An American magazine specializing in military affairs revealed that the Iraqi Air Force is heading to replace the American "F-16" (F-16) fighters with the modern Russian "MiG-29" fighters.
The American military watch magazine, in a report published a few days ago, said that the Iraqi army is currently using 34 American lightweight F-16 fighters that it received during its war against ISIS between 2014-2017, as well as Russian Sukhoi-25 fighters and South Korean T-50 fighters, indicating that the maintenance of F-16 fighters depends on American technical experts who may withdraw from Iraq due to changes in the situation. Political there.
The New York Times quoted Joseph Lamarca Jr., vice president of Lockheed Martin Communications, as saying that "in coordination with the US government and putting employee safety on our top priority, we are moving the (F-16) team stationed in Iraq to another location because of Security threats, "stressing the possibility that Iraq will seek foreign fighters from sources that do not depend on American support.
The American F-16 fighters in Iraq rely on old (European) missiles
The magazine pointed out that the American F-16 fighters in Iraq are not equipped with advanced (AIM-120) air-to-air missiles, and instead rely on (AIM-7 Sparrow) and (AIM-9L / M) old missiles. To the Cold War era, it is the least capable variant of the "F-16" anywhere in the world.
It is believed that the decision to limit aircraft to such missiles was influenced by Israeli concerns, and this resulted in providing Iraq with the minimum capacity sufficient to engage with ground targets.
Israeli fighter jets violated the country's airspace in the past to attack targets inside Syria via Iraq and to strike sites of armed factions on Iraqi territory.
Iraq was previously using one of the leading air fleets in the Middle East, and the almost complete lack of air defense capabilities led to calls within the country for more capable combat aircraft from Russia in addition to the Russian long-range air defense systems "S-400" (S-400) .
MiG-29 equipped with self-guided radar warheads (Reuters)
The magazine pointed out that, last year, senior Iraqi military officials announced their desire to acquire the Russian "Su-57" aircraft as the most powerful fighter in the Russian army, but its high cost and the complexity of the plane's service and operation may make it very difficult in view of the current situation of the Iraqi air force.
The magazine suggests that the Russian "MiG-29" or "MiG-35" fighters (MiG-35) can help provide the Iraqi air force with the skills and experience needed to eventually operate high-level fighters.
In addition, the MiG-29 is equipped with air-to-air missiles with active self-guided radar warheads, and the American counterparts (AIM-120) were not supplied to Iraq.
Over the past months, missile attacks have targeted military bases housing US forces in Iraq, and Washington accused armed factions loyal to Iran of being responsible.
About 3 thousand soldiers from the international coalition forces, including 2,500 American soldiers, are deployed in Iraq to fight ISIS in the country.