Direct proof of use
Iraqi government forces fielded KS-19 100 mm anti-aircraft guns during the 1990 Gulf War as part of Iraq's antiaircraft artillery inventory. GlobalSecurity's Iraqi air-defense equipment summary, citing IISS and USCENTCOM estimates, lists the KS-19 among Iraq's 1990 antiaircraft guns and identifies the 100 mm KS-19 and 57 mm S-60 as the most numerous Iraqi heavy antiaircraft guns.
The evidence supports inventory-level battlefield fielding inside the Iraqi air-defense system rather than a specific dated firing incident by a named KS-19 battery. Official U.S. Army and Gulf War air-campaign sources place that air-defense system in the campaign that began after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and became the target environment for Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991.
Sources: GlobalSecurity Iraqi Air Defense Equipment, U.S. Army War in the Persian Gulf, Gulf War Air Power Survey
Timeline
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, starting the conflict in which Iraqi air-defense artillery protected Iraqi and occupied-Kuwaiti military targets. GlobalSecurity's 1990 equipment table places KS-19 guns in the Iraqi air-defense inventory for that period.
Operation Desert Storm opened on January 17, 1991, when coalition air and missile attacks began against Iraqi forces and targets. The Gulf War Air Power Survey describes the campaign as an air war against an Iraqi air-defense network with extensive guns, missiles, radars, and command-and-control sites; GlobalSecurity identifies the KS-19 as one of the Iraqi antiaircraft-gun types in that network.
The coalition ground offensive began on February 24, 1991 and combat operations ceased on February 28. By that stage, the KS-19's documented role remained Iraqi heavy antiaircraft artillery within the air-defense order of battle, not a separately documented ground-fire or direct-fire episode.
Sources: U.S. Army War in the Persian Gulf, Gulf War Air Power Survey, GlobalSecurity Iraqi Air Defense Equipment
Narrative
The KS-19 was a late-1940s Soviet 100 mm towed anti-aircraft gun designed for radar-directed high-altitude air defense. FAS describes its PUAZO director and SON-9 or SON-9A fire-control radar association, fixed 100 mm ammunition, and provision for direct fire against ground targets, while WeaponSystems.net describes the gun as a heavy towed system able to fire to about 15.4 km altitude or 21 km horizontal range.
In Iraqi service during the Gulf War, the KS-19 belonged to a broader layered air-defense inventory rather than an isolated weapon system. GlobalSecurity describes Iraq's 1990 air defenses as including thousands of antiaircraft artillery pieces and lists the KS-19 under 100 mm antiaircraft guns in the 1990 equipment table. The same source says the 57 mm S-60 and 100 mm KS-19 were reportedly the most numerous Iraqi antiaircraft guns of larger caliber.
The available catalog-grade sources do not identify individual KS-19 batteries, exact firing sites, or confirmed aircraft damaged by KS-19 fire. The source-backed conclusion is narrower: Iraqi government forces fielded KS-19 100 mm guns in the 1990-1991 Gulf War air-defense system, where they served as heavy antiaircraft artillery during the coalition air campaign.
Sources: FAS KS-19 Background, WeaponSystems.net KS-19, GlobalSecurity Iraqi Air Defense Equipment, Gulf War Air Power Survey
