US forces launched a series of cruise missile strikes on targets in Iraq on 16 December, in response to the latest impasse in United Nations Arms Control Commission monitoring work in Baghdad. The attacks, codenamed Desert Fox, were a precursor to further strikes involving manned aircraft likely to include Royal Air Force Tornados and Lockheed Martin F-117 stealth bombers. Targets included Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces as well as other sites suspected of involvement in chemical and biological weapons programmes.
Source: Flight International