Battlezone: The Gulf War

The war really begins from the moment Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, launches his troops into Kuwait. These are spearheaded by 100,000 of his republican guard. Supported by helicopter gunships, armored personnel carriers, mobile artillery and tanks.

As domestic markets shrink, nations worry about sustaining their defense industries by selling technologies abroad. Countries such as the United States and most European nations continue to develop new weapons as insurance against an uncertain future.

Precision airstrikes have become the big stick of international relations. When diplomacy fails and military action is chosen, the missile armed strike aircraft is at the center of combat. Many nations deploy advanced jet aircrafts and high-tech missiles, but only one has the broad range of technologies and forces to deploy such weapons on a global scale, the United States.

In the early morning hours of the 17th of January 1991, coalition air forces unleashed a massive air assault on Iraqi forces in both Iraq and Kuwait. The magnitude of the coalition air offensive dealt a crushing blow to Iraq's air defense network.

With the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait a great confrontation began. A host of forces around the world were deployed against the Iraqi army. This video ordinance program looks at the weapons of operation Desert Shield.

February 24th 1991, coalition forces launched a massive ground assault against the Iraqi army units occupying Kuwait. In less than 100 hours a substantial portion of the fourth largest army in the world was destroyed and Kuwait liberated.

The basic combat formation of the modern land army is the division. Divisions contain all of the elements needed to wage land combat including infantry, armor, artillery and other supporting arms. Divisions are substantial in size from 10,000 to 20,000 troops, nearly 500 armored vehicles and 2000 other vehicles.