Editing M1 Abrams (section)

===Gulf War===
[[File:Abrams in formation.jpg|thumb|left|Abrams tanks move out on a mission during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. A [[Bradley IFV]] and a logistics convoy can be seen in the background.]]

The Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm. The first Abrams tanks to arrive in Saudi Arabia in August 1990 in the buildup to the war were M1 and IPM1 tanks with 105&nbsp;mm guns.{{sfn|Zaloga|2019|p=14}} All but two battalions of 105&nbsp;mm gun Abrams tanks were replaced by M1A1 tanks prior to the American invasion in January 1991.{{sfn|Zaloga|2009|p=57}} The U.S. Army deployed a total of 1,956 M1A1s (733 M1A1, 1,233 M1A1HA) to Saudi Arabia to participate in the [[Liberation of Kuwait campaign|liberation of Kuwait]].{{sfn|Zaloga|Sarson|1993|p=16-17}} The U.S. Marine Corps deployed 353 tanks, of which 277 were M60s and 76 were M1A1 (60 M1A1HA and 16 M1A1 Common). The M1A1 Common variant included adaptations for deep wading and improvements to increase commonality with the Army's Abrams. The [[2nd Tank Battalion]] was equipped with M1A1HA Abrams borrowed from the Army.{{sfn|Zaloga|2019|p=14}}

The M1A1 was superior to [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]'s [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-designed [[T-54/T-55]] and T-62 tanks, as well as [[T-72]] versions imported from the Soviet Union and Poland.<ref name="M1A1vsT-72p24">{{harvnb|Zaloga|Sarson|1993|p=24}}</ref> Polish officials stated that no license-produced T-72 (nicknamed [[Lion of Babylon (tank)|Lion of Babylon]]) tanks were finished before destruction of the Iraqi Taji tank plant in 1991.<ref name="M1A1vsT-72p24" />

[[File:Destroyed M1A1 Abrams.jpg|thumb|right|A destroyed M1A1, hit in the rear grill by a [[AGM-114 Hellfire|Hellfire]] missile and penetrated by a [[sabot (firearms)|sabot]] tank round from the left side to right (see exit hole) in Operation Desert Storm, 1991]]
Iraq's T-72s, like most Soviet export designs, lacked [[Night-vision device|night-vision system]]s and then-modern [[Rangefinding telemeter|rangefinder]]s, though they did have some night-fighting tanks with older active infrared systems or [[floodlight]]s. Very few M1 tanks were hit by enemy fire and none were destroyed as a direct result of enemy fire, none of which resulted in any fatalities.{{sfn|United States General Accounting Office|1992}} Three Abrams were left behind the enemy lines after a swift attack on [[Ali Air Base|Talil airfield]], south of [[Nasiriyah]], on February 27. One of them was hit by enemy fire, while the other two became embedded in mud. The tanks were destroyed by U.S. forces to prevent any trophy-claim by the Iraqi Army.<ref>{{harvnb|Halberstadt|1991|p=111}}: "One of the M1s is hit and disabled. The crew is extracted safely and the tank left behind, not before it is destroyed by the task force commander who fires two rounds into it. The first bounces off, the second penetrates and set it on fire. The terrain is still causing problems. On the attack several vehicles get embedded in mud and can't be extracted. The problem is complicated by enemy missile and machine gun fire. Two tanks and two armored personnel carriers are destroyed and discarded."</ref> A total of 23 M1A1s were damaged or destroyed during the war. Of the nine Abrams tanks destroyed, seven were destroyed by [[friendly fire]] and two intentionally destroyed to prevent capture by the Iraqi Army. No M1s were lost to enemy tank fire.<ref name="T-72vsM1"/> Some others took minor combat damage, with little effect on their operational readiness.{{sfn|United States General Accounting Office|1992|p=24}}

The M1A1 could kill other tanks at ranges in excess of {{convert|2500|m|disp=flip}}. This range was crucial in combat against previous generation tanks of Soviet design in Desert Storm, as the effective range of the main gun in the Iraqi tanks was less than {{convert|2000|m|disp=flip}}. This meant Abrams tanks could hit Iraqi tanks before the enemy got in range—a decisive advantage in this kind of combat. In [[friendly fire]] incidents, the front armor and fore side [[gun turret|turret]] armor survived direct [[Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot|APFSDS]] hits from other M1A1s. This was not the case for the side armor of the hull and the rear armor of the turret, as both areas were penetrated on at least two occasions by unintentional strikes by [[Depleted uranium#Ammunition|depleted uranium ammunition]] during the [[Battle of Norfolk]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Company, 3–66 Armor, Abrams (Bumper # A-33) |work=TAB H – Friendly-fire Incidents |quote=At approximately 4:30 AM on 27 February, an anti-tank guided missile (probably fired from a Bradley) struck A-33 in the engine compartment. The crew, uninjured, was evacuating the disabled tank when two DU rounds hit the tank in the left side of the hull and exited through the right side. The tank commander, driver, and gunner sustained injuries from fragments. The loader, who was already outside the tank, was uninjured. A-31 crew members assisted in rescuing A-33's crew. |url= http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130601053948/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm |archive-date=1 June 2013}}; [http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/declassimages/army/19980729/980715_sep96_sagwi1_0083.html Sketch depicting the path of a DU 120&nbsp;mm round through the hull of Abrams C-12] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090627054601/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/declassimages/army/19980729/980715_sep96_sagwi1_0083.html |date=27 June 2009}}. OSD.</ref>