.After the surge, the splurge: Iraq spends $5bn rebuilding its forces
America is supplying the Iraqi armed forces with tanks, fighter jets and other high-tech weapons worth billions of dollars, in one of the biggest rearmament programmes ever seen in the region.
The Iraqi Army, Navy and Air Force are all being rearmed under the programme, which is designed to make sure that the fledgeling Government in Baghdad is able to subdue the insurgency once US troops leave. The weapons should also be enough to defend the country against hostile neighbours.
Already on order are 140 M1 Abrams tanks. The air force is to get F16 fighters by 2015, and the navy is awaiting the arrival in June of the first of four 450-tonne Italian patrol ships.
The army that Saddam Hussein created to shore up his regime was destroyed after the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003. Hundreds of T72 and T55 tanks have turned to rust and both the navy and air force have been destroyed.
Saddam sent many of his best fighter aircraft, including Soviet MiG29s, to Iran during the 1991 war to put them out of harm's way. He never got them back. The navy's patrol boats were obliterated in the Gulf War and their sunken wrecks remain in the port of Umm Qasr, south of Basra.Now, however, the Government in Baghdad is learning the art of democracy and it has already spent $5 billion on American military equipment, supplies and training.
The Iraqi Army now has 14 divisions and is generally equipped for counter-insurgency operations - with American armoured Humvees. But the present plan for this year includes fielding two tank battalions with Abrams and ten artillery batteries with 120mm light guns.
The Iraqis have asked for Apache attack helicopters, military sources told The Times, but the request has apparently been rejected.
The Iraqi Air Force already has Russian Mi17 Hind helicopters, armed with rockets, but it has been promised other attack helicopters this year. Also on offer are C130J Hercules transport aircraft (the newest version), armed Scout helicopters and light aircraft armed with Hellfire missiles.
The 3,000-strong Iraqi Navy and Marines at Umm Qasr are being trained by the British and Americans to defend the port and the two vital oil terminals 60 miles from the shore and are building up their fleet of vessels.
The four Saettia-class patrol ships on order from Italy are each armed with 30mm cannon, and the crew due to take control of the first ship to be delivered began pre-handover training by the British-led Naval Training Team in October last year. The fleet will also include 26 Defender patrol craft, ten rigid inflatable boats, two offshore patrol vessels and ten fast-attack boats.
Yesterday the Iraqi Marines were being taught how to master the American rigid inflatable boats, which had just been “taken out of their wrapping paper”.
The near-monopoly procurement arrangement between the US and the Iraqi military is all part of a plan to develop a closer strategic partnership between the two countries.
Even when the American combat troops have pulled out of Iraq, there will remain a substantial US military presence for long-term training on all the equipment that is to be provided over the next few years.
TimesOnline
The Iraqi Army, Navy and Air Force are all being rearmed under the programme, which is designed to make sure that the fledgeling Government in Baghdad is able to subdue the insurgency once US troops leave. The weapons should also be enough to defend the country against hostile neighbours.
Already on order are 140 M1 Abrams tanks. The air force is to get F16 fighters by 2015, and the navy is awaiting the arrival in June of the first of four 450-tonne Italian patrol ships.
The army that Saddam Hussein created to shore up his regime was destroyed after the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003. Hundreds of T72 and T55 tanks have turned to rust and both the navy and air force have been destroyed.
Saddam sent many of his best fighter aircraft, including Soviet MiG29s, to Iran during the 1991 war to put them out of harm's way. He never got them back. The navy's patrol boats were obliterated in the Gulf War and their sunken wrecks remain in the port of Umm Qasr, south of Basra.Now, however, the Government in Baghdad is learning the art of democracy and it has already spent $5 billion on American military equipment, supplies and training.
The Iraqi Army now has 14 divisions and is generally equipped for counter-insurgency operations - with American armoured Humvees. But the present plan for this year includes fielding two tank battalions with Abrams and ten artillery batteries with 120mm light guns.
The Iraqis have asked for Apache attack helicopters, military sources told The Times, but the request has apparently been rejected.
The Iraqi Air Force already has Russian Mi17 Hind helicopters, armed with rockets, but it has been promised other attack helicopters this year. Also on offer are C130J Hercules transport aircraft (the newest version), armed Scout helicopters and light aircraft armed with Hellfire missiles.
The 3,000-strong Iraqi Navy and Marines at Umm Qasr are being trained by the British and Americans to defend the port and the two vital oil terminals 60 miles from the shore and are building up their fleet of vessels.
The four Saettia-class patrol ships on order from Italy are each armed with 30mm cannon, and the crew due to take control of the first ship to be delivered began pre-handover training by the British-led Naval Training Team in October last year. The fleet will also include 26 Defender patrol craft, ten rigid inflatable boats, two offshore patrol vessels and ten fast-attack boats.
Yesterday the Iraqi Marines were being taught how to master the American rigid inflatable boats, which had just been “taken out of their wrapping paper”.
The near-monopoly procurement arrangement between the US and the Iraqi military is all part of a plan to develop a closer strategic partnership between the two countries.
Even when the American combat troops have pulled out of Iraq, there will remain a substantial US military presence for long-term training on all the equipment that is to be provided over the next few years.
TimesOnline
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