In the opening days of the war, many air-to-air engagements occurred, between Iraqi interceptors and a variety of different Coalition aircraft.

Shortly after the Coalition air campaign began, ten United States Navy F/A-18C Hornets from the carrier USS Saratoga were on a mission targeting Iraqi radars when the flight leader, Cdr.

Dawoud then resumed his intercept, and from a distance of 29 km, fired an R-40 missile at the last F/A-18C in the formation, flown by Lt. Cdr.

An Iraqi Mirage pursued them, and as Denton performed an evasive turn to the left, Brandon spotted an incoming missile.

[4] However, their account is disputed, because one Al-Jabbouri, a Mirage F1 pilot confirmed to be alive just before the Iraq War of 2003, claimed an EF-111 crashed into the ground while attempting to evade a missile he had fired.

One F-15E was actually flying past the Iraqi jet and maneuvered in for the kill but the pilot hesitated to take the shot because he was unsure of his wingmen's location and because he did not get a good tone from the Sidewinder missile.

[7][citation needed] An Iraqi MiG-23 fired a R-24T missile at an F-111 Aardvark on a bombing run and scored a hit, although the bomber made it safely back to base.

[11] On the afternoon of January 17, a large USAF strike package was launched to hit Iraqi airfields and a chemical and biological warfare research facility.

Chuck Magill, a pilot on exchange from the United States Marine Corps, led a group of F-15Cs to protect the strike force.

Rick “Kluso” Tollini led a flight of F-15s assigned to protect USAF F-15Es, with the same wingmen he had flown with on 17 January.

Kelk locked on to the two MiG-25s, at around 30 miles distance, the MiGs immediately turned and descended, and the F-15 pilots lost track of them completely.

[14] It has been claimed by some sources that a Royal Air Force Tornado GR1 (ZA467) crewed by Squadron Leaders Gary Lennox and Adrian Weeks was shot down on 19 January by an R-60MK (NATO reporting name: AA-8 Aphid) missile fired from an Iraqi MiG-29 piloted by Jameel Sayhood,[15] however this aircraft is officially recorded as having crashed on 22 January on a mission to Ar Rutbah.

[21] As Rodriguez and Underhill sought to refuel from a tanker, AWACS called out the second MiG, 10 miles to their north and directly behind them.

[23][24] The two aircraft descended to very low altitude, forcing the MiG pilot to make a desperate move to escape; he began a split s maneuver, but was unable to pull out before hitting the ground.

[25] In the early afternoon, two flights of four F-15Cs (using callsigns 'Rambo' and 'Conan') flying out of Incirlik Air Base, Turkey were conducting a fighter sweep ahead of an F-16 Fighting Falcon strike package against targets in Kirkuk.

As they proceeded south in a wall formation, AWACS alerted them to two Iraqi aircraft (later identified as Mirage F1s) patrolling west of Kirkuk.

[26] Four Iraqi Mirage F-1s took off from al-Kut Air Base, with the goal of striking oil facilities in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Draeger’s missile struck the lead MiG, which turned, caught fire, and flew a short distance before exploding and crashing.

Donald Watrous jettisoned his drop tanks above the recommended maximum speed for doing so, and suffered damage to both wings, though he didn't notice at the time.

Qassim Ar Sammarai piloting one MiG-25 fired an R-40 missile which according to the USAF damaged the left engine of an F-15C[citation needed].

According to IQAF the two aircraft were shot down and crashed in Saudi Arabia after Bedouin smugglers reportedly found the wreckage near the site where Iraqi radars lost the track of them.

Greg Masters led a group of F-15s patrolling between Kirkuk and the Iranian border, ahead of an F-16 strike package.

[35] Four F-15s were patrolling near the Iranian border when AWACS alerted them to the presence of Iraqi aircraft flying at low altitude towards Iran.

[36] A USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, piloted by Captain Robert Swain[37] shoots down an Iraqi Bo-105 helicopter using its GAU-8 30mm cannon.

Steve Dingy and Mark McKenzie shot down an unknown Iraqi helicopter (possibly an Mi-8, Aerospatiale Puma, or Sikorsky S-61), using AIM-7s.

81-0964 bearing nose art with a nod to the band The Greatful Dead's "Steal Your Face" album art & now nicknamed "MiL Killer") from the 511th TFS "Vultures" / 10th TFW (attached to the 354th FW Provisional) and piloted by Captain Todd "Shanghai" Sheehy, shoots down an Iraqi Mi-8 helicopter with its GAU-8 "Avenger" 30mm cannon.

Craig Stevenson was flying a SEAD mission alongside an F-4G Wild Weasel when an Iraqi MiG-23 approached the northern no-fly zone.

The MiG reached supersonic speed and crossed into the no-fly zone, and AWACS cleared Stevenson to shoot it down.

Eric Wickson and Lt Col. Randy May mistook two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawks for Iraqi helicopters, and shot them down over the northern Iraq no-fly zone.

AWACS had not informed the F-15 pilots of the presence of the Black Hawks, and their IFF equipment had not identified the helicopters as friendly.