Opération Daguet

Opération Daguet
	Part of the Gulf War
	; An AMX-30 of the 4th Dragoon Regiment bivouacked near Al-Salman during Opération Daguet.
Date	1990–1991
Location	Kuwait, Iraq, Persian Gulf
Result	Operation success Coalition victory; ;
Belligerents
France; United States	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Michel Roquejeoffre	Unknown
Strength
French Armed Forces Division Daguet 12,500 men; 44 AMX-30 tanks; 214 VAB APCs; 96 AMX-10RC reconnaissance vehicles; 13 ERC 90 Sagaie reconnaissance vehicles; 18 TRF1 howitzers; 132 helicopters; ; French Air Force; French Navy; United States Armed Forces (4,500 men) 3 battalions from the 325th Infantry Regiment; 1 battalion from the 319th Field Artillery Regiment; 27th Engineer Battalion;	Iraqi Armed Forces 45th Mechanized Infantry Division c. 11,000 men; At least 50 tanks (T-54, T-62, Type 69 and T-72); Various armoured vehicles; Hundreds of military trucks; More than 50 howitzers (122 mm caliber); Air defence weapons; ;
Casualties and losses
France: 10 French fatalities (although, only 2 were killed in combat); 33 French troops injured during the operation (23 of those casualties were caused by the explosion of two US aircraft submunitions at the Al Salman fort on February 26); United States: 8 US army engineers died and several others were injured while moving a container of submunitions at Al-Salman Air Base; The number of combat-related injuries is unknown but based on the casualties of the main French force, likely very low as well; Material losses: 1 Dassault Mirage F1 lost in an accident; 4 SEPECAT Jaguar slightly damaged by Iraqi air defence systems;	The number of dead or wounded is unknown (possibly not publicly reported); 2,956 POWs; 6,000–7,000 men on the run; ; Material losses: 20 T-54, T-62 and Type 69 tanks destroyed; 2 T-72 captured; 17 armoured vehicles destroyed; 114 trucks destroyed and 7 captured; 26 artillery pieces and anti-arcraft guns destroyed and 40 captured; 70 82 mm and 120 mm mortars captured; 700 tons of ammunition captured and destroyed at the Al-Salman Air Base; Al-Salman Air Base rendered non-operational following extensive destruction;

Opération Daguet (French pronunciation: [ɔpeʁasjɔ̃ daɡɛ], Operation Brocket) was the codename for French operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 18,000 members of the French Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict, representing the second largest European contingent. Operating on the left flank of the US XVIII Airborne Corps, the ground component of the French force, named Division Daguet, was formed in September 1990 in Saudi Arabia as part of France's contribution to Operation Desert Shield. France also deployed several combat aircraft and naval units. Opération Daguet was commanded by Army general Michel Roquejeoffre.

The task given to the Division Daguet, which was composed of units drawn from more than 25 regiments, was the capture of the Al Salman Air Base some 150 km inside Iraqi territory, passing through two intermediate objectives designated "Rochambeau" and "Chambord". 3 American battalions from the 325th Infantry Regiment, 1 from the 319th Field Artillery Regiment as well as the 27th Engineer Battalion were placed under French operational control, reinforcing by 4,500 men the 12,500-strong French ground force. The offensive was launched on 24 February 1991 at 7 a.m. and the mission accomplished in no more than 48 hours by crushing the Iraqi 45th Mechanized infantry Division, which the French troops encountered on the way. The Al-Salman airfield was taken on the afternoon of February 25 and the village on the morning of February 26 without resistance.