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Iraq to get first F-16 jets in early 2014
 Iraq will receive the first 24 of 36 F-16 fighter jets it has ordered from the United States at the beginning of 2014, a senior official told Reuters on Sunday.Under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraqs air force was one of the largest in the region with hundreds of mainly Soviet-designed jets. Its military was disbanded after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Last July, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki doubled the number of warplanes Iraq had initially planned to buy to strengthen an air force neglected during a protracted period when the country relied on U.S. air support. Iskander Witwit, the deputy head of parliaments security and defence committee, said that the first 24 planes would make up two air force squadrons. Iraq intends to have equipment which is more developed than neighboring countries have. Small neighboring countries like Kuwait even have five squadrons, Witwit said. Iraq would be in the market for more planes in the future, Witwit said. Pilots are already training to fly the new F-16s.
Posted by: Steve White 2012-04-30 |
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