Three decades ago, Iraq managed to manufacture the first Arab missile capable of carrying satellites into their orbits in outer space, with Iraqi capabilities and local efforts from the Military Industrialization Authority.

After two failed experiments, Iraq announced the success of the test launch of the missile on December 5, 1989 from the Anbar Air Base, for the country to enter the space field, but the consequences of that test were disastrous for it.

Al-Abbousi: There were great international reactions after Iraq launched the Al-Abed missile (Al-Jazeera Net)

military manufacturing

The establishment of the Iraqi military industries dates back to the early seventies, when the government formed a body of scientific competencies to start building facilities, laboratories and workshops, through the Military Industrialization Authority, through which thousands of engineers, technicians and workers were trained, according to Major General Pilot Dr. Alwan Hassoun al-Abbousi.

Al-Abousi added in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the need for these factories increased in the war with Iran, which prompted Iraq to develop and diversify its products from different weapons and munitions, but the second Gulf War in 1991 led to the destruction of many military manufacturing facilities.

It shows that the United States viewed the Iraqi military development with suspicion and fear of the unknown, especially that the rates of Iraqi military superiority had become close to the Israeli military level, which Washington considers a threat to its interests in the Gulf and the Arab world.

It is noteworthy that at the end of 1989, the US Central Intelligence Agency prepared its report, which included that Iraq intends to attack Israel and expand on the Gulf states, and is close to producing nuclear, biological, chemical and missile weapons.

The report focused on the issue of the giant cannon and long-range missiles, after Iraq launched its missile of a strategic dimension called "Al-Abed", and its approach towards Arab unity through the establishment of the Arab Cooperation Council between Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen, which would pose a serious danger to American interests in the Middle East.

He points to the reactions of the US administration to this report, as it consulted with Britain to start the quiet planning phase to lure Iraq into problems, or create situations that are difficult for its leaders to evade or neglect because they constitute a threat to its national security.

Al-Abed missile weighs 48 tons and is capable of carrying 70 tons when launched (communication sites)

The first Arab space rocket

The importance of the Al-Abed missile lies in the fact that it is the first missile made in an Arab country that can carry satellites. It is also a category of strategic missiles with a range of about two thousand kilometers, and it is primarily a missile dedicated to communications and reconnaissance, but it is also intended to carry a satellite, says Al-Abousi. .

Al-Abousi explained that this missile consists of 3 stages, and its weight is about 48 tons, and it was designed with a capacity to carry a weight of up to 70 tons at takeoff and launch. They were considered one of the best Iraqi weapons at the time.

And about the international reactions following the launch of the missile, Al-Abbousi talks about global anger towards the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, starting with the warning of the United States led by President George Bush Sr., who emphasized that the missile is capable of carrying satellites to outer space.

The US Department of Defense also called on Iraq to be cautious in the stages of developing the space missile program, and Pete Williams, the official spokesman for the US Department of Defense, stated that the missile includes technology that is involved in the production of an intercontinental missile, and warned of the dangers of the spread of such missiles in areas of tension and its threat to international relations, and followed them Britain led by Margaret Thatcher, who demanded the necessity of stopping the Iraqi space program.

Al-Abousi added that France saw that Iraq’s manufacture of the Abed missile had placed it in the club of adults, and its development had reached the level of the European “Erian” missile, but Israel deliberately launched the “Ofok.1” spy satellite in response to Iraq, which announced its ability to manufacture two new missiles, namely Ababil and Sejil for Meteorology and Communications.

Al-Taie pointed out that Iraq had harnessed all its capabilities and minds in the field of military development (Al-Jazeera Net)

propaganda

For his part, the Iraqi writer and researcher Sadiq Al-Taie believes that the development of Iraq’s capabilities in the field of military industries during the years of the Iran-Iraq war in the eighties is a normal case in a country that is engaged in an all-out war with international pressures that tried to stop arms deals for both sides of the conflict to pressure towards stopping the war.

Al-Taie explained to Al-Jazeera Net that Iraq harnessed all its capabilities, money and minds in the field of military development and serving the war effort, including missile systems, as the Qaqaa facility worked to develop and remanufacture Russian Scud missiles, and worked to increase its ranges to reach 650 km, but it was suffering from Problems with the guidance systems, which caused the inaccuracy of hitting the targets.

Al-Tai - who was a former engineer in the Atomic Energy Organization - confirms that the techniques that Iraq worked with were mostly local and with Iraqi engineering efforts, with sometimes asking for help from foreign experts, but the development of missile systems was Iraqi in a very large proportion, some development lines worked And the manufacture of missile systems to provide missiles that can be loaded with unconventional heads.

However, he added, "But there is no confirmed evidence of Iraq's success in these tests, and there are only some allegations that could be included in the propaganda promoted by Saddam's regime at the time, as the inspectors of international organizations did not find this type of missile warhead, and this is proven." In the reports of the United Nations inspectors who found conventional missile systems, according to Al-Taie.

Al-Tai includes the talk about the Al-Abed missile among the exaggerations, ruling out Iraq's possession of the capabilities of manufacturing missiles that carry satellites at the end of the eighties, and there may have been an ambitious project in this regard, but it did not go beyond the stage of planning and testing.

Shabib believes that Iraq's early step in space work was of strategic dimensions (Al Jazeera Net)

project end

In turn, Professor of Political Science, Dr. Asaad Kazem Shabib, considered that Iraq's early initiative at the level of the Arab region and the Middle East to move to the space field is an advanced and strategic work.

The space project in Iraq was represented on various levels, including the development of space vehicles, as well as the progress of the intercontinental missile industries, including the Al-Abed missiles, which were considered among the best weapons in Iraq.

And he reveals to Al Jazeera Net that the socialist camp led by the former Soviet Union contributed to the escalation of space technology for Iraq, where the Soviet Union - represented by its heir Russia now - possesses a great ability and precedence in the space field, surpassing all countries of the world, including the great powers such as the United States of America.

On the reasons for preventing Iraq from entering the field of space research, Shabib says that the dominant superpowers do not want the renaissance of a state like Iraq with nationalistic dimensions against the Israeli project, fearing that this renaissance will turn into permanent fears for the allies of the United States in the region, because space progress means a strong country. Self-sufficient with local competencies.

He believes that Iraq's early step in space work - albeit with ideological and political dimensions - was of strategic dimensions, for Iraq to be a leading and powerful country in the Middle East.

Shabib points out that the economic blockade and successive air strikes led to the destruction of Iraq's missile arsenal, especially the Al-Abed missile, and after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq's military arsenal was destroyed.

He expresses his belief that the Ministry of Defense, with its various institutions, has the ability to protect its military heritage, and still maintains the Al-Abed missile archive and its stages of development. Serious consideration should be given to building up space power and military industries to protect the state at the level of deterrence.