Iraq intends to sign arms contracts with Europe and Russia to develop its military capabilities

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[size=52]Iraq intends to sign arms contracts with Europe and Russia to develop its military capabilities[/size]

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[size=48][size=31]Analysts rule out that weapons will reach Iran because the producing countries impose their conditions when selling[/size][/size][/size]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]AN IRAQI REPORTER
[size=45]MONDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2022  [/size]

[size=45]Iraq seeks to develop defense systems in the airspace and continue developing the capabilities of the armed forces (AFP)[/size]


[size=45]The Iraqi government plans to enhance  the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  army through a series of contracts it signed to supply cannons, marches, tanks and armored vehicles to fill the shortage in some army divisions caused by the three-year war against ISIS, as well as new armament contracts with Russia and allied countries. NATO".[/size]
[size=45]These contracts include the purchase of advanced defense systems from different countries, including the French "Rafale" fighters, drones and advanced artillery, in addition to Russian T-90 tanks, according to the American "Defense" website.[/size]
[size=45]According to the website, the cost  of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  's purchase of 14 French Rafale combat aircraft amounts to 240 million dollars, the value of which will be paid in oil instead of cash. He said that an Iraqi delegation is scheduled to visit  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  soon to inspect the drones.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Ministry of Defense is seeking additional T-90 tanks from Russia that it can add to its arsenal of 73 tanks, delivered in batches in 2018 and 2019.[/size]
[size=45]Various tanks and planes[/size]
[size=45]In the past weeks, the Commander of the Ground Forces, Lieutenant-General Qassem Al-Mohammadi, revealed new contracts to import advanced drones and artillery, as well as other equipment.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mohammadi said that “there are two directions in armament, the first is the American one, where there are many armored vehicles and a lot of existing equipment, and the Russian origin, and we have T-90 tanks, which are comparable to the American barrel,” stressing that “there are plans to increase it and increase the teams and brigades in order to increase the capabilities of the Iraqi army.” “.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq owns 140 Abrams tanks and 73 T-90 tanks acquired during the past three years, in addition to owning about 350 T-72 and T-55 tanks and some Chinese tanks that were rehabilitated from the tanks of the former Iraqi army. .[/size]
[size=45]Al-Mohammadi added that “there are many contracts that include armed drones flying in Iraqi airspace for 30 hours, capable of addressing targets and continuous monitoring towards various areas, and they have proven their ability and effectiveness, as well as the purchase of French high-precision artillery and weapons with night sights, pointing out that many Of the military equipment, according to contracts signed by Iraq during the last period, “a part of it arrived at the port, and a part is manufactured by arms companies to support the Iraqi armed forces.”[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi army consists of 14 military divisions, the commanders of the air force, the navy, the land, the air defense, the Military Intelligence Directorate and other departments.[/size]
[size=45]Technology smuggling to Iran[/size]
[size=45]Despite the international openness to Iraq, there are fears among these parties of the transfer of these weapons or technologies to Iran through the pro-government elements or by the Shiite factions, especially since they are advanced technologies that Tehran lacks.[/size]
[size=45]Ghazi Faisal, head of the Iraq Center for Strategic Studies, said that smuggling some of the weapons technologies that Iraq will import to Iran is a possibility.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal added that the possibility of leaking the technologies of some weapons that Iraq will contract to Iran occurred previously, when the United States of America objected to the transfer of an advanced American tank to Iran through armed brigades, enslaving at the same time that the weapons would reach Iran because the countries producing these weapons impose their conditions When arms are sold to Iraq and other countries, sanctions and accountability will be imposed on the country that violates these terms.[/size]
[size=45]system development [/size]
[size=45]He added that Iraq seeks to develop defense systems in the airspace and continue to develop the capabilities of the armed forces to confront "terrorism and mafias," noting that the rise in oil prices in global markets contributed to increasing its financial imports in a way that was able to meet arms purchase contracts.[/size]
[size=45]Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iraq has not been equipped with advanced and modern air defense systems capable of preventing any air breaches, and the matter was limited to providing Baghdad with short-range air defense systems such as the Russian "Pantsir" and the American "Avenger", in addition to the Anti-aircraft guns left over from the former army, rehabilitated.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal indicated that the cost of French and Russian weapons is lower than the American ones, pointing out that Iraq needs to develop its old planes that need to be modernized with modern Russian MiGs or advanced French planes.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq currently owns 95 combat aircraft of American, Russian, Korean and Czech origin, including 35 F-16s, 21 Russian Sukhois, 24 South Korean T-50s, and 15 Czechs.[/size]
[size=45]Diversification of weapons sources[/size]
[size=45]In turn, the head of the Republican Center for Security and Strategic Studies Moataz Abdel Hamid said that Iraq is determined to diversify its sources of armament and import weapons from Europe and Russia, especially in the field of air defense, ruling out that some of these weapons will reach Iran.[/size]
[size=45]Abdul Hamid added that the diversity of weapons is very important, especially since Iraq previously relied on some European countries such as France to import weapons when buying Russian “Mirage” and “Sukhoi” planes, which “contributed to previous wars and strengthened the capabilities of the Air Force.”[/size]
[size=45]Parades and ships[/size]
[size=45]And he indicated that Iraq "needs important weapons such as drones to control its borders with neighboring countries, because it suffers from border breaches with the Syrian side," noting that "there is a contract with Italy to supply Iraq with battleships and frigates, but this contract was not completed and there was a visit by the Minister of Defense to Italy before months to urge the Italian side to fulfill it, especially that the amount was delivered in full.[/size]
[size=45]The attacks of the “ISIS” organization during the year 2021 resulted in the killing and wounding of hundreds of members of the security services from the army, the police, the crowd and a number of civilians, but they seemed limited compared to what witnessed at the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2019 of a significant increase in the rate of the organization’s operations.[/size]
[size=45]He added that Iraq has agreements with the "NATO" alliance, and the members of the alliance are weapons-producing countries, so we need an air defense system, noting, "Iraq suffers from penetrations of its airspace, and therefore we need to import air defense systems to protect the airspace as well as to confront drones."[/size]
[size=45]The weapons will not reach Iran[/size]
[size=45]And about the possibility of the leakage of arms to Iran, Abdul Hamid stressed that the arms sold to Iraq will be closely monitored, pointing out that the countries that will sell arms will set their conditions in the armament contracts, especially since the arms deals that take place are open and not secret.[/size]
[size=45]Abdul Hamid ruled out the transfer of weapons to Iran because of these conditions.[/size]
[size=45]The violent battles with the “ISIS” organization to liberate Iraqi cities led to the damage of a large percentage of the Iraqi army’s vehicles and equipment in a way that it is difficult to restore some of them to service, in addition to the fact that maintenance and rehabilitation operations were limited to American Humvees and some Russian and American-made armored vehicles and tanks.[/size]
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