Within the framework of the international coalition in the fight against the organization Daesh in Iraq and in the context of strengthening the US-Iraqi relations in the era of the administration of Donald Trump, the Iraqi government received on the current 24 March four combat aircraft type “F 16” which are characterized of the existence of laser equipment that are not existed in the “F 16” aircraft, in the Middle East with the exception of the fighters that were obtained by the Iraqi government. The missiles launched by these fighters are characterized due to the existence of laser equipment with pinpoint precision in hitting targets, and in which the proportion of the error rate is completely non-existence , and in other words, the error rate is zero percentage .
It is worth noting that this receipt comes within the arms deal under which the United States to sell the Iraqi government fighter jets of the type “F 16” and the date of this deal is 17 July in 2015 , where the Iraqi government received two fighter Jets as the first group of the deal. it was the first combat sorties for them against the organization Deash on the 2th of Semptember of that year, and this sortie was able to achieve its military targets where it managed to destroy the booby- traping plants in Hawija and the headquarters of the leadership of the organization Daesh in Baiji. And then the second , third and fourth groups of the fighter “F 16″ reached and each group consists of four fighters And these groups of fighters” F 16″ continue to arrive to Iraq until to reach 24 fighter at the end of this year. while it will reach 30 fighter at the beginning of the year 2018. Currently, there are in the city of Tucson , Arizona, USA , A group of Iraqi heroic pilots to train on these fighters . The fighters are considered very important in the defense of the sovereignty of Iraq and not violated , and a very important step in order to enhance Iraq’s physical strength as the the air force is one of its basic pillars.
And to provide logistical support for Iraq in its war against terrorism and against the organization Daesh, there is in the military Balad base a ” Lockheed Martin ” company ,a manufacturer of fighter”F 16″ where Iraq benefited from this presence noting that Iraq and the International coalition are engaging in a fierce war against the terrorism of Daesh , and this war depends very heavily on the air force, where the Iraqi force managed , including holdings of military and technical skill and with support from the US to solve the problem of the scarcity of “Hellfire ” Guided missiles in the middle east, through the possession of large stocks of these missiles.
This receipt comes confirm that Iraq is the focus of attention of American decision-maker and occupies an important status in the US strategic recognition , and that there is a positive correlation between the status of Iraq in the US Strategic recognition and the US strategic directions in the Middle East, namely that whenever the United States succeeded in recognizing this status and its components appropriately and handled positively , it would succeed in achieving its strategic objectives in the Middle East, while that whenever there was a failure to deal with it or misunderstanding of its importance, this failure would be reflected negatively on the possibility of achieving its key objectives in it .
This receipt comes to confirm that the Iraqi government and its air forces ,which have regained its military and combat capability, have gained the confidence of US administration of President Donald Trump , this confidence is due to the military achievements of the Iraqi government and its air force in the war to purge Iraq from the organization Daesh . Iraq despite all the difficult circumstances experienced by it since 2003, and to this day, it remains a pivotal state in the regional equations and strategic balances that it is difficult to ignore it in the Middle East.
The Iraqi Studies Unit
Translated by: Mudhaffar al-Kusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies