page_title: Gulf War
section_title: Argentina
hierarchical_section_title: Gulf War / Coalition involvement / Argentina
caption_attribution_description: English: An Alouette III helicopter of the Argentine navy lands aboard the hospital ship USNS COMFORT (T-AH-20) during Operation Desert Storm.
context_page_description: The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes.
  On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait, which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and US President George H. W. Bush deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Most of the coalition's military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.
  The war marked the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN.
context_section_description: Argentina was the only Latin American country to participate in the 1991 Gulf War sending a destroyer, ARA Almirante Brown (D-10), a corvette, ARA Spiro (P-43) (later replaced by another corvette, ARA Rosales (P-42)) and a supply ship (ARA Bahía San Blas (B-4)) to participate on the United Nations blockade and sea control effort of the Persian Gulf. The success of "Operación Alfil" (English: "Operation Bishop") as it was known, with more than 700 interceptions and 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) sailed in the theatre of operations helped to overcome the so-called "Malvinas syndrome".
  Argentina was later classified by the US as a major non-NATO ally due to her contributions during the war.
caption: Argentine Navy Alouette III helicopter on board USNS Comfort, February 1991
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