Direct proof of use
The GH N-45's Gulf War record is documented through Iraqi inventory and capture evidence rather than through a named public firing incident. The Washington Institute's February 1991 assessment of Iraqi artillery listed about 200 Austrian GHN-45 155 mm howitzers in Iraq's towed artillery inventory as coalition forces prepared for the ground war.
GlobalSecurity's G5 and GC-45 background describes the GHN-45 as Iraq's major long-range artillery concern before Desert Storm, noting that coalition forces worried because the Iraqi GHN-45s outranged coalition cannon systems. Forecast International later listed Iraq as having 96 GH N-45s from an original 200-piece purchase and reported that the United Kingdom and United States held GH N-45 systems as war trophies from Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A Royal Armouries collection record for a 155 mm GH N-45 gun-howitzer gives the most direct captured-object evidence: it identifies the weapon as part of the Iraqi Army arsenal and says it was captured by coalition forces during the First Gulf War.
Sources: Washington Institute Iraqi Artillery Threat, GlobalSecurity G5 and GHN-45 background, Forecast International GH N-45 howitzer, Royal Armouries GH N-45 Collection Record
Timeline
Iraq entered the Gulf War with a large tube-artillery force built through the Iran-Iraq War and foreign procurement. Forecast International identifies Iraq as a GH N-45 customer, while the Washington Institute's February 11, 1991 assessment placed about 200 Austrian GHN-45s in Iraq's towed artillery inventory shortly before the coalition ground offensive.
The war began when Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The coalition air campaign opened in January 1991, and the ground offensive began on February 24. Royal Armouries and Forecast International records place captured or war-trophy GH N-45 weapons in the aftermath of the 1991 campaign, but the public records reviewed here do not identify a precise capture date, battlefield location, or Iraqi unit for a specific GH N-45.
Sources: Forecast International GH N-45 howitzer, Washington Institute Iraqi Artillery Threat, State Department Gulf War Milestone, National Army Museum Gulf War, Royal Armouries GH N-45 Collection Record
Battlefield role
In Iraqi service, the GH N-45 belonged to the long-range 155 mm towed-artillery layer. Forecast International describes the weapon as a 45-caliber indirect-fire artillery system compatible with Extended Range Full Bore/Base Bleed projectiles and all NATO-standard 155 mm ammunition, with listed maximum range near 39.6 km using ERFB/BB ammunition.
That range explains why the weapon appears in prewar coalition threat analysis. The Washington Institute grouped Iraq's Austrian GHN-45s with South African G-5 155 mm howitzers as top-line towed artillery systems with greater range and capability than comparable U.S. systems. GlobalSecurity similarly states that the GHN-45's range caused coalition concern before Desert Storm, but that by the end of ground fighting the weapons were less effective than expected after coalition strikes damaged Iraqi target-acquisition and command-control systems.
The available sources support Iraqi fielding, long-range artillery threat context, and postwar capture or war-trophy status. They do not support assigning a specific GH N-45 to a named Iraqi battery, a dated fire mission, a target, or a quantified battlefield effect in the 1990 Gulf War.
Sources: Forecast International GH N-45 howitzer, Washington Institute Iraqi Artillery Threat, GlobalSecurity G5 and GHN-45 background
