The ALQ-144A was rushed into US service in time for the 1991 Gulf War, as Iraq had stocks of 9K34 Strela-3 and 9K38 missiles, against which the ALQ-144 was only partially effective. By the time the war started, two-thirds of the AH-64 Apaches in the persian Gulf had been upgraded to ALQ-144A standard. The only AH-64 Apache lost to an infra-red guided missile was hit by a 9K34 Strela-3 missile; the helicopter in question was one of the few that had not been upgraded.