Wild Weasels F-100 To F-4G: Pioneering Electronic Warfare In USAF Fighter Jets

I first heard the term “Wild Weasel” used in the military aviation context at the tender age of 15 back on January 17, 1991, the first night of the Persian Gulf War (AKA Operation Desert Storm). Like so many fellow Americans, my parents and I were glued to the TV set watching the latest news developments on the war, and at one point, then-NBC News Pentagon correspondent Fred Francis made mention of the F-4G Wild Weasel and its unenviable job of attacking then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s formidable French-made KARI integrated air defense system (IADS) (consisting of air defense radars and surface-to-air missile [SAM] launchers).