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May 17, 2003

The mission reports of coalition aircraft during the Iraq campaign listed the following actions by Iraqi air defense forces. There were 1224 attacks by anti-aircraft guns,  1660 SAM/Rocket launches, 436 SAM instances of emitters (radars or control radios) being active, and 19 SSM (surface to surface missile) launches were detected. There were about 20,000 combat sorties flown (that would have run into Iraqi air defenses.) It was estimated that the Iraqis had about 210 Surface to Air Missile launchers and some 150 Early Warning Radars. No one had an accurate count on the number of anti-aircraft guns, but there were thought to be more than 2,500 of them.