Iraq air force to get new aircraft

[fieldmarshal]

Iraq air force to get new aircraft

http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/29/top16.htm

AMMAN, July 28: Iraq's nascent air force will take delivery of its first two new aircraft on Thursday, the start of a new surveillance force for protecting its borders and oil facilities.

Jordanian officials said the two Seabird Seeker (SB7L-360) aircraft, made by Seabird Aviation-Jordan, a joint Jordanian- Australian venture, would be handed over to Iraqi officials in Amman and then flown to Basra.

"Tomorrow we will hand over the first two aircraft to the Iraqi air force," said Omar Massarweh, operations manager at Seabird Aviation-Jordan. -Reuters

[srirangan]

Waste of resources, imho. They need to get rid of the anarchy, invest is police and civil administration. IrAF can wait.

[santpaul]

actually it's good that they have surveillance aircrafts,now they can use those aircrafts to secure the oil lines.

[tatra]

The Seeker 360 is the new helicopter alternative. It is a two-seat observation and surveillance aircraft with excellent visibility. It has been designed to provide good handling characteristics at low speeds and docile stall behavior the aircraft has ample power to provide additional safety at low levels and has good turbulence riding capabilities, which along with a lack of propeller slipstream gives high crew comfort levels. The fuselage gives excellent crew protection and the sturdy nature of the structure will ensure long aircraft lives in adverse operating conditions.

http://www.utility-aircraft.com/images/seeker-02.JPG
http://www.utility-aircraft.com/images/seeker-6-01.JPG
http://www.utility-aircraft.com/images/seeker-4-01.JPG

http://www.utility-aircraft.com/planes/seabird.htm

[fieldmarshal]

the effectiveness of the ac can only be judged if we know the stats n there operational persormance n characteristics.

[Aussie Digger]

Srirangan, how exactly do you simply "stop" the Anarchy? You need military capabilities to do so and an aerial surveillance capability is an essential requirement, military commanders at all levels always need to know "what's over the next hill". This acquisition represents a very modest surveillance capability and is hardly likely to tax the Iraqi people's resources too heavily...

[srirangan]

I'ld rather invest in police and civil administration.

[corsair7772]

Same here. First you need civil administration, then an army and then an airforce. It looks kind of stupid that 2 seeker aircraft have been purchased but no new police station built and no new hospital set up. I mean its not like all the american UAVs and Recon aircraft suddenly vanished and the iraqis now have 2 rely on seekers. :?

[mysterious]

Who told you people to believe that the US is 'actually' there for the good of Iraqi people? Its just the oil pipelines my friends and a strong foot-hold in the centre of the Middle East. :cop

[tatra]

Who told you people to believe that the US is 'actually' there for the good of Iraqi people? Its just the oil pipelines my friends and a strong foot-hold in the centre of the Middle East. :cop

No doubt those are two key reasons. However, IMHO you are underestimating the (sometimes somewhat naive) idealism of the average American: many do believe the US is in Iraq for the good of the Iraqi people.

[The Watcher]

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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[Roger Smith]

Good for a start for Iraqi air force to have new aircrafts. :smokingc: