The Battle of 73 Easting was fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between Coalition armored forces and Iraqi armored forces. It was named for a UTM north–south coordinate line that was used as a phase line by Coalition forces to measure their progress through the desert. The battle was later described by Lt. John Mecca, a participant, as "the last great tank battle of the 20th century." This battle took place several hours after another, smaller, tank battle at Al Busayyah.

On 29 November 1990, the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 authorized the assembly of a multinational military coalition to fight against Iraq in the Gulf War. The coalition's purpose was to liberate Iraqi-occupied Kuwait by "all necessary means" if Iraq did not withdraw by 15 January 1991. Iraq failed to relinquish control over Kuwait by the deadline specified in Resolution 678, leading to the commencement of combat operations with the Gulf War aerial bombardment campaign on 17 January 1991. At this time, the coalition consisted of 42 countries and was spearheaded by the United States: the central command was led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom; the marine command was led by the United States; the Joint Forces East Command was led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Poland, and Czechoslovakia; and the Joint Forces North Command was led by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, Australia, Japan, and Turkey. On 23 February 1991, the aerial bombardment campaign came to an end as the coalition began a large-scale ground offensive into Iraqi-occupied Kuwait and parts of Iraq. The Iraqi military was devastated in the fighting, and Kuwait was declared completely free of occupying Iraqi troops on 28 February 1991.