1991: The Gulf War ends when a Coalition-declared cease-fire takes effect at 8 a.m. During DESERT STORM, the USAF flew a total of 59 percent of the Coalition’s combat sorties. Nearly 2,000 USAF aircraft comprised 75 percent of the total numbers of planes involved in combat operations during the war. Space satellite technology plays a vital role in communications and navigation for coalition forces in the air and on the ground, highlighting the critical importance of space operations to future conflicts. (During the war, the E-3 Sentry proved itself the premier air battle command and control aircraft in the world)
