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| Iraq | |
| Prague Approves Warplanes Sale to Iraq to Fight Jihadists | |
| 2015-03-10 | |
| [AnNahar] The Czech government on Monday approved the sale of 15 combat and training L-159 jets to help Baghdad fight the jihadist Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group, the defense minister told news hounds. "We are looking at a total of 15 warplanes, four of which come from the Czech air force, while 11 others come from surplus stock," Martin Stropnicky said. "The total cost is 750 million koruna (27.5 million euros; $30 million)," the minister added. Thirteen jets are single-seaters, and two have room for a co-pilot. The contract with Baghdad, whose troops have faced a major jihadist onslaught since June, also envisages the sale of ground equipment, weapons and ammunition. Aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody made 72 L-159 jets for the Czech army in the 1990s, for 51 billion koruna (1.8 billion euros). Because of budget cuts, the air force has only held on to some 30 jets since. The L-159 is equipped with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. Some 80 percent of its parts are foreign-made, mainly in the United States. In 2012, Iraq said it was interested in buying 28 L-159 jets. Although Baghdad and Prague signed a contract, the sale never actually took place. Last year, Prague delivered ammunition worth 1.5 million euros to Iraqi Kurds fighting the IS group.
Czech firm Excalibur last month said it had agreed to sell Baghdad 100 T-72 tanks and BVP-1 military vehicles. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #3 Plus you can get parts on eBay. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-03-10 13:42 |
| #2 Just think of them as 'mobile artillery'. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-03-10 13:37 |
| #1 I can light attack aircraft needs, but T-72s? I thought the area was full of em already. Cheaper than refurb maybe? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-03-10 09:27 |