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Kuwait
Role of Kuwaiti Armed Forces in the Persian Gulf War
The Iraqi invasion in the early hours of August 2 was detected
by a balloon-borne early warning radar, but the army had insufficient
time to mount any organized resistance. Some contingents continued
a small-unit defense, including those equipped with Chieftain
tanks. About 7,000 soldiers escaped to Saudi Arabia; the remainder
were killed or captured or participated in the internal resistance
movement. Some Mirage and Skyhawk aircraft carried out attacks
on the advancing Iraqi columns; when their air base in southern
Kuwait was overrun, they flew to Saudi Arabian bases, as did some
of the armed helicopters.
According to Norman Friedman, author of a study on the strategy
and tactics of the Persian Gulf War, the Kuwaiti forces participating
in Operation Desert Storm in February 1991 included the 35th Armored
Brigade (renamed Martyr Brigade), the 15th Infantry Brigade, and
the lightly equipped Liberation Brigade, which was armed with
.50-caliber machine guns mounted on trucks. One source estimated
that 7,000 Kuwaiti troops were involved. The Martyr Brigade was
the first of the units of Joint Forces Command East in the drive
paralleling the coast northward when the allied operation began
on February 24, 1991. Along with Saudi, Qatari, and Bahraini forces,
supported by United States marines on their left flank, their
assignment of liberating the city of Kuwait incurred little Iraqi
resistance.
Of twenty-four Kuwaiti aircraft participating in strikes against
the Iraqi forces, one A-4 Skyhawk was lost to enemy fire. The
two surviving Kuwaiti missile craft, carrying small marine contingents,
were able to retake oil platforms and some of the gulf islands.
Kuwait suffered only one combat death, according to an official
British source.
Kuwait pledged contributions totaling more than US$16 billion
to support the United States role in the Persian Gulf War. An
additional US$6 billion was promised to Egypt and other member
countries of the coalition to help offset the economic effects
of the war.
Data as of January 1993
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