Operation Desert Storm

After the end of the war with Iran in 1988, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein faced serious economic problems - he had to urgently repay the debts accumulated during the war to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait . Saddam decided to deal with this problem in a radical way: Hussein accused Kuwait of producing more oil than indicated in the agreements, as well as of stealing fuel from Iraqi wells. Baghdad demanded that Kuwait compensate “losses” of 2,400,000,000 dollars for allegedly illegal oil production in the border field, write off debts on loans received during the Iran-Iraq war (17,000,000 dollars), assignment or leasing to Iraq strategically important islands Varba and Bubiyan . Kuwait refused.

On 2 August 1990, Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait . In the following months, within the framework of Operation Desert Shield, multinational forces were transferred to the zone of the Persian Gulf to protect Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries from the possible continuation of Iraqi aggression. On November 29, 1990, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution allowing to apply all available measures to Iraq, in accordance with the UN Charter.

Immediately after the invasion of Iraqi troops into Kuwait, the American Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Headquarters of the Commander of the United Central Command of the United States Armed Forces developed a plan of operation for the liberation of Kuwait and the defeat of the Iraqi armed forces. The plan was based on the concept of an “ air-ground operation ” developed in the 1980s. The operation, which received the code name "Desert Storm", was planned to be carried out in two stages.

At the first stage, in the course of an air offensive, it was planned to inflict massive strikes on key targets and troops in Iraq and Kuwait, suppress the air defense system, gain air supremacy, disorganize the state and military control system, and cause the maximum possible damage to the southern group of Iraqi forces.

At the second stage, during the air-ground operation, it was intended that the bypassing forces of the ground forces and marines, while landing numerous operational and tactical assault forces at the same time, encircle and destroy the Iraqi armed forces in parts in Kuwait and in southern Iraq.

The developed plan did not establish any time limits for the main stages of the hostilities, and the overall success of the operation was made directly dependent on the results of the first massive missile and air strike.

Preparing the operation of a multinational force

The command of the multinational forces managed to create a powerful air force grouping more than 2,000 airplanes and material resources to meet the needs of aviation for 2-3 months of hostilities. The air force consisted of 20 B-52 strategic bombers, more than 1,700 tactical planes and up to 450 deck-based combat vehicles. The formations and units of the national air forces redeployed to the conflict zone were consolidated into a single aviation group and subordinated to the command of the 9th Air Force of the United States Air Force. On the basis of the headquarters of the 9th Air Army, a single central aviation command was created - Sinsentkom (commander - Lieutenant General Chuck Horner ).

As one of the possible ways to divert significant Iraqi forces, the command of the multinational force used a demonstration of preparations for the landing of a vast maritime landing force. In general, the concept of disinformation with the help of active actions of the Marine Corps was a success. The conviction of the Iraqis in the determination and reality of the intentions of the command of the multinational forces to land a navy assault force was facilitated by the actions of all the ship groups in the Persian Gulf.

Three months before the start of the war, the multinational force began to regularly conduct joint exercises of ground forces and staff training. In the course of preparations, such specific problems had to be solved as the provision of a troop force with water and the preparation for a possible use of weapons of mass destruction by the enemy.

The main allied ground forces were concentrated in the north-eastern part of Saudi Arabia. Directly along the borders with Kuwait, Iraq and the neutral zone at the front, up to 350-400 km, the forward units and subunits of the armed forces of Saudi Arabia were deployed, as well as covering troops from the US corps and divisions. In areas located at a distance of 25 to 50 km from the border, the main forces were concentrated, covering important operational roads, seaports and oil-producing areas.

Iraqi Defense

For the conduct of hostilities on the territory of Kuwait and in southern Iraq, the Iraqi command created a southern grouping of troops. The most combat-ready compounds of this grouping were concentrated along the line of the Euphrates River.

Air offensive

In the period from January 17 to 19, 1991, the multinational force aircraft launched a series of massive air strikes (mainly at night) throughout Iraq. During the operation, about 4,700 sorties were flown (over 80 by strategic aviation, more than 4,000 by tactical aircraft, and about 600 by deck aircraft). As a result of the operation, air supremacy was conquered and confidently maintained, many military and civilian production facilities were destroyed.

At the same time, the control system of the Iraqi armed forces continued to function, Iraqi aviation suffered only minor losses, a large number of mobile launchers of tactical missiles operated. In particular, Scud missiles (according to Iraqi terminology “Al-Hussein” and “Al-Abbas”) were launched into Israel and Saudi Arabia. This forced the American command to urgently place the MIM-104 Patriot air defense batteries in Israel ^[1] .

Virtually no conditions were created for a successful air-ground operation to liberate Kuwait.

In the current situation, the command of the multinational force decided to carry out additional exploration of the targets and clarify the subsequent actions of the coalition forces; the impact on the enemy while not interrupted, only slightly decreased its intensity.

In the period from January 20 to February 23, multinational forces carried out about 700–800 sorties per day. The main targets of the strikes were troops of the first and second echelons, communications, launchers of operational-tactical missiles, artillery positions, reserves, ammunition depots and material and technical equipment, military and military-industrial facilities, command posts of the state and military control systems.

Ground operation

Based on the analysis of the grouping of Iraqi troops by the command of multinational forces, it was decided to create an external and internal fronts of the environment. The American 7th Corps (along with the British 1st Tank Division ) was ordered to advance in the direction of Khafar al-Batin , Basra , defeat Iraqi forces in the area of Ez-Zubair and close the encirclement of the troops of the 3rd Army Corps of Iraq in Kuwait; This course of action was regarded as the main one and was called “central”.

The 18th US Airborne Corps ( XVIII Airborne Corps ) (along with the 6th Light Panzer Division of France ( 6 ^e division légère blindée )) was tasked with attacking El- Shub , Busayyah , Nasiriyah , in cooperation with 7 with the corps to overcome the defenses of the Iraqi forces, destroy the enemy’s corps reserves in the areas of Jada, Busayyah, and cut off the Basra-Baghdad highway in the Nasiriyah area to complete the creation of an external front surrounding the southern group of Iraqi forces.

The formations of the Egyptian , Kuwaiti and Saudi ground forces were consolidated into operational tactical groups North and East; they were to attack on auxiliary lines and, in cooperation with the 7th Corps and the US Marines, to take part in the destruction of Iraqi troops defending directly in Kuwait.

To cover the left flank of the main group on the basis of the 6th Panzer Brigade of France, an operational tactical group was created, which included a brigade of the 82nd US Airborne Division and Saudi forces. Two days before the outbreak of hostilities, this group was secretly redeployed to the Rafha area and developed along the Saudi-Iraqi border. Its task was to launch a rapid attack in the direction of Salman , Samawah and the exit to the line of the Euphrates River.

Due to the fact that all the bridges across the Euphrates were destroyed by the air strikes of the multinational forces, by February 20 the Iraqi troops located south of the Euphrates were cut off from the center of the country. By this time, the Iraqi side had lost about 30 thousand people killed, wounded and missing; more than one and a half thousand Iraqi soldiers surrendered.

From 20:00 on February 23, a massive suppression of the control system of the Iraqi armed forces by means of electronic warfare began in the action line of the shock groups. At 4:30 on February 24, the air-ground operation began. The immediate transfer of troops to the offensive was preceded by powerful complex fire training lasting more than an hour using field artillery, tactical, deck and army aviation.

Four hours after the start of the offensive in the coastal direction, a tactical airborne assault force was thrown into the suburbs of Kuwait . Subsequently, a naval landing was carried out at several coastal areas south of Kuwait. In the meantime, in the central and western directions, the main forces of the 7th Corps and the 18th Airborne Corps unobstructedly overcame the zone of engineering barriers in front of the front edge and advanced 25-30 km deep into Iraqi territory.

In the current situation, the Iraqi command attempted to push the second operational echelon from the depths of the formation, but they suffered heavy losses from the massed air strikes of multinational forces.

On the morning of February 25, the troops of the anti-Iraq coalition continued active hostilities, increasing the pace of the offensive. In the coastal direction, the coalition forces managed to reach the southern and western outskirts of Kuwait, where they first stumbled upon stubborn resistance. By the middle of the day, formations of Iraqi forces occupying defenses in the area of ​​Kuwait and in the south-eastern part of Kuwait were cut off from the main forces. A massive surrender of Iraqi soldiers has begun.

In the central direction, the main group of multinational forces reached the second defensive line of the Iraqi forces, wedging 50 km into the defense of the Iraqis. In the western direction, parts of the 24th US Infantry Division captured Busayyah . The Iraqi formations, having suffered significant losses, began a massive withdrawal along the entire front. Attempts by the Iraqi command to prepare and conduct a counterstrike on the main forces of the 7th US Army Corps were thwarted by Allied aviation.

By the end of February 26, multinational forces ousted Iraqi forces from the Kuwaiti capital. The attempt to unblock the grouping around Kuwait was repulsed by the 4th Panzer Division of Egypt in cooperation with two Syrian and one Kuwaiti brigades. In the central sector, the main strike force of the multinational forces basically completed the dismemberment of the Iraqi forces grouping, preventing them from leaving Kuwaiti territory in the central regions of Iraq.

In the western direction, the formations and units of the 18th airborne corps of the United States surrounded and destroyed the 4th and 46th divisions of the 7th Army Corps of Iraq. On the night of February 27, the 3rd Panzer Division cut off the strategic highway Basra-Baghdad.

On February 27, the central grouping of the multinational force continued its offensive against Basra, the western one went into the Nasiriyah area. At 8:00 on February 28, Iraqi troops stopped resistance along the entire front, as was reported on Baghdad radio.

After a prolonged air offensive within a few days of a ground operation, the forces of the multinational forces won a complete crushing victory. Iraq was forced to liberate Kuwait and recognize all resolutions of the UN Security Council regarding the conflict.

• c / f Manchurian Candidate (USA, 2004)
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• Mikhailov A. The Iraqi Trap - Moscow: “Yauza”, 2004. ISBN 5-699-06719-1
• Karnatsevich Vladislav Leonidovich. 500 famous historical events. - Kharkiv: Folio, 2007. ISBN 978-966-03-380