We’ve spent years and billions re-building Iraqi ground forces. Many millions more have gone into a reconstituted Navy. The new Iraqi air force however, is just getting going. IZAF pilots – many of them veterans of the ancien regime – want to get their hands on fast movers. Like any self-respecting fighter pilot anywhere would.
But just now they’re flying Cessnas and helos:
In his crisp flight suit, sunglasses and polished boots, Lt. Gen. Kamal Barzanji looks every inch the fighter pilot he once was as he strides onto the flight line here.
But the planes lined up on the tarmac at the air base here resemble a local flying club. A single row of Cessna single-engine propeller planes are lined neatly in a row, bearing the markings of the Iraqi air force.
It’s not easy hiding his frustration. “The Iraqi people are waiting to see an F-16 or F/A-18 flying with an Iraqi pilot in the sky,” says Barzanji, Iraq’s air force chief, referring to iconic American combat planes. “Now it is the weakest air force in the Middle East.”
They’re pretty darned nice Cessnas, as CWO BillT’s cockpit photo here demonstrates. And more help is on the way, according the linked USA Today article. But at least they’re flying now, and IZAF morale continues to improve with a mission tied to supporting ground forces in anti-insurgency operations.
General Barzani plans to bring jets back into his stable by 2012. By that time the training and support architecture will hopefully be in place, and we can all pray that the new Iraqi air force has been thoroughly vetted and their individual loyalties firmly established.
It’s one thing to give a bad guy pretending to be a good guy a rifle and LBE. It’s another thing entirely to hand him the keys to a supersonic strike fighter.
At the moment the Iraqi government cannot afford jet fighters and there is no reason to spend the money right now either.
Iraq has the best air forces (USAF, USN, USM, British RAF) to protect them from Syria or Iran so Iraq can spend money on other things. So while the pride of the AF members may be hurt because they can not get the toys they want, the government is showing wisdom by spending money on the Army and Navy now and building up the infrastructure for a future Air Force when Iraq is stable.
I wonder with the Iraqi legislatures acting in such a mature manner, can we have them come over to Washington (and Sacramento) and give some lectures to the US and CA legislatures about setting priorities?? Just an idea.
It seems that they’re also getting some re-furbed Hueys and a batch of shiny new Cessna Caravans (C-208) – with hard-points.
Merry Christmas and a great New Year to all!
Chris
Yeah… don’t want some ex-Flogger driver going nuts with a teen fighter and avenging something not on the daily flight schedule. There were a few pros in the old Iraq AF, and I would love to trust them but I don’t know. I also don’t like the arab flight line maintenance mindset. i.e. … it flys by the will of alah etc… better have a good rolladex of names that can do accident investigations. Sorry to be so negative with those guys. I am sure there are some good guys that want to fly.
well, they may be sad that they don’t have the highest-tech toys, but i’m sure they’re happy they’re all flying. flying is like life’s blood to piolets and getting up on a regular basis keeps a piolet happy and itching for more.
glad to see they’re being so responsible as andrew so eloquently pointed out…
Chris, you’re right about the Hueys.
And ELP, there’s reason to be optimistic. BillT was recently over there and had some nice reports about the natural skills and outlooks of the helo and jet pilots-to-be he met. I got the impression that both he had his peers were very positive things.
I suspect the readers here will want to keep on eye on BillT in the not-too-distant future…
Depending on what jets they ultimately get, it seems that some experience with those nice Garmin glass panels might come in handy.
Diesels? I can’t recall a diesel-powered aircraft since the Germans tried it in a bomber in World-War 2, but it has some potential. The fact that it can run on nearly anything liquid that can burn is a certain plus in an area without a lot of intact refineries. Economy is another plus — you cannot run too lean on a diesel, give it enough turbocharger to operate at altitude and it’ll sip fuel while growling along the hours. Power though? Not so much, compared to the gas motors, and a bit heavier.
Still, this is a suprise and points out that general aviation might not be banking on 104 octane avgas forever.
There was a mention of a supersonic strike fighter, a fine instrument and pretty good at what it does. Then again, it’s not so easy to take a heat-seeker up the tailpipe in a diesel-powered prop job. Might be a trade-off worth looking at there for a boarder-defense air force.
– Max
The reason they are using diesel and not AV-gas is that there isn’t any AV-gas in the supply chain…plenty of JP-8 (diesel) though.
It’s all about logisitics.
By the way they are also flying MI-17s as well…right now.
The Iowa ARNG is presently training the Huey II (future) aviators just outside of Baghdad, but the plan is to consolidate the school at Kirkuk sometime in late ‘08; the Mi-17 guys aren’t doing much due to a severe parts shortage — the biggest problem, as Outlaw 13 noted , is the log train and the second biggest is getting the parts from the OE manufacturer. The Caravans are just, plain *nice* — complete with belly-mounted FLIR ball for those quiet night interdiction missions.
BTW, the first US-trained Iraqi IP recently qualified his first student for solo in the C-172. Baby steps, but at least they’re in the right direction.
“…I suspect the readers here will want to keep on eye on BillT in the not-too-distant future…” (awwwww — thanks for the plug, kidlet, but I ain’t all *that* good-lookin’…)