Responding to massing of Iraqi troops near the Kuwait border, USAF airlifters begin transporting additional US forces to the Persian Gulf region under Operation Vigilant Warrior. During October, USAF will deploy 193 additional combat aircraft to augment the 77 already in place. Four bombers fly nonstop from bases in the US to deliver 55,000 pounds of bombs on target, on time, within audible range of Saddam’s forces. The Iraqis withdraw northward. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry later says, “The Air Force really has deterred a war.”
The Pentagon's research labs are ramping up their search for munitions that can be mass-produced—an effort likely to be buoyed by billions of dollars in the department's new fiscal 2027 budget request and tens of billions in the upcoming years. While the topline information shared about the President’s defense budget…
