The first actual combat planes the Iraqi Air Force has managed to get its hands on, the Maliki government today took delivery of 12 “second-hand” Su-25 warplanes from Russia.
Su-25s represent some of the finest technology the late 1970’s Soviet Union had to offer, and while not as powerful as the F-16s Iraq ordered from the US back in 2011, they have the advantage of actually having been delivered.
On the downside, the US is rushing Hellfire Missiles to Iraq, which are totally incompatible with the Su-25s. Making matters worse, ISIS looted large amounts of US-made Stinger missiles from Iraqi forces in Mosul, and those missiles were designed to shoot down Soviet aircraft like the Su-25.
In addition to the planes, Russia also sent a handful a military experts to the nation to provide details about the new, lightly-used hardware. The arrival of Russian experts was seen as a move to one-up the US, though they are not expected to stay long.
Those may not be the only virtually obsolete Soviet warplanes in the Iraqi Air Force going forward, as Iraq is said to be in talks with Iran on returning a number of older warplanes that defected to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War. The planes include Su-24s and MiG-23s.
> virtually obsolete Soviet warplanes
If maintained, they will be good enough. They won't go up against Eurofighters.
But who are the pilots? A plane is always a pilot with some gear around him. I suppose the Iraqi air force skills have decayed quite a bit since Gulf War 1.
The Iranians were "gifted" SU-25s by Saddam Hussein so they probably have technicians and pilots ready trained. Also, the Soviets were never adverse to supplying pilots and ground crew for the aircraft they supply to allies and I doubt the Russians are any different. For instance, most of the pilots on the NK side in the Korean War were Soviet airmen though the USSR was loathe to admit it.
They might date from the 1970s but they are probably the second best Close Air Support aircraft in the world after the A-10 Thunderbolts which were developed at about the same time. Perhaps the US Congress should re-examine its recent decision to scrap those superb aircraft in place of useless F-35s.
The FedGov has only itself to blame for giving the Russians the opportunity. On a more strategic level, however, Putin's decision is very smart. Russia has its own Islamic insurrection/terror problem, and the Russians understand very clearly that the ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria today will likely wind up in Chechnya tomorrow. Therefore, Putin has every reason to see to it that ISIS is dealt with.
The destruction of all of the Arab countries with their secular dictators – pretty much in keeping with the "Clean Break" plan by Israel – but – how is that working out for Israel??
"ISIS looted large amounts of US-made Stinger missiles from Iraqi forces in Mosul,"
Jason, you'll have to provide something authoritative to support this, because I think it's junk. Manpads, especially the advanced US models are too dangerous to be passed out cavalierly. Add to that the fact that the Iraqis had no need for them, having no adversaries with an air force.
I think someone in the fact-free-journalism crowd made this claim, and it's been picked up since then by the I-read-it-somewhere-so-it-must-be-true crowd.
Maybe they are left over from the Iraq-Iran war in which case they are little more than scrap.
The NYT notwithstanding, I would see this as a move that suits everybody. The ancient jets, rickety as they are, will be sufficient against civilians or guerillas. That's enough for Maliki's purposes. Equally, the US is spared the trouble of sending in aircraft, which will suit Obama, and Putin gets a chance to make amends for the fool he has made of himself in Ukraine. In addition, Putin gets to strut around somewhere other than Europe and thereby saves his face, at least to some degree. We may well even be heading back to the US-Russian co-operation of the Yeltsin era. Another article on this website even presents him as the protector of Iraq's Christians, which will appeal to his 19th century pipedreams about "spheres of influence" and "great games"! And, to crown it all, by removing aircraft from Europe, Putin makes a concilitory gesture towards NATO. Even Poroshenko gets something out of it: if Maliki turns these planes on his rebels, the damage they will do will highlight just how restrained and reasonable the Ukrainians have been in dealing with theirs. So it's win-win for everybody. Except maybe for the neocons, who seem to have screwed up yet again!
Well they looted armories in Mosul…unlikely that they just left some things. If you Google it, you can take your pick of “authoritative” sources. Been reported everywhere. No one has proven otherwise from I’ve seen.
Comparisons with the F-16 or Eurofighters are stupid. The SU-25 is not a fighter, it’s a ground attack plane, and actually the SU-25 is superior to the venerable A-10. Once it has dropped it’s (vast) load, it is supersonic, the A-10 tops out at 400 MPH.
It will be vulnerable to man-pads though, and stupidly, the US seems to have inadvertently supplied ISIL with lots of them.When was the last time the US actually made a good foreign policy decision, 1943?