The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 1124: The First Day of the Iraq War

面对着伊拉克海军、空军联合行动，位于伊拉克海岸线外200海里的联合部队海军，击毁伊拉克海军8艘022型导弹艇、10艘022A型鱼雷艇、3艘054型护卫舰、1艘052型驱逐舰，击落伊拉克空军226架各类型飞机。

However, the three major US aircraft carrier fleets and allied naval warships in the Persian Gulf also suffered huge losses.

103 carrier-based aircraft were lost, 136 anti-aircraft missiles were launched, 299 cruise missiles were launched, 8 frigates were sunk, 3 frigates were severely damaged, 6 destroyers were sunk, 4 destroyers were severely damaged, a British light aircraft carrier was sunk, a US Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier was severely damaged, two cruisers were sunk, 3 cruisers were severely damaged, 6 armed transport ships, amphibious assault ships, and large comprehensive supply ships were sunk, 5 conventional submarines were sunk, and 1 nuclear attack submarine was sunk.

The Iraqi Navy launched a total of 110 torpedoes, 269 ship-launched anti-ship missiles, and 123 air-launched anti-ship missiles.

These destroyed Iraqi naval warships and Iraqi naval officers and soldiers looked tragic, but their battle record was truly brilliant.

The narrow Persian Gulf prevented the joint naval vessels from dispersing, resulting in a huge cost.

No matter how powerful the air defense system is, it still cannot withstand this kind of saturation attack.

The losses were so great that they were enough to scare the combined forces navy.

A Kongo-class Aegis destroyer of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force panicked and lost its way into Persian waters. Persia launched anti-ship missiles and destroyed the Kongo-class Aegis destroyer. This made the commander of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force very angry, and Japan lodged a serious protest to Persia.

Persia took a very tough stance, saying it would sink any warship that entered Persian waters without permission without hesitation, and that if the joint forces navy wanted to threaten Persia, Persia would block the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is a strait connecting the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It is also the only waterway leading into the Persian Gulf. The north bank of the strait is Persia, and the south bank is Oman. In the middle of the strait, close to Persia, there is a large island called Qeshm Island, which belongs to Persia.

As one of the busiest waterways in the world today, the Strait of Hormuz is also known as the world's important throat. It has a very important economic and strategic position and is the only sea route for oil from the Gulf region to be transported to all parts of the world.

Most of the oil from the oil-producing countries along the Gulf coast is transported to Western Europe, Australia, the United States and other places through this strait, which together account for 60% of the supply to Western oil-consuming countries. Therefore, the Strait of Hormuz is also known as the Western "maritime lifeline" and "oil strait"!
Qeshm Island is 112 kilometers long, 11 to 32 kilometers wide, and covers an area of ​​1336 square kilometers. The island is almost entirely covered with equal hills, some of which are over 270 meters high, and the highest is 406 meters above sea level. Not only is there the "Qeshm Island Oil Terminal" jointly built by China and Persia, which can accommodate oil tankers 140 meters deep and a total of at least 6000 million barrels of crude oil. In addition, Persia has built artillery and coastal defense forces here, which can easily block the entire Strait of Hormuz.

Japan was so angry and depressed that it felt like vomiting blood.

The Kongo-class destroyer is a guided missile destroyer equipped with the Aegis combat system and is assigned to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It was built by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1988 to improve its air defense capabilities. It is also the largest combat ship in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

‘金刚级’驱逐舰舰长161米、弦宽21米、吃水6.2米，标准排水量7250吨，满载排水量9485吨，乘员300人，续航力6000海里/20节，最高速度30节，雷达有AN/SPY-1D 3D相控阵雷达、OPS-28D平面搜索雷达、OPS-20导航雷达，声呐有OQS-102主/被动舰首声纳、OQR-2被动式拖曳阵列声纳，其他装备有4×MK-36干扰弹发射系统、1×AN/SLQ-25A鱼雷对抗系统、1×NOLQ-2电战系统。

The entire Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is equipped with only four "Kongō-class" destroyers.

此次在美国的胁迫下，日本海上自卫队派出了2艘‘金刚级’驱逐舰、4艘‘初雪级’通用驱逐舰、2艘‘山云级’驱逐舰、4艘‘筑后级’护卫舰、1艘“榛名级”直升机驱逐舰、1艘‘太刀风级’驱逐舰和几艘扫雷艇、几艘补给舰。

But in just one day, Japan's Self-Defense Forces lost two "Kongō-class" destroyers and one "Haruna-class" helicopter destroyer.

You know, this is not Japan's war, but America's war.

Originally, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force only needed to help out and fish in troubled waters, and then conquer Iraq and share some of the benefits. But the loss was unexpectedly so great!

You know, it was not easy for Japan to accumulate the second largest navy in East Asia through various names, and the Japanese who had a guilty conscience were under great pressure.

On the first day of the Iraq War, international oil prices were directly pushed up to US$50 per barrel, and natural gas prices exceeded US$8.5 per thousand cubic feet.

At the same time, it also left military experts around the world stunned and dumbfounded.

Prior to this, military experts from all over the world were analyzing and believed that the joint forces were more powerful and had more advanced weapons, and would carry out large-scale bombing like in the Gulf War, or even destroy Iraq with cruise missiles and large-scale air strikes. The ground forces would only need to clean up the damage and maintain law and order.

However, on the first day of the war, the two sides launched a large-scale missile war, a large-scale air battle, a large-scale naval battle, and a large-scale artillery bombardment.

This was also the biggest confrontation between American and Soviet weapons in history.

F15 fighter jets vs. Su-27 fighter jets, F16 fighter jets vs. MiG-29 fighter jets.
No one expected that Iraq, with its more backward missiles and overall inferior aircraft performance, could inflict such a huge blow to the joint forces. The losses were staggering.

The combat effectiveness that Iraq unleashed was truly astonishing.

Air raid sirens continued to sound in major cities in Iraq, and the Iraqi people almost spent their days in basements and air-raid shelters.

Iraq's air defense forces faced a severe test.

Iraq's air force also faced severe tests.

After the joint forces counted the losses, the supreme commander was furious. The loss was so huge that it was simply unacceptable.

He wanted to slap the intelligence department a few times. How did they collect intelligence? Where did Iraq get so many missiles?

Isn’t it said that the intelligence agencies have bribed a large number of Iraqi military generals?

Is this the result?

The atmosphere in the entire joint forces headquarters was unusually depressing. They had originally hoped for a good start, but it turned out to be a bad start.

The entire joint forces command realized that it was necessary to destroy Iraq's navy, eliminate Iraq's air force, and destroy Iraq's air defense system. Otherwise, the joint forces would not be able to gain absolute air superiority and carry out large-scale bombing on Iraq as they did during the Gulf War.

(End of this chapter)