Update:
New Iraqi air force gets first planes
Fifteen months after President Bush declared the end of combat operations in Iraq, the Middle Eastern country’s fledgling Air Force obtained its first two aircraft. The Iraqi Air Force received two SB7L-360 Seeker aircraft the first week of August, according to Omar Massarweh, a manager at Seabird Aviation Jordan LLC, the joint Australian-Jordanian entity that manufactured the planes.
The two-seat surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, which were immediately put into service flying missions, will be used to watch over oil pipelines, power lines, roads and other important Iraqi infrastructure.
“These aircraft will allow cost-effective aerial surveillance of essential infrastructure in Iraq and timely reporting of potential terrorist threats,†Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said in a news release from the country’s Washington embassy.
The two aircraft were paid for by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which identified “urgent patrol needs,†Massarweh said. Reconstruction efforts have been hampered by insurgents who are sabotaging key infrastructure. American and British troops are struggling to keep the lights on in certain parts of Iraq. Attacks pipelines carrying oil, Iraq’s main source of income, have become a routine occurrence.
The aircraft can also be used to monitor the beleaguered country’s borders, an increasingly important task given revelations that Iranian guerrilla fighters are infiltrating Iraq to aid militants in their fight against occupational forces.
Iraqi Air Force leaders selected the Seeker with the help of U.S. military and CPA officials. Iraq will receive in total between eight and 16 aircraft, which cost more than $200,000 apiece.
Massarweh said Seabird Aviation Jordan is currently competing to provide the remainder of the surveillance aircraft. A decision is expected in September. If the company wins the contract, plans call for the rest of the aircraft will be delivered around March 2005.
The contract Seabird won to supply two aircraft equipped to CPA specifications, which included an advanced communications suite and surveillance system, amounted to $2.3 million, company officials said. That money included funds for pilot training as well as mechanical and logistic support, they added.
The SB7L-360 is a piston-engine powered aircraft with a bubble cockpit that hangs below the wing, much like a helicopter. Seabird Aviation Jordan boasts on its Web site that the aircraft can accommodate a wide range of sensors and has both an infrared and color imaging system onboard.
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