His target was 1,420 meters ahead, well within the 3,000-meter range of the tank’s 120mm smoothbore main gun.
When the first Iraqi tank came into view, McMaster engaged his Abrams’ laser range finder. The Iraqis adjusted their position, but couldn’t reorient some of their fortifications to the new angle of attack. Using then-new GPS technology, the M1A1 tanks and Eagle Troop ignored the road the Iraqi troops had fortified and instead approached from the open desert, north of where the enemy anticipated. Outnumbered by more than four to one, the Americans needed a counter-maneuver.Īn American M1A1 Abrams tank crosses the Iraqi desert during the Gulf War, 1991. Captain McMaster’s tanks wouldn’t be able to see the enemy until they were almost on top of them, they’d be too close to delay an engagement until reinforcements could arrive. The Iraqi forces waiting for Eagle Troop just past 70 Easting had bolstered their position with armored vehicles, ground personnel, and minefields directed at the American advance. U.S.-led coalition forces had already forced the Iraqi army into a retreat, but now Iraq’s elite Republican Guard was digging in to stop the coalition’s advance. Army’s VII Corps, headed toward 70 Easting-a checkpoint where they would wait to regroup with the 1st Infantry Division behind them. Eagle Troop was pushing east through Iraq in advance of the U.S. It was the third day of the Persian Gulf War ground invasion-February 26, 1991. The Pentagon’s New Secret Weapon: Spy Balloons.Why the Big Boy 4014 is Such a Badass Train.
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