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Reply To: What Are You Painting Now?

September 7, 2023 at 8:54 pm #1836499

oriskany

60771xp

@zorg – to answer your previous question … yes, Chieftains did see some service in the Middle East. The original idea for the Chieftain was that it would be sold to both Jordan and Israel, but Israel backed out of the deal when the UK also agreed to sell some to Jordan as well (didn’t get along in those days). So Israel would up with a prototype example or two, but never saw combat with the IDF.

The Royal Jordanian Army definitely had plenty, used with 40th Armored Brigade and other units. They never saw combat in the Arab-Israeli Wars to my knowledge.

I think it was the “Khalid” variant of the Chieftain that fought with the Kuwaiti Army during the August 2 1990 invasion by Iraq, bloodying the noses of the Hammurabi and Medina Republican Guard Divisions at the “Battle of the Bridges” (Battle of Jal al Atraf) – quick fact check … yes, the Kuwaiti 35th Brigade. They did p[retty well against T-72s.

Some Chieftains also saw action later in the conflict when the Kuwaiti army in exile helped the Joint Task Force East (Arab Coalition) spearhead the re-invasion and liberation of southern Kuwait in Operations Desert Storm / Saber. They did even better against Iraqi T-55s and dug-in artillery positions.