Iraqi Air Force

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The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) is the military branch in Iraq responsible for aerial warfare. IQAF also acts as a support force for the Iraqi Coastal Defense Force and the New Iraqi Army, and the predecessors of those branches (the Iraqi Navy and the Iraqi Regular Army).

Contents

1 History

1.1 2003 war

2 Current

2.1 Order of battle
2.2 Inventory

3 See also

History

The IQAF was founded on April 22, 1931. It was based at the airport in the Washash neighborhood of Baghdad, and consisted of five pilots (aeronautics students from the college at RAF Cranwell), and 32 aircraft mechanics. The original five pilots were Natiq Mohammed Khalil al-Tay, Mohammed Ali Jawad, Hafdhi Aziz, Akrem Talib Mushtaq, and Musa Ali.

The IQAF was not used in a combat role until 1941 in the Anglo-Iraqi War, and then in 1948 in their war against the newly-created state of Israel.

During the Six-Day War in June 1967, the Iraqi Air Force was badly mauled by an Israeli strike on one of its bases on the first day of the war. It bombed several air bases and land targets on the fifth day, and played a significant role in supporting Jordanian troops and destroying fighter planes which had not yet taken off. On June 6, Iraqi pilots destroyed two Israeli planes in air fighting.

During the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, Iraqi pilots ran the first airstrike against Israeli bases in Sinai, hitting artillery sites and Israeli tanks, and also destroyed 12 Israeli fighters in air combat.

During the Gulf War, the Iraqi Air Force was devastated by the United States and its allies. Most airfields were heavily struck, and in air combat Iraq was only able to obtain one kill, while sustaining several losses. Five out of the six Tupolev Tu-22s that Iraq possessed were destroyed by bombings at the start of Operation Desert Storm.

The MiG-25 FoxBat recorded the only Iraqi air-to-air kill during the war. A Mig-25PD shot down an F/A-18 on the first night of the war. In another incident, an Iraqi Foxbat-E eluded eight American F-15's, firing three missiles at EF-111 electronic warfare aircraft and forcing them to abort their mission. In yet another incident, two MiG-25's approached a pair of F-15 Eagles, fired missiles (which were evaded by the F-15's), and then outran the American fighters. Two more F-15's joined the pursuit, and a total of ten air-to-air missiles were fired at the Foxbats, none could reach them.

During the period of sanctions that followed the Air Force was severely restricted by no-fly zones established by the coalition and by restricted access to spares due to United Nations sanctions. Many aircraft were unserviceable and many were hidden from American reconnaissance to escape potential destruction.

Many pilots and aircraft escaped to Iran during the conflict, although the aircraft were never returned and are now in the Iranian Air Force, including several 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, comprising the secretive one-off AEW-AWACS prototype Il76 "ADNAN 1"

After the Gulf War, the air force was comprised of only a sole Tu-22 and several squadrons of MiG-25s purchased from the Soviet Union in 1979. In patrols of the No-fly zones, three Iraqi MiGs were lost. Despite several attacks from U.S. F-15s and F-14s firing AIM-54 and AIM-120 missiles at the Iraqi fighters, the Iraqi maneouvers were able to avoid any casualties in their dispute over Iraqi airspace. Their smattering of British Pilatus Britten-Norman defenders were used for support work and transportation perposes.

Mi-4, Gazelle, Alouette and Puma helicopters were used to counter the attempted Shi'ite and Kurdish revolts between 1992 and 1993.

2003 war

Abandoned Iraqi aircraft in front of the Al Asad ATC Tower

On the brink of the US invasion, Saddam Hussein disregarded his Air Force's wishes to defend the country's airspace against U.S. aircraft and ordered the bulk of his fighters disassembled or buried. Some were later found by US excavation forces around the al-Taqqadum and Al Asad air bases, including MiG-25s and Su-25s. [link]

Current

The Iraqi Air Force, like all Iraqi forces after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, is being rebuilt as part of the overall program to build a new Iraqi defense force.

Order of battle

The Iraqi 2nd Squadron is a helicopter airlift squadron operating two UH-1H Huey helicopters from Jordan. The squadron is scheduled to have 8 UH-1H helicopters in service by the end of 2006.
The Iraqi 3rd Squadron operates Bell 206 helicopters given by the UAE Air Force

in a light utility role.

The Iraqi 4th Squadron is a helicopter airlift squadron scheduled to receive 8 UH-1H helicopters in 2006.
The Iraqi 23rd Squadron is an airlift squadron operating 3 ex-USAF C-130E Hercules transport aircraft.
The Iraqi 70th Squadron is a reconnaissance squadron operating 6 CH-2000 & 2 SB7L-360A light reconnaissance aircraft.

Inventory