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On 30th January 1991, two weeks into Operation Desert Storm, Iraqi navy ships made a desperate dash for the northern Persian Gulf and sanctuary in Iranian waters. Only a lucky few made it through the gauntlet of Allied air power lying in wait. On fire after attacks by US Navy aircraft, this Polnocny C class landing ship fell prey to a pair of rocket and cannon-armed Jaguars a few miles from the mouth of the Shatt-al-Arab waterway in southern Iraq. After making a low pass to visually confirm the identity of the ship, the Jaguars unleashed four pods of CRV-7 rockets onto their target and then re-attacked with 30mm cannons before returning to their base at the end of a harrowing 3-hour mission.
Heavily armed, and using Victor tankers to in-flight refuel, Jaguars flew from AI-Muharraq, Bahrain during the Gulf War, their mission to seek and destroy targets in Kuwait and southern Iraq. The results were invariably the same: the targets were hit and the Jaguars, despite coming under fire, returned safely home.
Michael Rondot flew some of these missions. His first hand experiences add a unique authenticity to his paintings, bringing to life the drama of war witnessed from the cockpit of a combat aircraft. Coup De Grace is one of his most powerful images, capturing the aggressive lines of the weather beaten Jaguars against a dramatic backdrop of the stricken Iraqi ship
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