Lion of Babylon (tank) - Combat Performance

Combat Performance

The Asad Babil was generally credited as being the most common tank in Iraqi service during the Gulf War, but the bulk of the Iraqi armoured units were equipped with the Type 69, produced in China but widely refitted by the Iraqis. Only Republican Guard divisions were equipped with Iraqi-modified T-72s, exception made of the Army armored Division Saladin.

The Lion of Babylon was outclassed by the M1 Abrams, the Challenger 1/2 and by any other contemporary Western main battle tank during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For example, a 120 mm depleted uranium (DU) APFSDS round from an M1 could knock out an Asad Babil tank well beyond 3,000 m, while the effective range of a tungsten-core 125 mm shell is scarcely 1,800 m.

The only chance for the Asad Babil against American tanks was to lure them to close range combat, or trying to ambush them from dug-in positions. But even in those conditions, the M1s usually prevailed, as proven in circumstances like the Battle of Norfolk, during Desert Storm, where dozens of Iraqi MBTs were obliterated, or near Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad, April 3, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when U.S. tanks engaged their counterparts from just 50 yards, shattering seven enemy T-72s without losses. These encounters also exposed the very poor marksmanship of the Iraqi gunners, in part due to the shortage of modern night-vision and range-finder assets.