Not only that, its sloped design caused enemy rounds to be deflected harmlessly as they maneuvered in the desert sand as nimble as a cat. Even worse for the Iraqis, the Abrams sports a 120 mm smooth bore cannon that fires a variety of devastating rounds, from armor piercing (HEAT) shells to depleted uranium high explosives. Using sophisticated night vision, the Abrams could kill at 2500 meters, even in pitch darkness. These were Saddam Hussein’s crack troops equipped with aging Soviet T-72s and T-62s and they were ready for a fight.Īlthough greatly outnumbered, the American units had major technological advantages over the older, less advanced Iraqis tanks.įirst, the A1 Abrams has such greater range that it could kill enemy tanks 3,500 meters before the T-72 even knew they were there. The Iraqi Republican Guard and its Tawakalna Division were dug in, taking defensive positions near grid coordinate “73 easting ”, a GPS line used as a location as there are no geographic landmarks in the desert. Despite being equipped with a much smaller 25mm “Bushmaster” cannon, the Bradley was outfitted with tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles capable of destroying armor. unit in the battle would be the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a 4,500 soldier armor and reconnaissance team whose mission was to locate and fix enemy positions ahead of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division.Īmerican forces were equipped with the world’s most advanced tank, the M1A1 Abrams, backed up by the powerful Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Later described by Schwarzkopf as a "Hail Mary”, the lead U.S. VII Corps sweeping into Iraq in a wide hooking maneuver. On the night of February 23, 1991, American General Norman Schwarzkopf executed his ground assault against entrenched Iraqi Divisions by sending the U.S. Bush to oust invading Iraqi forces from Kuwait, had begun in earnest. (November 15, 2022): Operation Desert Storm, the war ordered by President H.W.
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