MACAIR F/A-18C VFA-81 Sunliners MiG Killer

This is the F/A-18C Hornet then Lieutenant Commander Mark “MRT” Fox flew on the opening day of Desert Storm, 17 January 1991. His four ship was tasked to destroy infrastructure on the Iraqi Air Force H-3 complex in western Iraq. MRT carried four Mk84 2000 pound bombs, two AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided and two AIM-9M Sidewinder heat seeking missiles on this mission. Ingressing to the target area, the E-2C Airborne Early Warning Hawkeye alerted his flight two IQAF MiG-21 Fishbed interceptors were 15 mies on their nose. Switching to air-to-air mode, LCDR Fox locked on the first MiG-21 and launched an AIM-9M Sidewinder at the Fishbed. When it disappeared in front of him he launched an AIM-7M Sparrow missile. The first Sidewinder did the job hitting the tail section of the MiG-21. The AIM-7M detonated on the tail fireball destroying the MiG. Over the target area he switched to air-to-ground mode and dropped all four of his Mk84 bombs on a hanger blowing it to smithereens.