Trumpeter 00439 Iraqi Tank Crew

The Iraqi Armed Forces were formed in 1921, and one of their main elements is the land forces, i.e. the Iraqi Army. Iraqi Army, which until 1958 was known as the Royal Iraqi Army. With the overthrow of the monarchy in Iraq and the rise to power of the Bass party, and later the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein (from 1979), the Iraqi land forces were significantly expanded. They took a relatively limited part in the Six Day War (1967) and much larger in the Yom-Kippur War, but the conflicts showed their imperfections. A clear quantitative increase, also in armored forces, took place during the war with Iran in 1979-1988. At the time of the end of this conflict, the Iraqi army was perceived as ... the fourth largest in the world, with 49 divisions of regular troops and 6 divisions of the Republican Guard. It is also estimated that the Iraqi army had from about 4,500 to 5,500 tanks, mostly of Soviet production. These include, for example, the T-72M, T-54 or T-55. These cars were formed into armored and mechanized divisions. Despite its considerable size, Iraqi troops were clearly defeated during the First Gulf War, and their armored units were even crushed by American or British vehicles. During the Second Gulf War (2003) - unfortunately for Iraqi troops - the situation repeated itself. It is worth adding that since 2003 the Iraqi armed forces have been significantly altered and equipped with completely new equipment. They are also trained differently.