Approximately 150 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System personnel will depart here for the Persian Gulf region to support Operation Desert Fox.

The unique abilities of the E8-C aircraft will enhance the capabilities of the U.S. forces there and will provide additional military options for the theater commander.

Joint STARS, the Air Force's newest battle management system, provides long-range air to ground surveillance that locates and tracks ground targets in all weather conditions.

The 93rd ACW has deployed twice each to Southwest Asia, Japan andGermany.

More than 100 tanker and 70 cargo aircraft from AMC are being tasked to support the movement of troops, equipment and combat aircraft to the region.

The Northeast Tanker Task Force located at Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine, and Pease ANGB, N.H., will provide staging areas for the refueling aircraft.

Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., McGuire AFB, N.J., and Dover AFB, Del., will be the primary staging areas for troops and equipment deploying overseas in support of Desert Fox.

All of AMC's active-duty and Guard and Reserve-gained units are supporting or remain ready to support the operation.

Most aircraft and cruise missiles rely on a constellation of U.S. Global Positioning Satellites for pinpoint navigation into combat.

"We're also in the process of deploying additional U.S. military forces to Southwest Asia, to the U.S. Central Command's area of operation, to bolster our already substantial military presence in the gulf region," Shelton said.

"Elements of the Crisis Response Force that we created last spring are also moving to the region," he said. This includes an air expeditionary wing of about 36 combat aircraft including fighters, bombers and anti-air defense aircraft; the F-117 stealth aircraft; another aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson and the other ships of its battle group.

The Air Force contingent will include about 10 F-15s from the 1st Fighter Wing, Langley Air Force Base, Va.; about 15 F-16s from the 20th Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, S.C.; about 10 F-16s from the 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah; and about 10 F-117s from the 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, N.M.

These forces are in addition to B-52, B-1 and KC-10 aircraft flying from sites outside the area, and many F-15, F-16, A-10, C-130, RC-135, U-2 and other U.S. and allied aircraft already in the region. About 7,500 airmen are already forward deployed to Southwest Asia.

Targets, Cohen said, included Iraq's air defense system, command-and-control system, airfields and infrastructure and facilities.

"One thing should be absolutely clear: We are concentrating on military targets," he said. "We are not attacking the people of Iraq. We have no desire to increase the level of suffering that Saddam Hussein has imposed on those people."

The success thus far of what President Clinton declared would be "a strong, sustained series of air strikes" resulted from the excellent performance of the U.S. military, according to Cohen. "Our military is performing extremely well, and every American should be proud of the troops who are participating in Desert Fox."

Shelton then updated operation results, warning that "there will not be the level of detail on either targets or the initial damage assessments" people would like to have because "that kind of detailed assessment simply isn't available or in some cases would reveal too much about the on-going operation."

He nevertheless displayed aerial photos that showed heavy damage inflicted on the Baghdad director of military intelligence headquarters and barracks housing the special security guards. At both sites buildings were reduced to rubble.

The general said information received indicated hits at other sites were "as successful or more successful than this was -- some of it not as successful." This was why, he said, the heaviest attacks against Iraq since Desert Storm in 1991 would continue.

Shelton said the first night's actions "principally involved our naval forces with more than 70 Navy and Marine Corps strike support aircraft from the USS Enterprise and over 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from Navy ships."

These forces, according to Shelton, "struck more than 50 separate targets." These included sites suspected of producing or storing weapons of mass destruction and those involved with security and command and control.

For the second night of attacks, Shelton said, "There will be all kinds of aircraft," referring to land- and sea-based aircraft of both U.S. and British forces.

"Strikes will include land-based aircraft, including the British Tornados, as well as additional Navy and Marine strike sorties from the deck of the USS Enterprise," the general said.

Cohen said all indications were that Iraq was surprised by the attack. Intelligence reports leading up to the first strike, Cohen explained, indicated that Saddam Hussein thought there was no chance the United States would hit Iraq between submission of the U.N. Special Commission report and the onset of Islamic Ramadan observances.

The secretary said the United States is "sensitive to Ramadan," the Islamic holy month beginning Dec. 20, but he added that Desert Fox will continue until its mission is complete.

Future operations, according to Shelton, would include the Crisis Response Force now arriving on scene. He said the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson would arrive in the Persian Gulf later Dec. 17. Ground and air forces based in the United States will begin to arrive over theweekend.

USAF News: Air Force Link - News

An undisclosed number of US aircraft are deployed at Ahmad al-Jaber air base, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Kuwait City. The morning after the US and British air campaign was launched. There has been no British involvement in the air strikes up until this present time. Britain has 12 Tornados and 400 servicemen at Ali al-Salem base, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital, deployed there since a previous crisis in February over UN arms inspections in Iraq. British bombers are to make up around 20 percent of the forces used in manned air strikes against Iraq.  Another six Tornado bombers are based at Prince Sultan air base near the Saudi capital, while two VC-10 tankers are stationed in Bahrain to provide in-flight refuelling for the Tornados. Britain also has four Jaguar bombers at Incirlik, Turkey.

Twelve Tornado GR1 bombers are and 500 British personnel stationed at the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait, 35 miles (55 kilometres) from the Iraqi border. Another six of the aircraft and 210 men are based at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia and are currently enforcing the southern Iraqi no-fly zone.

Two VC-10 tankers are based in Bahrain to provide in-flight refuelling for the Tornado aircraft. Four Jaguar bombers are stationed at Incirlik in Turkey, enforcing the northern Iraqi no-fly zone. They are also supported by a VC-10 tanker.

The Royal Navy has two vessels in the area: HMS Boxer, a Type 22 frigate armed with Exocet and Sea Wolf missiles. It is supported by the Royal Fleet auxiliary vessel Brambleleaf. HMS Cumberland is also on standby, making a total of 790 British servicemen involved in the operation.

See more at: The Royal Air Force - Latest Gulf News (News and Events)

The second night of attack calls for using 15 U.S. Air Force B-52H bombers, armed with long-range AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles, based on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. The Pentagon announced it was sending extra planes and troops to the area, including 10 F-117A Stealth fighters.

US Navy Images from the Gulf: U.S. Navy - Around the Fleet

Primary targets for the Tomahawks were Iraqi military communications nodes and facilities within several of Iraq's sprawling presidential palaces believed to conceal supplies and manufacturing equipment for biological and chemical weapons, according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. By Friday, with the arrival of the USS Carl Vinson carrier battle group, the Navy will be able to launch upwards of 500 more cruise missiles at Iraq, defense officials said.

Interactive map: select the aircraft carrier to visit it

After the first cruise missiles were launched, Navy EA-6B Prowler fighters flying off the carrier USS ENTERPRISE CVN65 in the Persian Gulf hit Iraqi air defense radars with HARM missiles. Once those air defenses are down, some of the 246 combat planes now in the Gulf or soon to arrive will launch follow-up strikes. Four Air Force B-1Bs, 15 B-52s, the latter capable of launching cruise missiles, dozens of bomb-dropping Navy F-14As and Air Force F-16s, 10 radar-evading F-117A stealth fighter-bombers, and an array of British combat aircraft are among the air armada. The heavy reliance on cruise missiles and radar-evading aircraft point to a key Pentagon goal -- so far successful -- of avoiding casualties. Later phases of the air campaign will involve conventional U.S. warplanes flying more dangerous bombing missions over Iraqi territory.

Top-priority targets include suspected biological and chemical weapon manufacturing and storage sites, weapons delivery assets such as missile factories, and facilities to manufacture and store mobile missile launchers, defense officials said. Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said other targets will include ``the things (Saddam) uses to guard his facilities'' an apparent reference to the elite Republican Guard forces.

The United States is sending 1,500 Army troops to join 3,000 already in Kuwait. In addition, hundreds more will deploy with Patriot missile defense batteries along with a special nuclear, chemical and biological defense unit. These troops are both a precaution against possible Iraqi aggression and a sign that the U.S. force presence in the Gulf -- which has averaged about 20,000 in recent years -- isn't declining any time soon. ``There is no plan right now to reduce below that level,'' Shelton said.

Shelton and Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni, head of the U.S. Central Command responsible for the Gulf region, began planning these strikes in mid-November, when Iraq narrowly avoided strikes by making last-minute concessions to weapons inspectors. The strikes were timed to begin almost immediately after the filing of a U.N. report on Iraq's failure to live up to its November promises and prior to the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

Read more: Air Expeditionary Wing heads to Gulf

-- Muthanna State Establishment, an Iraqi chemical weapons facility 166 kilometers (104 miles) northwest of Baghdad that was heavily damaged during the Gulf War;

-- Rashidiya, a gas centrifuge development center engaged in nuclear weapons related research and testing.

-- Jabul Makhul, a presidential palace near the central Iraqi town of Samarra that contains 90 structures in area covering 24 square kilometers (10 square miles);

-- Fallujah I, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north-west of Baghdad, a facility that at the time of the Gulf War was to product chemical weapons precursors;

--Special Security Service headquarters in Baghdad, which guards Saddam Hussein.

Shelton said the Pentagon had carefully selected as targets those things that Iraq used to transport, protect, and guard facilities associated with Saddam's program to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction.

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