Persian Gulf War

"Persian Gulf War" and "First Persian Gulf War" redirect here. For other uses, see Persian Gulf War (disambiguation).
"Operation Desert Storm" redirects here. For the video game by Bungie Software, see Operation Desert Storm (video game).
Persian Gulf War
Clockwise from top: USAF aircraft flying over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; British troops in Operation Granby; Camera view of a Lockheed AC-130; Highway of Death; M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
Date
2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991 (Operation Desert Storm officially ended 30 November 1995[1])
Location
Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Result
Coalition victory
Imposition of sanctions against Iraq
Removal of Iraqi invasion force from Kuwait
Heavy Iraqi casualties and destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti infrastructure
Belligerents
Kuwait
United States Saudi Arabia United Kingdom France Egypt SyriaOther Coalition forces
Iraq
Commanders
Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Norman Schwarzkopf Colin Powell Khalid bin Sultan[2][3] Andrew Wilson Peter de la Billière
Saddam Hussein
Ali Hassan al-Majid Salah Aboud Mahmoud
Strength
959,600[4]1,820 Fighter aircraft and attack aircraft (1,376 American, 175 Saudi, 69 British, 42 French, 24 Canadian, 8 Italian)3,318 tanks (mainly M1 Abrams(U.S.),Challenger 1(UK), M60(U.S.))8 aircraft carriers2 battleships20 cruisers20 destroyers5 submarines[5]
545,000 (100,000 in Kuwait)+649 fighters4,500 tanks (Chinese Type-59s, Type-69s, & self produced T-55 T-62, about 500 Soviet Union T-72) [5]
Casualties and losses
379 killed
776 wounded[6]
20,000-35,000 casualties[7]
Civilian deaths:About 3,664 Iraqi civilians killed.[8]
2 Israeli civilians killed, 230 injured [9]1 Saudi civilian killed, 65 injured [10]Around 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians killed during the Iraqi occupation in addition to 300,000 refugees.[11]
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v • d • e
Recent wars and conflictsin the Persian Gulf
Iran-Iraq War – Opera – Al-Anfal Campaign – Gulf War – 1991 uprisings – Provide Comfort – Southern Watch – 1993 cruise missile strikes – Kurdish Civil War – Desert Strike – Northern Watch – Desert Fox – Kurdistan Islamist Conflict – Southern Focus – Iraq War
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Gulf War
Kuwait – Khafji – Wadi Al-Batin – 73 Easting – Al Busayyah – Phase Line Bullet – Medina Ridge – Kuwait City – Highway of Death – Norfolk
The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), also known as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War[12][13], the Second Gulf War,[14][15] by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles,[16] and commonly as Desert Storm for the military response, was the final conflict, which was initiated with United Nations authorization, by a coalition force from 34 nations against Iraq, with the expressed purpose of expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait after its invasion and annexation on 2 August 1990.
The great majority of the military forces in the coalition were from the United States, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Around US$40 billion of the US$60 billion cost was paid by Saudi Arabia.[17][page needed]
The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi troops was met with international condemnation, and brought both immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council, and preparations for war by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial bombardment on 17 January 1991, following the expiration of the UN deadline; this was followed by a ground assault on 23 February, which was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraqi territory. The coalition ceased their advance, and declared a cease-fire 100 hours after the ground campaign started.
Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas on the border of Saudi Arabia. However, Iraq launched missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia, and at Israel, a non-combatant. The latter action was an attempt to precipitate Israeli retaliation, which would have destabilized the coalition by alienating its Arab members.
After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, U.S. President George H. W. Bush deployed U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard units to Saudi Arabia as a part of Operation Desert Shield, while urging other countries to send their own forces to the scene. UN coalition-building efforts were so successful that by the time the fighting (Operation Desert Storm) began on 16 January 1991, twelve countries had sent naval forces, joining the regional states of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, as well as the huge array of the U.S. Navy, which deployed six carrier battle groups.
Eight countries sent ground forces, joining the regional troops of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the seventeen heavy and six light brigades of the U.S. Army and nine Marine regiments, with their large support and service forces. Four countries sent combat aircraft, joining the local air forces of Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine aviation, for a grand total of 2,430 fixed-wing aircraft.
Iraq had only a few gunboats and small missile craft to match the coalition's armada, but approximately 1.2 million ground troops, 5,800 tanks, 5,100 other armoured vehicles, and 3,850 artillery pieces, which made for greater strength on the ground. Iraq also had 750 fighters and bombers, 200 other aircraft, and elaborate missile and gun defenses.
"Operation Desert Storm" was the U.S. name of the air and land operations, and is often incorrectly used to refer to the entire conflict; although the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp reflecting Operation Desert Storm in 1992, and the U.S. military awarded campaign ribbons for service in Southwest Asia.
Each nation participating had its own operation name for its contribution: U.S. - Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; UK - Operation Granby; Canada - Operation Friction; France - Operation Daguet, etc.