands within days of the war's beginning, detecting small-boat movements around oil platforms, maintaining surveillance on Iraqi ships fleeing toward Iran, and vectoring Royal Navy Lynx helicopters for multiple attacks near Bubiyan. A Department of Defense GulfLINK history separately describes attack helicopters working with SH-60B LAMPS Mk III aircraft and surface combatants as an enhancement to surface-warfare offensive and reconnaissance capability.
Sources: USNI Professional Notes August 1991, United States Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm | GulfLINK
Timeline
During Desert Shield in 1990, U.S. and Royal Navy helicopters practiced T-Bone tactics, using a radar-equipped helicopter to vector weapon-carrying helicopters in attacks. HSL-48's official command history places SH-60B LAMPS detachments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf during the Desert Shield buildup.
After Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991, SH-60Bs supplemented P-3 and Nimrod surveillance and became increasingly important in locating Iraqi vessels around the northern Gulf. The strongest dated source is incident-level but not day-specific: USNI describes SH-60Bs operating off Faylaka and Bubiyan within a few days of the war's beginning and later supporting action near Bubiyan by locating and maintaining surveillance on Iraqi ships.
Sources: USNI Professional Notes August 1991, HSM-48 Command History
Operational role
The documented user was the U.S. Navy on the coalition side. The role supported by the strongest sources was maritime reconnaissance and targeting support, not independent missile attack by SH-60B crews. USNI says Lynx helicopters, not the U.S. SH-60Bs, carried the anti-ship missiles in the U.S.-Royal Navy helicopter pairing described in the northern Gulf.
Archival imagery also places an HSL-47 SH-60B aboard USS Bunker Hill during Operation Desert Storm. That record supports fielded SH-60B presence in the campaign, while the Proceedings and GulfLINK sources support the conflict-use claim: SH-60Bs helped find, track, and pass targets in coalition surface-warfare operations against Iraqi naval craft.
Sources: USNI Professional Notes August 1991, NARA HSL-47 SH-60B Desert Storm Photo
