Direct proof of use
U.S. National Archives image metadata documents a ZPU-1 14.5 mm heavy anti-aircraft gun position captured by U.S. Marine Corps personnel assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit while patrolling Umm Qasr, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom on 21 March 2003.
A separate National Archives image record documents a captured Soviet-designed ZPU-1 14.5 mm heavy anti-aircraft machine gun inside a structure on a Republican Guard base near Daly airfield, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom on 17 April 2003.
Sources: ZPU-1 Gun Position Captured at Umm Qasr, Captured ZPU-1 at Daly Airfield
Timeline
The first cataloged Iraq War image record places a ZPU-1 position at Umm Qasr on 21 March 2003, the opening phase of the invasion and the coalition move into southern Iraq.
On 17 April 2003, another archival record placed a captured ZPU-1 on a Republican Guard base near Daly airfield. The two records show the weapon as Iraqi air-defense materiel encountered and captured by U.S. forces; they do not by themselves prove that either gun was fired during those encounters.
Sources: ZPU-1 Gun Position Captured at Umm Qasr, Captured ZPU-1 at Daly Airfield
Narrative
The ZPU-1 was a light single-barrel member of the Soviet ZPU family built around the 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun. WeaponSystems.net describes the ZPU-1 as a towed two-wheel anti-aircraft mount that was also valued in later conflicts when fitted to pickup trucks and other improvised platforms.
In Iraq, the direct archival evidence ties the ZPU-1 to Iraqi positions and Republican Guard materiel rather than to a named engagement. The documented role for this conflict is therefore captured Iraqi air-defense equipment, with side attribution to Iraqi government and security forces.
The Umm Qasr and Daly airfield records are useful because they identify the weapon, location, operation, and capturing force. They should not be stretched into claims about confirmed combat firing, kills, or tactical effects in the 2003 Iraq War.
Sources: ZPU-1 Gun Position Captured at Umm Qasr, Captured ZPU-1 at Daly Airfield, WeaponSystems.net ZPU-1
