Gulf War they set fire to nearly 700 oil wells and placed land mines around the wells to make extinguishing the fires more difficult. The war's ground phase was officially designated Operation Desert Saber. The first units to move into Iraq were three patrols of the British Special Air Service's B squadron, call signs Bravo One Zero, Bravo Two Zero, and Bravo Three Zero, in late January. These eight-man patrols landed behind Iraqi lines to gather intelligence on the movements of Scud mobile missile launchers, which could not be detected from the air, as they were hidden under bridges and camouflage netting
Armilla patrol or by frigates or destroyers transiting the area for other operations in the Far East or Pacific. The largest British presence in the Persian Gulf during the Armilla patrol was during the two operations against Iraq. In 1991, eight Royal Navy ships supported by a number of RFA vessels were sent to the area. In 2003, over 30 British warships and auxiliaries were involved in the invasion of Iraq. A number of vessels, including minesweepers, survey vessels and submarines, are periodically rotated through the area to provide additional capability. Beginning in 2006 the surface combatant deployed was tasked with patrol