Battle of Medina Ridge The Battle of Medina Ridge was a decisive tank battle fought on February 27 , 1991 , during the Gulf War , between the U . S . 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi Republican Guard Medina Luminous Division outside Basra . Medina Ridge is the name American troops gave to a low rise , approximately seven miles ( 11 km ) long . Description . The battle , which was waged over approximately two hours , was the largest tank battle of the war and the largest tank battle in United States history . It took place west of Phase Line Kiwi , east of Phase Line Smash , and north of Phase Line Grape . Phase lines are map references occurring every few kilometers used to measure progress of an offensive operation . The 1st Armored Division , commanded by Major General Ron Griffith , consisted of some 3 , 000 vehicles including 348 M1A1 Abrams tanks . The 1st Armored Division ' s Cavalry Squadron — 1 - 1 Cavalry — made contact with the Medina Division and informed the Division Commander of the location of the enemy forces . The brunt of the fighting at Medina Ridge was conducted by the 3rd Brigade , 3rd Infantry Division , which was the only brigade from the 3rd Infantry Division in the war . 3rd Bde , 3ID replaced 1st Armored Division ' s 1st Brigade for the duration of the war and was commanded by Colonel James Riley . 1st Armored Division ' s 2nd Brigade , also saw major action in this battle and was commanded by Colonel Montgomery Meigs ( a descendant of General Montgomery C . Meigs of Civil War fame ) . Medina Ridge was one of the few battles during Desert Storm in which American forces encountered significant Iraqi resistance and found it extremely difficult to advance . The Iraqi forces were well - deployed such that they could not be seen by American forces advancing until after they had cleared the top of the ridgeline . This defilade position gave the Iraqis protection from the powerful long - range direct fire of the M1 Abrams tanks and the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle s . The American units found it necessary to engage an entrenched enemy at close range , which resulted in higher damage to the American armored units . During the battle , the American forces suffered only one fatality ( due to friendly fire ) , while destroying 186 Iraqi tanks and 127 armored vehicles . Only four Abrams tanks were hit by direct fire and disabled by friendly fire ; none were destroyed . Thirty - eight of the Iraqi tanks were eliminated by U . S . Army AH - 64 Apache s and U . S . Air Force A - 10 Thunderbolt IIs . 2nd Battalion , 1st Field Artillery conducted counterartillery fire missions and destroyed the Medina Field Artillery batteries in the process . Although the Iraqis used a relatively successful defensive strategy by deploying their armor behind the ridge , this was not properly repeated through the rest of the war . In one incident , an Iraqi commander attempted to repeat what had been done at Medina but mistakenly deployed his armor too far from the ridgeline . This gave the American units the upper hand , as the Abrams tanks specialize in long - distance kills ; their Chobham armor is extremely resistant to long - range fire . The American height advantage also reduced the effective range of the Iraqi tanks and presented the Iraqi gunners with a targeting situation for which they were under - trained . References . A global chronology of conflict : from the ancient world to the Modern Middle east : Volume 2 - Page 2609