 F-16s flew escort/Wild Weasel missions escorting them and striking pre-planned targets.The 138th Fighter Squadron (174th TFW, New York ANG) used 24 F/A-16s equipped with a 30 mm gunpod, the GPU-5/A 'Pave Claw', a four-barreled derivative of the A-10 Thunderbolt's GAU-8 Avenger, but this proved a failure owing to excess vibration and inadequate gunsights.From the end of Desert Storm until the invasion of Iraq in 2003, USAF F-16s patrolled the US/UK imposed no-fly zones in Iraq.