Hi everyone ;
I was wondering if the Lockheed U-2 aircraft operated during Desert Shield /Desert Storm .
I saw the 1/72 Special Hobby Lockheed U-2 Kits on-line , so I was wondering which version was used ;
TIA
John .
I believe TR-1s were used. The nice thing about the U-2 was it was forward deployed, unlike the SR which wasn’t. It required special fuel. I’ve deployed on such deployments and the U-2 crews were in the tents just down the row from us. They typically launched at predawn and returned many hours later. Then the heavies went into action as soon as the intel was deciphered and planning was completed.
Yes there were U-2s in Desert Storm. They were based at King Fhad AB, Taif. I flew C-141s there to pick up the film fresh of the plane and fly it stateside for interpretation.
The U-2R and the TR-1 are the same airplane with all TR-1s being renamed U-2Rs even before Desert Storm. There are many different configurations of nose, wing and fuselage mounted antennas for the U-2. The U-2R was used during Desert Storm and is still being used over Iraq and Afghanistan. The U-2A through G are the smaller version that looks like the R model, but is a totally different airplane. All of those had been phased out of USAF inventory by DS time.
You might run into the designation U-2S currently. The S model is an R model that has been re-engined with the same engine as found in the B-2. Originally they had J-75s.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
Thank’s for all the help guy’s ;
I like the look of the Special Hobby TR-1[U-2R] , so I’ll pick one up .
I was organizing my main 1/72 scale kit stash last week and pulled out a lot of aircraft kits that I think operated during Desert Shield/Desert Storm …
Not many of the kits have markings for Desert Storm , so I have started looking around the net for aftermarket DS decals
Two books arrived yesterday about the Air War in Desert Storm along with decals for F/A-18,A-6E,F-15E,RF-4C,A-10A,AH-64A,AH-1S[Sand Shark] , CH-47D and HC-1,F-111F and EF-111A .
I did already have some ‘Low Viz’ decals but there marked as 1989-90 USS Forestal , I’m not sure if the markings for the SH-3H , S-3B and E-2C would be suitable .
I was hoping to find some more Desert Storm reference books , especially on the different types of helicopters that were used . Anyone have any suggestions ?
I wont be starting any of the builds untill next year , I already have a ton of other builds to finish first ; I just wanted to get organized first so I don’t end up spending time researching in the middle of building kits .
I’ll probably have some more questions about Desert Storm in the near future , I alway’s appreciate any help .
John .
“Organized Stash” - isn’t that an oxymoron? At least it is with mine 
Mark
Hi everyone ;
I have another question about the AC-130A Gunship used in Desert Storm .
I have both Italeri’s C-130E/H and AC-130A kits and I was thinking of swapping the 4 blade props from the E/H kit and use the on the AC-130 Gunship and use the 3 prop blades to back date the E/H Hecules to an ‘A’ model . However Italeri’s AC-130A Box Art shows some type of rocket/dispenser pod on the outer wing pylons that are not included in the kit ; I do have some of those 1/72 scale Hasegawa weapons sets but I couldn’t see anything that looked similar ?
Does anyone know what type of weapon dispenser pod I could use ;
Also the Gunship kit comes with markings to suit an overall Gunship Gray color scheme but I’m not sure if the “AH” markings in white are suitable for Desert Storm ?
I’m alway’s grateful for any help anyone can give me
TIA
John .
Usually some sort of ECM pod is carried on the wing racks on Specters.
A great book for reference if you can find it, is Gulf Air War Debrief. More useful information there than you can shake a stick at.
And this website is great as well!
Might find something here you need as well…
I agree. I have the World Airpower Journal’s Gulf War Debrief and it’s an excellent resource. It not only covers all the aircraft used by the coalition, but it also covers what units were there, where they were based and even what armaments were carried by each unit. It’s out of print, but they pop up on Ebay, Half.com and Amazon now and then. Just search for “World Airpower Journal”.
They also have Vietnam Airwar Debrief, US Navy & Marine Corps Airpower, and 1911-1945 Air Warfare books that are just as good.
Now ain’t this an awfully nice collection of kits! I see you also have your share of Polish products there - High Decal Line decals! They have interesting color choices and lots of info for such a small instruction sheet. Two warnings though - you should decide on the marking option before doing almost any building, and be careful with the decals - sometimes they are extremely tricky to put down on the model, they need a lot of softening agent and their glue is not too strong.
I would also like to say that the mentioned “Vietnam Air War Debrief” is an extremely interesting book, heartly recommended! Good luck and have a nice day
Paweł
Hi guy’s
Thank’s for the links you posted , very helpfull indeed and the World Airpower book "Gulf Air War Debrief ‘’ sounds quite interesting , so I’ll check around Amazon books for a copy .
Thank’s Pawel for the tip on using the Hi-Decal decals , very much appreciated
Three more kits arrived during the week ;
The TR-1has Desert Storm markings included , I managed to track down a 1/72 B-52G ‘Gulf War’ kit and I picked up an AWACS kit from squadron .com
Thank’s again everyone for the help…
John .
I see that you have a KC-135. Is that an A model? Both E and R models were used, with KC-10A’s also being used.
The Heller KC-135 comes with markings for a KC-13A-20-BN 61-0300 “Casey 15”
22nd Bomb Wing , 15th AF , March AFB .
The aircraft is finished in silver all over , are these markings suitable for Desert Storm ?
John .
No, they should be in one of the Gray schemes for ODS. I want to say the silver schemes were replaced in the 70s. Have a look thru your Squadron book for typical 135 appearance.
If you are really interested in Desert Storm, another really good book is “Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War” by Rick Atkinson. Not really a good modeling reference since it doesn’t go into specific details about the aircraft or vehicles themselves, but nonetheless I think it is the best overview of the campaign that I have read. It at least as good as Barret Tillman’s Wirlwind or Stephen Ambrose’ Citizen Soldiers (both most excellent books) in my opinion. This book does focus more on the air war than the ground war, which was fine with me.
Having a look at that site that I linked to you earlier, most of the 135A’s were in the “Shamu” scheme of dark gray (poss 36081?) over white. A few were still in the older overall Aircraft Gray (FS 16373).
And yes, Crusade is a great read on the 1st Gulf War.
Stikpusher,
I believe it was 36081 Flat Euro Dark gray over 16473 gloss ADC gray.