List of Iraqi Air Force aircraft squadrons

Squadrons are the main form of flying unit of the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF).

  • No. 1 Squadron
    • 1931 - established in April at RAF Hinaidi, flying the de Havilland DH.60 Moth.[1]
    • 1932 - reinforced with three de Havilland Puss Moths.[2]
    • 1941 - flying the Nisr from Firnas AB, near Mosul.[3]
    • 1948 - started flying the Hawker Fury in January.[4] Malovany cites a 1992 anniversary interview with the Air Force commander, Lieutenant General Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti, who said that the 1st Squadron sent a flight of Avro Anson aircraft to the Mafraq airbase in Jordan during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and flights of Furies to the Damascus airport and to Egypt.[5]
    • 1958 - in the process of conversion to the de Havilland Venom FB.50 at Firnas AB.[6] The Venoms were flown alongside the older Furies until around 1967.[7]
    • 1967 - declared operational on the Sukhoi Su-7BMK in December.[8]
    • 1973 - based at Al Hurriya Air Base. Deployed to Damascus International Airport on 8 October.[9]
    • 1974 - re-equipped with Sukhoi Su-20s.[10]
    • 1995 - disbanded.[11]
    • 2008 - started receiving Cessna 172s, flying from Kirkuk Air Base.[12]
    • 2011 - 1st Sq was renumbered 201st Squadron during March 2011.[13]
    • 2015 - flying the Cessna 172 from Ali Air Base.[14]
Night flying certification for the UH-1 crews of the Iraqi 2nd Squadron
  • 2nd Squadron
    • 1933 - established in June, flying de Havilland Dragons.[15]
    • 1941 - flying the de Havilland Dragon and the Vickers Vincent from Rasheed Air Base.[3]
    • 1958 - Avro Anson, Stinson L-5, Cessna O-1A, Westland Dragonfly. Based at Rasheed Air Base.[6]
    • 1959 - started receiving Mil Mi-4s.[16]
    • 1967 - flying Mil Mi-4s from Firnas Air Base near Mosul.[17]
    • 1973 - flying Mil Mi-1s and Mi-4s from Firnas AB.[9]
    • 2003 - disbanded.[11]
    • 2004-05 - reestablished at Taji flying donated Jordanian UH-1s, but suffered severe spares shortages.[18]
    • 2007 - five rebuilt Huey II helicopters were turned over to Squadron 2 at Taji. Over the next few months, several were occasionally flown back to NAMAB, Phoenix Base, and Baghdad’s Green Zone to take Iraqi defense officials aloft for the benefit of the press.[19] Additionally, the Hueys were used to train Iraqi airmen. Although the rebuilt aircraft had been factory-equipped with armor, they remained within Taji’s airspace for the first several months, as insurgents had damaged or shot down several US helicopters in only two weeks, in late February and early March. It was not until 10 April that two Iraqi pilots made Squadron 2’s first flights outside Taji’s perimeter. Those sorties included live-fire exercises using externally mounted machine guns.[20] Five more aircraft arrived at NAMAB on 2 May, and the final six were airlifted in from the United States on 29 July, by which time Squadron 2 had accumulated about 1,300 flying hours in training missions, passenger movement, and infrastructure protection and assessment."[21]
    • 2010 - at Taji with Bell UH-1s in November 2009 and May 2010.[22][23]
    • Scramble.nl does not list the squadron as operational in January 2019. The UH-1s have been transferred to the army, in 2016 at the latest.[24]
  • 3rd Squadron
  • No. 4 Squadron
Savoia Marchetti SM.79Bs of the Iraqi Air force
Iraqi Air Force F-16C
Iraqi Air Force Antonov An-32B
Iraqi Air Force MiG-29
  • No. 39 Squadron
    • 1976 - declared operational on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23.[61]
    • 1983 - disbanded and transferred its aircraft to No. 59 Operational Conversion Unit.[65]
    • 1987 - re-established, flying MiG-29s.[65]
    • 1995 - disbanded.[64]
  • No. 43 Squadron
    • 1979 - established, flying Il-76MDs from Baghdad International Airport.[31]
  • No. 44 Squadron
  • No. 47 Squadron
    • 1979 - established at al-Hurriyah AB, operating the MiG-21bis.[39]
    • 1990 - redeployed to al-Wallid Air Base, still flying the MiG-21bis.[39]
    • 1995 - disbanded.[64]
  • No. 49 Squadron
    • 1977 - established, flying the MiG-23BN. Based at Abu Ubayda Air Base.[67]
    • 1990 - operating the MiG-23BN from Ali Ibn Abu Talib AB.[62]
    • 1992 - disbanded.[64]
  • No. 53 Squadron - VIP transport unit, operating five Dassault Falcon 50s as of the mid-1980s.[68]
  • No. 59 OCU
  • No. 61 Squadron
  • 62nd Squadron
  • No. 63 Squadron
  • No. 66 Squadron
  • No. 67 Squadron
    • 1980 - established at al-Bakr Air Base, working up on the MiG-23MF.[31]
    • 1982 - achieved full operational capability.[31]
    • 1990 - flying MiG-23MFs from Tammuz AB.[62]
  • No. 69 Squadron
    • 1986 - flying Sukhoi Su-22M-3s.[70]
    • 1988 - flying Sukhoi Su-22s.[66]
  • 70th Squadron
  • No. 73 Squadron
  • No. 79 Squadron
    • 1980 - established as No. 79 OCU.[50]
    • 1981 - reorganised as No. 79 Squadron, and declared operational on the Dassault Mirage F1 at Saddam AB in September.[75]
    • 1988 - still flying Mirage F1s.[66]
    • 2003 - disbanded.[64]
  • No. 81 Squadron
    • 1984 - established at Saddam AB, flying Mirage F1s.[76]
    • 1988 - still flying Mirage F1s.[66]
    • 1991 - disbanded.[64]
  • 87th Squadron
  • No. 89 Squadron
    • 1982 - established at Saddam AB in early 1982, flying Mirage F1s.[78]
    • 1988 - still flying Mirage F1s.[66]
  • No. 91 Squadron
    • 1983 - established at Saddam AB in September, flying Mirage F1s.[79]
    • 1988 - still flying Mirage F1s.[66]
  • No. 93 Squadron
  • No. 96 Squadron
    • 1984 - established.[64]
    • 1991 - flying the MiG-25PD from Tammuz AB.[81]
    • 2003 - disbanded.[64]
  • No. 97 Squadron
  • No. 101 Squadron
  • 109th Squadron
  • 115th Squadron
  • 201st Squadron - training, re-designated from the 1st Training Squadron in 2011.[87]
  • 202nd Squadron
  • 203rd Squadron
  • 204th Squadron - established in 2017, flying the KAI T-50.[87]

Notes

  1. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 13
  2. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 14
  3. ^ a b c Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 24
  4. ^ a b c Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 34
  5. ^ Malovany 2017, 72 fn 6.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 45
  7. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, pp. IV, VII, 80
  8. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 74
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 8
  10. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 20
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. VIII
  12. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 35
  13. ^ Scramble.nl, January 2019
  14. ^ a b c d Delalande 2016, p. 71
  15. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 16
  16. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 50
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 65
  18. ^ Cully, 32.
  19. ^ “Huey II,” Advisor 4, no. 9 (3 March 2007): 11; MC2 Elisandro Diaz, “Iraqi Air Force Celebrates 76 years,” Advisor 4, no. 17 (28 April 2007): 4 and 5; and “First Five Iraqi Huey IIs Delivered,” Air International, April 2007, 8.
  20. ^ 66. Erik Holmes, “Iraqis Fly First Helicopter Training Sortie,” Air Force Times, 11 April 2007, [1]. 66
  21. ^ Cully
  22. ^ Elliott, DJ. "Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  23. ^ Zielinski, Travis (25 January 2010). "Air Cav, Iraqi Air Force maintain partnership with joint flight". US Army. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  24. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 44
  25. ^ a b c Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 33
  26. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 39
  27. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. III
  28. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, pp. 69, VII
  29. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 57
  30. ^ a b c Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 59
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 52
  32. ^ a b c Delalande 2016, p. 27
  33. ^ a b c d Delalande 2016, p. 28
  34. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 19
  35. ^ Allen, Patrick (8 February 2006). "New Iraqi Air Force boosted by aircraft and joint operations". Jane's Defence Weekly. p. 31. & Cully
  36. ^ a b c Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 22
  37. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 40
  38. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 48
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 53
  40. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 19
  41. ^ a b Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 58
  42. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 41
  43. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 43
  44. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 11–12
  45. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 22
  46. ^ a b c d e f Cooper 2021, p. 31
  47. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 51
  48. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 29
  49. ^ "Kuwait "Emergency", 1961". Air Combat Information Group. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  50. ^ a b c d e f Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 54
  51. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 24, 29
  52. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 22
  53. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 52
  54. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 72
  55. ^ Allen 2006 and Cully
  56. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 61
  57. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 31
  58. ^ Delalande 2016, pp. 31–32
  59. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 32
  60. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 51–54
  61. ^ a b Cooper 2018, p. 14
  62. ^ a b c d e f Cooper 2018, p. 53
  63. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 30
  64. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. X
  65. ^ a b c d Cooper 2018, p. 34
  66. ^ a b c d e f Pierre Razoux, "The Iran-Iraq War," Harvard University Press, 2015, ISBN 0674088638, 9780674088634, p.540
  67. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 30
  68. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. VI
  69. ^ a b c d Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 44
  70. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 60
  71. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 78
  72. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 32
  73. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 29
  74. ^ a b "Appendix 2 (Air Order of Battle) to Annex B (Intelligence) to LOGCAP Contingency Support Plan" (PDF). White House FOIA/Army Materiel Command. 7 December 2002.
  75. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, pp. 15–16
  76. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 51
  77. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 26
  78. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 26
  79. ^ Cooper & Sipos 2019, p. 34
  80. ^ Cooper 2018, p. 40
  81. ^ Cooper 2021, pp. 26, 31, 33
  82. ^ Cooper 2021, p. 26
  83. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 51
  84. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 49, 53
  85. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 24
  86. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 20
  87. ^ a b Delalande, Arnaud (28 February 2018). "Four Years After an ISIS Massacre, the Iraqi Air Force Opens a New Academy". War Is Boring. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  88. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 36
  89. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 33

References

  • Cooper, Tom (2018). MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East. Warwick: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912-390328.
  • Cooper, Tom (2021). In the Claws of the Tomcat. US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat Against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-913118-75-4.
  • Cooper, Tom; Sipos, Milos (2019). Iraqi Mirages. The Dassault Mirage Family in Service with the Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988. Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-912-390311.
  • Cully, George W., "Adapt or fail : the USAF’s role in reconstituting the Iraqi Air Force 2004-2007" Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air University Press, Air Force Research Institute, 2016. ISBN 9781585662692. Public Domain - U.S. government work.
  • Delalande, Arnaud (2016). Iraqi Air Power Reborn, The Iraqi air arms since 2004. Houston: Harpia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9854554-7-7.
  • Malovany, Pesach, "Wars of Modern Babylon", University Press of Kentucky, June 2017, ISBN 0813169437 / ISBN 978-0813169439.
  • Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2020). Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-913118-74-7.
  • Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2022). Wings of Iraq, Volume 2: The Iraqi Air Force, 1970-1980. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-914377-17-4.

Further reading

  • Tom Cooper and Ahmad Sadik, Iraqi Fighters: 1953–2003: Camouflage and Markings. Harpia Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-615-21414-6.
  • Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-84176-655-0.
  • Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 1: Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-15 and MiG-17 in Service with Air Forces of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Syria. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2009, ISBN 978-0-9825539-2-3.
  • Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 2: Supersonic Fighters: 1956–1967. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2011, ISBN 978-0-9825539-6-1.
  • Tom Cooper, David Nicolle, Lon Nordeen and Patricia Salti: Arab MiGs. Volume 3: The June 1967 War. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2012, ISBN 978-0-9825539-9-2.