Tim Ripley weighs up the armies that confronted each other across the Saudi border in Kuwait and in the deserts of southern Iraq. He reveals the considerable strengths and weaknesses which characterized each side. The Iraqis, for example, had an advantage in long-range artillery. Weapon systems, tanks, training, small arms, Special Forces, attack helicopters, Scud missiles, defended positions, spy satellites, ammunition types, combat engineering, the threat of chemical and biological warfare , and many other factors which helped determine the course of the conflict are examined in detail.