| Iraq, a brief history |
In ancient times the land area now known as modern Iraq was almost equivalent to Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. An advanced civilization flourished in this region long before that of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, for it was here in about 4000BC that the Sumerian culture flourished. The Sumerians would later fall under the hegemony of the Akkadian kingdom which was based in Akkad that we now know as Babylon. This would become the commercial and cultural center of the Middle East for almost two thousand years. Many rules would follow and from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, the course of Iraqi history was affected by the continuing conflicts between the Safavid Empire in Iran and the Ottoman Turks. In 1638, after a series of brilliant military maneuvers, Mesopotamia became part of the Ottoman Empire.
During the First World War, Turkey became a German ally along with Austria but Arab leaders in many parts of the Arab world promised to aid Britain by revolting against the Ottoman Turks. Arab cooperation came about when Britain agreed to recognize Arab independence after the war. British forces invaded the Ottoman Province of Basra in 1914. They came as far as Kut where they were 13.000 soldiers were captured by the Ottoman Army on April 29th 1916. Later the British forces captured Baghdad in April 1917, but the fight continued further north is the Provinces of Baghdad and Mosul until the Turkish army was surrounded on October 30, 1918 which was exactly one day before the Turkish signed an armistice with the British. In 1936 King Ghazi I formed an alliance with other Arab nations, known as the Pan-Arab movement and in that same year Iraq experienced its first military coup d'etat, led by General Bakr Sidqi. The Sidqi coup marked a major turning point in Iraqi history. It made a crucial breach in the constitution, and it opened the door to further military involvement in politics. In 1938 King Ghazi attempted an annexation of Kuwait, following his dream to unite Syria, Palestine, and Kuwait into one big Iraq. The annexation never materialized for Ghazi was killed in a car accident in 1939. His attempt however would be rephrased a few decades later by a man we all know.
During the earlier part of World War II, Iraq's government was strongly pro-British, however, Iraqi nationalists sought close ties with Nazi Germany in hope to release Iraq from British domination. The tensions led to a military coup on 3 April 1941 that brought Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani to the power. The British quickly retaliated by landing forces at Basrah sixteen days later. Iraqi troops were then concentrated around the British Air Base at Habbaniyah, west of Baghdad and on May 2 the British forces opened hostilities. The ensuing war between Britain and Iraq lasted less than a month, and on May 30th Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani and his government fled the country.
King Faisal II was deposed on 14 July 1958 and a republic proclaimed. In July 1979 the president, Ahmed Hasan Al-Bakr, was replaced by the current ruler Saddam Hussein al Taqriti. Under his rule, the political situation flared into hostilities with Iran. In September 1980 Saddam declared the Iraqi/Iranian borders agreement (Algiers Agreement) void. The Iran-Iraq War (also known as the First Persian Gulf War) started on September 22, 1980 and lasted for eight years. This war had a crippling effect on the economy of both countries. After eight years of war no territory had been gained by either side and an estimated one million lives had been lost. In July 1988, Iran accepted the terms of UN Resolution 598, and a fragile cease-fire came into force on 20th August 1988.
Before Iraq had a chance to recover economically, it was once more plunged into war, this time with its invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The United Nations Security Council and the Arab League immediately condemned the Iraqi invasion and four days later, the Security Council imposed an economic embargo on Iraq that prohibited nearly all trade with Iraq. Iraq responded to the sanctions by annexing Kuwait as the 19th Province of Iraq on August 8. Despite heavy pressure from the UN Security Council that adopted Resolution 678 (which permitted member states to use all necessary means to get the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait), Saddam Hussein failed to comply with the demand of the Resolution, resulting in the 2nd Persian Gulf War that started on the 17th of January 1991 (also known as Operation Desert Storm).
In March 2003 the US and its allies again invaded Iraq under the well known flag of "The War on Terrorism".
Source (among others)
Lonely Planet
Saleh Iraq Home Page
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| Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) |
A brief history
An Iraqi air arm was established under British guardianship in 1931. Up until the 2nd Gulf War (the first being the Iran-Iraq War), the Iraqi Air Force
(IqAF) was supplied with several different British, French and Russian aircraft types. In the early years the IQAF was mainly supplied by the British
with deliveries that included batches of DeHavilland Moths, Hawker Audax and Fury trainers, Bristol Freighter 31s, Westland Wessex 52s, DeHavilland Vampires,
DeHavilland Venoms, DeHavilland Chipmunks, Hunting Piston Provosts and Hawker Hunters. During the late 60s and early 70s Iraq received considerable amounts of
hardware from the Soviets, but from the early 70s on Iraq also turned to Western countries for supplies. The French supplied Iraq with Mirage F1s that replaced
the ageing Hawker Hunter fleet. Despite the deliveries from the west, the Iraqi Air Force relied heavily on the aircraft supplied by the soviets. The Air
Defense backbone consists of Mirage F1EQs, MiG-23s MiG-29s and MiG-25s from which some also served as Reconnaissance aircraft. The attack aircraft fleet
included Mirage F1EQs, Su-20s, Su-22s, Su-24s and Su-25s. Besides these, a large fleet of MiG-21s was put to use in different roles. The transport and aerial
tanker fleet mainly consited of An-24s, An-26s and Il-76s.
During the 2nd Persian Gulf War a lot of Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) pilot fled to their neighboring country Iran, supplying the IRIAF with a large number of
aircraft including Mirage F1s, Su-24MK Fencer-Ds, MiG-29 Fulcrums, Su-20s, Su-22M Fitters, Su-25 Frogfoots, MiG-23s and a number of Il-76s.
The Iraqi Air Force proved to be totally non-existant during the latest US-led invasion of Iraq that started in March 2003. A few flying activities of
Iraqi helicopters were seen but no fighter aircraft took off to fight the Americans. During the occupation phase, large quantaties of ex Iraqi Air Force
fighter aircraft (mainly MiG-23s, MiG-25s and Su-25s) were found in a very poor state at several air bases throughout the country. Most were digged in and
non-serviceable. During the invasion US and Australian forces found large numbers of aircraft that were litterly dug into the ground. Planes or the remains
of them were found at Tallil (MiG-23s), al-Taqaddum (MiG-25s, Tu-22s), Al Sahra (AS202s) and many other airbases.
After the second Gulf War, the build-up of the Iraqi Air Force (shortly designated "New Iraqi Air Force" by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)
that managed the build-up of the IqAF) steadily progressed. The first type to become operational within the rebuild IqAF was the Jordanian built
SBL7-360 Seeker. Two of these light reconnaissance airplanes were based at Al Basrah. By 2007 these were withdrawn from use however. These were followed
by sixteen SAMA CH2000 aircraft that are also Produced in Jordan by Jordan Aerospace Industries.
In January 2005 these were followed by three ex-USAF C-130E cargo planes. Three more will probably follow in 2008.
In November 2004 the UAE announced the donation of four ex UAE Air Force Bell 206Bs and
seven newly produced Comp Air 7SL aircraft. The first four UH-1H helicopters entered service in January 2005
after which these ex Royal Jordanian Air Force Huey helicopters were upgraded at Ozark (AL) by US Helicopters to "Huey II" (UH-1H-II) standard.
By December 2006 the IqAF received 10 of 28 ordered Mi-17/171s. The status around the complete order that might comprise as much as 58 Mi-17/171's is a bit unclear.
In March 2007, the USAF awarded Raytheon Aircraft Company with a contract for the delivery of five Beechcraft King Air 350ER (Extended Range) Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and one Beechcraft King Air 350 light transport aircraft. The Foreign Military Sale contract values over
$132.2 million. The aircraft will be used by the Iraq Air Force to provide border surveillance, monitor insurgent activity, and patrol critical infrastructure
assets. If all planned options for additional ISR and light transport aircraft are exercised, the deliveries of these aircraft will continue into 2010.
During April 2007, the first of in total six ordered Cessna 208B Caravan transport aircraft were delivered. Some of them will be ISR-equipped. The others will
be used for training purposes.
On 1 October 2007 the 52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron (EFTS) was formed at Kirkuk. The unit is part of the Iraqi Air Force Flying Training School
and it will be equipped with Ce172S aircraft. The first two aircraft arrived in Iraq during October.
To bolster the capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force, the United States government is injecting billions of Dollars into the build-up of the (air) armed forces. On 9 December 2008, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified the US Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 36 Beechcraft AT-6B Texan II aircraft, including six spare PT-6 engines, ten spare ALE-47 Counter-Measure Dispensing Systems and/or ten spare AAR-60 Missile Launch Detection Systems and related equipment and services. The estimated value of this order is $ 520 million. The Beechcraft AT-6B is a light attack/COIN version based on the Beechcraft T-6A, already in service as the U.S. military's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft, and is also the primary trainer for the NATO Flying Training Canada (NFTC) program and the Hellenic Air Force. This order probably means the end of the Embraer EMB314B1 Super Tucano order which were initially requested by the USAF's Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) in mid-2008.
On 10 December, the DSCA announced another possible FMS-order, namely that of armed 26 Bell 407 Helicopters, including 26 Rolls Royce 250-C-30 Engines, 26 M280 2.75-inch Launchers, 26 XM296 .50 Cal. Machine Guns with Ammunition, 26 M299 AGM-114 Hellfire Guided Missile Launchers as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $ 366 million.
Not yet announced in a formal DSCA publication is the request of the Iraqi government of the sale of 36 "advanced model" Lockheed Martin F-16s, probably meaning F-16 C/D Block 50/52+ models which are currently in production.
Another batch of two Hawker Beechcraft 350ISRs have been delivered to 3sq in late 2008. A second batch of these transport and surveillance aircraft has been ordered. The second order seems to be the same as the first order, namely five Beech 350ISR and one Beech 350 which will be delivered in 2009.
During August, he Iraqi Air Force saw its first Iraqi night vision goggle (NVG) sortie outside the perimeters of Al Taji airfield. The mission was flown in an Mi-17 helicopter while training of the Iraqi pilots is performed on the OH-58 Kiowa helicopters that the Iraqi Air Force has on loan from the Iowa Army National Guard. The mission started with a trip to Besmaya range for NVG gun training for the Iraqi helicopter gunners and pilots and then a landing at Washington Landing Zone, in Baghdad's International Zone, and Liberty Landing Zone, near Baghdad International Airport, for familiarization. The Iraqi Air Force acquired night vision goggles in June.
15 (SOF) squadron at Al Taji received its first four Mi-17V-5 Special Operation helicopters during late October. It is excepted that the unit will receive another 22 identical helicopters before year's end. 15 (SOF) squadron is trained primarily for the counter-terrorism role.
Al Kut/Hayy Air Base will regain it operational status again in the third quarter of this year. It is unclear to us which units and aircraft will be stationed here.
The six ordered C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft are expected to be delivered between 2012 and 2014.
On several websites a possible order for 24 Eurocopter EC635 utility helicopters is quoted. They should be delivered by 2011.
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Photo: McMillan, Amie J SPC USCENTCOM USF-I
Photo: Andrew. H. Cline
Photo: USAF
Photo: USAF
Photo: USAF
Photo: USAF
| More |
You can find more about the Iraqi Air Force on these pages. On the Order of Battle page we show you where the
main bases are. A map of Iraq is available. Click on an airbase to see what's there to be found. Also we present links to
Microsoft's Expediamaps services: with each airbase you can find a link to a map of the airbases' neighbourhood.
Order of Battle
The Database
Links to Related Websites
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