The raid illustrated how a number of small incidents or stresses, none by themselves necessarily serious, could contribute to an unsatisfactory outcome,[6] which eventually convinced United States Air Force (USAF) commanders to call off further airstrikes against downtown Baghdad by conventional (non-stealth) aircraft.
This meant that once the attack force had hit the reactor, which was in the southeast corner of the city, it would have to proceed to the downtown area, which necessitated flying through hundreds of alerted surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and AAA, making them easy pickings.
[6] Because of the distance between the airfields and Baghdad, the F-4s were lightly loaded, each only carrying two AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles because of their high fuel consumption rate.
The F-16s on the other hand were very heavily loaded, each carrying Mark-84 bombs, two external fuel tanks, two air-to-air missiles to protect them from Iraqi aircraft, and 90 bundles of chaff, with fifteen flares.
The Iraqi forces also had thousands of AAA and SAM sites throughout the city, ranging from World War II-era flak guns to surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles on state-of-the-art interceptors and fighters.
The F-16s were soon close to stalling out, and some had to light afterburners just to stay airborne; four fighters coming off the last tanker fell so far behind that their mission commander ordered them to return to base.
Iraqi gunners responded to the Americans with a couple of high-altitude shots from 100mm antiaircraft guns in the middle of several formations, adding to the confusion and disarray of the flak below them.
The "downtown" aircraft, F-16s with newer model engines chosen for their greater performance, and their escorts passed other F-16s which were on the way to, rolling in on, and leaving targets, all in a hostile environment.
Maj. John Nichols heard the Weasels call that they were leaving as he rolled in to strike his target, the Iraqi Air Force Headquarters.
Many SAMs were now guided on direct trajectories toward the aircraft and most of his flight had to take evasive action, which included "last-ditch maneuvers" such as jettisoning fuel tanks and bombs.
Approximately half of the flight struck the oil refinery; others were en route to alternate targets when SAMs engaged and forced them to jettison ordnance.
One of the two lost aircraft took a hit from an SA-3 missile just south of Baghdad but managed to fly for 150 miles on the return route before the engine quit.
When the F-16 began refueling in Iraqi territory, the fighter had only 800 pounds of fuel on board; in the words of the wing commander, who was flying as a wingman, it was "an eye-watering situation."
The loss of two F-16s can be attributed to a series of stresses, the lateness of the Air Tasking Order, not enough coordination time, a tactical approach that provided the Iraqis considerable warning, fuel problems for the Weasels and other aircraft, bad weather, and insufficient attrition of the defenses combined to create a dangerous situation.
[vague] General Glosson and his planners had hoped that destruction or at least degradation of Baghdad's air defenses would have allowed them to send large groups packages of F-16s into the capital during the daytime.
Their targets, as on the morning of day three, would have been the larger command headquarters and symbols of the regime, such as those of the Ba'ath Party, Republican Guard, and Directorate of General Military Intelligence.
[2] The difficulties that Package Q encountered, as well as the potential for inadvertent bomb release by aircraft under SAM attack, caused General Horner and his planners to decide against sending an F-16 group against downtown Baghdad on the next day.