by DAVID AXE
The Iraqi air force was all but destroyed in the Allied air campaign in 1991; the few aircraft that survived were blown up or buried in the sand when U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003. For years afterward, the new Iraqi air force’s fixed-wing capability was represented by a mere handful of light planes — some equipped with simple cameras for surveillance, but none of them armed.
That began to change last year, when the Iraqi air force bought 10 sensor-equipped, armed Beechcraft King Air 350s, an aircraft design that is “an unlikely star of the Iraq war,” according to Defense Industry Daily. In addition to Iraq, the U.S. Air Force, Army and Marines, and the British Royal Air Force, have all recently bought King Airs for combat surveillance duty.
With training provided by Americans, the first Iraqi King Air crews — many of them former MiG-21 pilots — began flying operational sorties in May. The goal is to have 10 crews ready by May 2010, according to USAF Colonel John Rutkowski. In the meantime, the Americans are training Iraqi instructor pilots, and also recruiting young men to serve as sensor operators, for the King Air’s infrared and daytime cameras. “We developed a program that can take a person who has never seen a computer before and develop in them the ability to quickly learn the dynamics of a computer as well as the technology behind why the mission sensor equipment works,” USAF Staff Sergeant Josh Roden said.
The King Airs reportedly have wing hard-points for small bombs or missiles, but it’s not clear if they are carrying munitions yet. Instead, the Iraqi air force is using five Cessna Caravans armed with Hellfire missiles. In the next several years, Iraq will also buy Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 light attack planes, and eventually Lockheed Martin F-16s.
While most King Air missions are over land, searching for insurgents and directing Iraqi troops to engage them, the planes also have a secondary maritime role, prowling for suspicious vessels — possibly smugglers — on behalf of the Iraqi navy.
(Photo: via DID)
Related:
Surveillance Orbits for From-Scratch Air Forces
Meet the “New” U.S. Air Force
Air Force Copies Marines’ “Bolt-On” Gunship Plan
Offiziere.ch: the Emerging U.S. Counter-Insurgency Air Force
Congressional Budget Office’s Plans to Save the Air Force
Air Force Turns a Corner
The Day U.S. Air Power Was Saved from Itself
Analysts: Buy Fighters, or Die
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[...] The second is the recent popularity of pairing off-the-shelf aircraft with specialized payloads. In the past year, the Air Force has ordered dozens of Beechcraft King Air turboprops and is fitting them with a wide range of sensors and communications gear. The first of these “Project Liberty” planes went from idea to flying combat orbits in a year’s time, at a cost of just a few million dollars apiece. They are a preview of my just-in-time warplanes. [...]
[...] Related: Offiziere.ch: Imagining the Air Force After Next “Eve” Mother-Ship Could Form Basis of Future Warplane Flying with Iraq’s King Air Spy Planes Surveillance Orbits for From-Scratch Air Forces Meet the “New” U.S. Air Force Air Force Copies Marines’ “Bolt-On” Gunship Plan Offiziere.ch: the Emerging U.S. Counter-Insurgency Air Force Congressional Budget Office’s Plans to Save the Air Force Air Force Turns a Corner The Day U.S. Air Power Was Saved from Itself Analysts: Buy Fighters, or Die This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 12:34 am and is filed under No War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. [...]
[...] Related: Offiziere.ch: Imagining the “Air Force after Next” “Eve” Mother-Ship Could Form Basis of Future Warplane Flying with Iraq’s King Air Spy Planes Surveillance Orbits for From-Scratch Air Forces Meet the “New” U.S. Air Force Air Force Copies Marines’ “Bolt-On” Gunship Plan Offiziere.ch: the Emerging U.S. Counter-Insurgency Air Force Congressional Budget Office’s Plans to Save the Air Force Air Force Turns a Corner The Day U.S. Air Power Was Saved from Itself Analysts: Buy Fighters, or Die No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]