The Pentagon: Iraq is making great progress in restoring its air force

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[size=52]The Pentagon: Iraq is making great progress in restoring its air force[/size]

[size=45]Translated by Hamid Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]An American magazine revealed that Iraq has made great progress in restoring its military air power, pointing out that it possesses an advanced fleet of combat and helicopters of different origins, ready to carry out duties against terrorist targets.[/size]
[size=45]The American magazine (Forbes) stated in a report translated by (Al-Mada), that "Iraq has made remarkable progress over the past few months by returning combat aircraft to service in an effort to restore its full military air power."[/size]
[size=45]The American magazine quoted what was stated in the latest report of the Office of the Inspector General in the Pentagon on the campaign of the international coalition against ISIS before Congress, which covered the period of the last quarter of 2021, in which it stated that “all F-16 fighter-bombers and all AC-208 Caravan warplanes are not They still constitute the main strike platforms of the Iraqi Air Force, and their utilization rates and their sorties’ capabilities are similar to the rates of the previous quarter of that year.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "These two types of aircraft can carry precision-guided laser-guided bombs and missiles that are used to accurately and effectively strike targets belonging to the terrorist organization ISIS, in areas of the north and west of the country."[/size]
[size=45]The report noted that “several reports that had appeared in the period between 2020 and 2021 stated that the F-16 fleet was sitting idle due to corruption, its lack of regular maintenance, and the absence of the required support from the US contracting party, noting that the fleet appears to be in a dire state. When the American contractors left Balad Air Base in mid-2021 due to repeated missile attacks by armed factions on the base.”[/size]
[size=45]The report stressed, "A part of these contractors were transferred to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, and they provided assistance to Iraqi technicians through video instructions on the Internet and daily visits by American technicians to the Balad base to provide assistance directly."[/size]
[size=45]The report stressed that "the Iraqi air force managed to maintain a sufficient number of F-16 aircraft, prepared for flights and to carry out strikes against the targets of ISIS militants, who still pose a security threat."[/size]
[size=45]He noted, "Baghdad has also sought to return aircraft of other types to service, in addition to the F-16 and A-C-208 Caravan aircraft, there are aircraft, Aero L-159 light Czech-made fighters and Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets, which carried out a number of strikes." and overflights during the last quarter of 2021 as well.[/size]
[size=45]And the report indicated, "The Office of the Inspector General spoke about a remarkable role of the Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets in carrying out air strikes, because they had not been used in combat missions for five years, as they were also disabled at the beginning of 2021 due to the aircraft's lack of spare parts and funding."[/size]
[size=45]He continues, "The Sukhoi planes and the Czech planes were secondary, unlike the F-16 and AC-208 planes, due to their inability to fire guided bombs and ammunition. Rather, they carried out sorties using unguided Mark-82 bombs of general use."[/size]
[size=45]And he stated, "Sukhoi planes were also widely used in training flights, due to their inability to launch laser-guided weapons and munitions with precise hits to the target."[/size]
[size=45]The report stressed that Iraq has also “enhanced its air capabilities through the use of its attack helicopters, as it owns a fleet of Russian-made Mi-28 and Mi-35 aircraft that it imported from Russia between 2013 and 2014.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "These attack helicopters were used to provide air cover and support for the Iraqi ground forces during their military campaigns against ISIS."[/size]
[size=45]And the report goes on, that "Iraqi Defense Minister Jumaa Inad Saadoun visited on the first of March the Taji air base to examine some of those helicopters that had been returned to service, and during his visit, ten helicopters were filmed taking off in the air to demonstrate their effectiveness."[/size]
[size=45]The report quoted the Iraqi Minister of Defense as saying, “We only want to show a campaign of repair and maintenance for a number of military helicopters, and we are continuing with this campaign and we plan to repair a second batch of these helicopters in the near future and so on until we complete the repair of all the dead helicopters, and thus we increase More than 80% of these aircraft are prepared and ready.”[/size]
[size=45]The report stated that “20 of the air strikes carried out by Iraq against ISIS during the last quarter of 2021 were achieved using F-16, AC-208, L-159 and Sukhoi 25 aircraft, while the combat helicopters of the Army Aviation carried out 11 air strikes. others during that period.[/size]
[size=45]The report went on, "Examples show that the Iraqi air force is still alive, effective, and able to thwart the attempts of ISIS to restore its bloody terrorism in the country."[/size]
[size=45]About Forbes magazine[/size]
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