Having acquired its first aircraft in 2004, the reborn Iraqi air force is now performing routine missions alongside coalition fleets in the country. Further procurement is expanding the air force inventory in key mission areas, and U.S. forces are extremely pleased with the progress that the young air arm has made in a short time.
“We are very excited to be working alongside the Iraqi air force; they are a very proud, very capable and very professional force,” Lieutenant General Gary North, Commander 9th Air Force and U.S. Central Command Air Forces, told AIN. “We are working alongside them in Kirkuk on training, and they are a part of our Air Tasking Order on combat and combat support operations. They are patrolling the oil pipelines and electric cables with their ISR platforms, and they have proven to be very successful at rapid reaction operations against groups tapping into the pipelines to steal oil.”
