How far is war from us? Just at the end of the 20th century, the United States launched a massive war. At that time, people around the world were very worried that this might trigger World War III. This war is the Gulf War in 1991. In this war, the United States dispatched six major aircraft carrier battle groups just to attack Iraq . Why is this? How shocking is the combat power of the aircraft carrier battle group? What impact did this war have on the world? Click to follow and start talking now!
Since in World War II, aircraft carrier has become the main force of war. In terms of the number and strength of aircraft carriers, the United States is undoubtedly "dominant". The United States' aircraft carrier battle group is also the most typical representative of the aircraft carrier battle group. On the Pacific battlefield during World War II, the US and the Japanese army fought several times with the aircraft carrier battle group, the most famous of which was the Midway Naval Battle. In this battle, the United States sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers at the cost of one aircraft carrier, greatly slashing the axis powers and reversing the situation of Pacific War in one fell swoop.
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union ushered in Cold War , and the United States began to build aircraft carrier battle groups even more crazily. Generally speaking, an aircraft carrier battle group includes an active aircraft carrier, two missile cruisers, , four missile destroyers, , one frigate, , and multiple attack nuclear submarines, , and a supply ship. During the Cold War, the aircraft carrier battle group, a formation that gathered naval and air force and advanced armed forces, not only played a role in protecting the route, but also posed a huge threat to the Soviet Union and even other countries. Since 1964, more than 60% of the more than 200 incidents in which the United States interfered in other countries' internal affairs have used aircraft carrier combat groups. Since World War II, the United States aircraft carrier combat group has accumulated considerable combat experience. It can be said that the aircraft carrier combat group is an extremely important part of the US military force.
has advantages and disadvantages. Although the aircraft carrier battle group is powerful, it costs a lot. So why does the United States do not hesitate to dispatch six major aircraft carrier battle groups to attack Iraq?
One of the reasons why the United States sent troops is for resources. The reserves of oil resources in the Bay Area and natural gas resource are quite huge. As of 1990, the reserves of oil in the Bay Area reached 651.1 billion barrels, accounting for 65% of the world's total. In addition, natural gas reserves account for 13.7% of the world's total. Among the five major oil-producing areas of Middle East include Iraq.
As a major industrial country, the United States has a huge demand for oil resources. In 1990, the United States imported 7.66 million barrels of oil almost every day, of which more than a quarter of it came from the Gulf region. In addition to the United States, a large part of the oil resources in a large number of regions such as Europe and Japan come from the Gulf region, especially Japan, who import 3.54 million barrels of oil from the region every day. The oil imported by these countries not only comes from Iraq, but also from , Kuwait, .
From 1980 to 1988 , the years of war caused huge losses to Iraq's economy and national strength, and at the same time, they also brought huge debts, of which owed Kuwait 15 billion US dollars. In order to repay the debt as soon as possible, Iraq tried to raise oil prices to make a profit, but Kuwait increased oil production, resulting in a drop in oil prices. Now, Iraq is not happy.
How terrifying is the Gulf War? The United States dispatched six major aircraft carrier battle groups just to conquer Iraq. Intentional oil resources are only part of it. What really made the US military determined to start a war was the outbreak of the Gulf crisis . There has always been a piece of land between Kuwait and Iraq that has not been clearly divided, and the oil production of this land is still very high, so the two sides have been stalemate on this issue. Then, Iraq issued a statement saying that it had fought against Iran and defended all Arab countries, and that Kuwait should exempt its debts. This condition was naturally rejected by Kuwait. With the intensification of various contradictions, the Gulf crisis broke out.
On August 2, 1990, Iraq brazenly sent troops to invade Kuwait. At that time, Iraq had the most powerful army in the Middle East, with more than one million regular troops, 5,000 tanks, 7,500 armored vehicles, , 3,000 artillery and more than 700 aircraft. In contrast, although Kuwait made a fortune on oil, its military strength was quite weak, with a total force of only more than 20,000. With such a huge gap in force, Iraq occupied the entire territory of Kuwait with almost no effort, and this seriously threatened the interests of the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and other countries.
After Iraq invaded Kuwait, the US military immediately sent the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and the independent aircraft carrier into the war zone. 500,000 garrisons were stationed around Saudi Arabia to prevent Iraq's invasion. At the same time, the UN Security Council strongly condemned Iraq's behavior and demanded that it withdraw its troops before January 15, 1991, otherwise, the UN will take "all necessary means" against it.
At that time, Iraq did not accept the request of the United Nations because of its confidence in its own armed forces. On January 16, President Bush of the United States ordered the formal war to start on Iraq, and other countries also joined the war one after another. In the early morning of the next day, the Gulf War officially broke out. In the first phase of the battle, the multinational air force led by the US launched air strikes on Iraq, dispatching a total of 12,000 fighter jets, including advanced F14, F15 and F16. Among them, the F117A stealth fighter that shocked the world for its debut. In just half a month, the US military defeated the Iraqi army stationed in Kuwait with an overwhelming advantage, and this was just the beginning.
In the second phase, the Allied troops dispatched more than 18,000 aircraft, and in the third phase, more than 100,000 aircraft. During the three phases, the Allied forces dropped more than 80,000 tons of bombs on Iraq's military and air defense systems, causing a devastating blow to Iraq's air defense forces. During the entire war, the US military dispatched six major aircraft carrier battle groups, including Midway , Kennedy, Roosevelt , etc. In addition, France sent Crimontso and Fuxi, while Britain sent Royal Ark, with a total of 9 aircraft carriers, with an army of more than 690,000 and another 3,700 tanks, achieving a crushing victory in the war.
In this battle, the United States proposed a real-time global strike system, which can place five divisions of army troops to any corner of the world within 30 days. With such powerful force delivery capabilities, coupled with various new fighter jets, it can be said that during the Gulf War, the United States changed the traditional model of world war.
On February 26, 1991, Iraq completely lost its combat capability under the bombing of the Allied forces. Saddam announced that the entire army would withdraw from the Kuwait situation, and Kuwait would no longer be Iraq's 19th province. On the 28th, the Allied forces officially ceased, and the Gulf War came to an end with Iraq's defeat. In this war, the United States' war expenditure reached an astonishing $61.1 billion, and this huge expenditure was not borne by the United States alone. More than ten countries including Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany and other countries provided funding, among which Kuwait provided the most, with cash alone approaching $16 billion, and there were also transportation vehicles worth $3.2 million.
In addition to its own strong armed forces, the United States has many factors to win the Gulf War. First of all, since Vietnam War , the US military has deeply realized the dangers of long-term combat, from sending troops to starting a war, and has been very rapid. Before the war began, it imposed a maritime blockade on Iraq and carried out surveillance on it, greatly weakening the supply work of the Iraqi army. After the war started, the firepower suppression was also quite fierce. At the same time, in a strict sense, the Gulf War was a war led by the US military to maintain peace in the Middle East, which was supported by Western allies and Middle East countries. In contrast, Iraq was fighting alone. Even though its own military strength was known as "the fourth in the world", it was still hard to defeat four hands with two fists.
In addition, the US military has fully utilized its own advantages.Since World War II, the US Air Force has been the world's strongest air force and has an absolute advantage over Iraq. Therefore, in the early stages of the operation, the US military carried out large-scale, 38-day air strikes on the Iraqi army, quickly weakening their combat capabilities. Moreover, in order to gain an advantage, the US military has used all high-tech fighter jets, including electronic warfare aircraft , stealth aircraft , reconnaissance aircraft , plus cruise missile , oil and gas bombs and other weapons with extremely strong lethality. They have completely controlled air-saving in their own hands, directly cutting off the Iraqi army's logistics supply line. It can be said that the United States has laid the conclusion of the war with just these fighters, and the joining of other countries is just the icing on the cake.
The US military chose to start a war, in addition to driving the Iraqi army out of Kuwait, but also to attack Iraq's strength. However, in order to balance the strength of the Middle East, the US military did not pursue Iraq, but gave them a certain space to preserve their strength.
In the Gulf War, the high-tech weapons of the US military changed the traditional combat mode and brought electronic warfare into the war. In just 43 days, Iraq lost more than US$200 billion, with nearly 100,000 casualties. The United States won the war with only 286 casualties. This huge victory greatly improved the United States' international status. For China, although the Gulf War did not have any substantial impact, it brought great shock to China. In the face of the new American weapons and combat methods, the Chinese military immediately reformed its customary combat mode.
It is the end of the Cold War. The reactions and comparisons between the United States and the Soviet Union in this war seem to have established the position of the United States as the "world hegemon". In the military alliance, the United States once again played the role of "leader", which also gradually expanded its ambition to interfere in other people's internal affairs.
