DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq To Buy 28 Czech L-159 Training Jets For $1 Billion ~ Media Reports

DTN News - IRAQ DEFENSE NEWS: Iraq To Buy 28 Czech L-159 Training Jets For $1 Billion ~ Media Reports

Source: This article compiled by Roger Smith DTN News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 12, 2012: The Iraqi government intends to buy Czech-made Aero Vodochody L-159 advanced trainer/light-attack jets, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday in Prague after talks with his Czech counterpart Petr Necas, local TV reported.

Iraq will buy 28 Czech-made L-159 training jets valued at $1 billion dollars (770 billions euros), a Czech defence ministry spokesman told AFP Friday in Prague. The deal includes 24 new plane and four older army surplus aircraft.

"Further talks about purchasing the L-159 will take place on Friday between the Iraqi and Czech defense ministries," he said. Talks about an L-159 purchase between Baghdad and Prague have been underway for at least three years, acording to Defense Industry Daily.

The Czech government hopes to sell Iraq up to 24 of the jets, which Defense Industry Daily says are used aircraft which were operated for a short time by the Czech Air Force. Iraq used to operate the jet's predecessor, the L-39 Albatros.

The L-159 can be armed with Sidewinder missiles, targeting pods and laser-guided air-to-surface weapons, and can operate from austere airstrips, the daily says.

The L 159A is a single-seat light multi-role combat aircraft designed for a variety of air-to-air, air-to-ground and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft is equipped with a multi-mode Doppler Grifo-L radar (a variant of the Grifo-F x-band multi-mode, pulse-doppler radar), for all-weather, day and night operations. It can carry a wide range of NATO standard stores including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and laser guided bombs. The L 159A is in operational service with the Czech Air Force and in production.

The L 159B is a two-seat derivative of the L159A primarily designed for Advanced and Operational/Lead-In Fighter Training. The L 159B configuration can also be tailored to customer specific requirements and adapted to needs of basic training as well as combat missions including air-to-Ground, patrol and reconnaissance missions.

The L 159T1 is a two-seat trainer derivative used by the Czech air Force. All L 159T1 are modified L 159A airframes taken from storage. First flight 8 March 2007.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith DTN News 
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DTN News: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Has Arrived In Southern Iraq

DTN News: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Has Arrived In Southern Iraq *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) TALIL, Iraq - July 29, 2009: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Iraq today on an unannounced visit to review a newly converted advisory brigade that represents a bellwether for the changing American role in the nation. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates speaks with troops from the 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division's Advise and Assist Mission at COB Adder in Tallil on July 28, 2009. Gates, on a previously unannounced mission, urged Iraq's communities to settle political differences before US troops leave by the end of 2011. The U.S. brigade at Tallil Air Base, in southern Iraq, has been overhauled from its traditional combat role to primarily advise and train Iraqi security forces. In addition, the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division will arrive in Iraq in September as the first such brigade trained in the U.S. As the U.S. draws down forces during the next year, its mission in Iraq is due to shift to one oriented toward a half dozen so-called advisory and assistance brigades. The speed of the transition will depend largely on the success of general elections scheduled for January and talks to resolve sectarian conflicts. During his visit, Gates also plans to meet with officials including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was in Washington last week to press for more normalized ties with the U.S. that go beyond military engagement to business, education and cultural links. Maliki left open the prospect of a continuing U.S. military presence in Iraq after the deadline for the withdrawal of American troops at the end of 2011. Gates has said in the past that Iraq might need further U.S. military aid. U.S. officials have said the two sides haven’t begun any talks on ties after the scheduled withdrawal. Joint Operations U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police officers working with them on joint operations in and around Tallil seem to have adapted to the change in their roles since U.S. forces pulled back from urban areas on June 30, Gates said after a tour and a series of briefings by officers on both sides. “It is amazingly different from December 2006,” Gates told a combined patrol preparing to go to Nasiriyah on a rotation to assist Iraqi police at a provincial joint operations center. Based on the briefings he had received, he said it was “going well down here.” Iraqi police Lieutenant Anwar Ghani said security in the area is good and the Iraqi government is able to contend with potentially divisive tribal loyalties. U.S. forces are on standby to help as needed, Ghani said in interview through an interpreter. Iraqi security forces recently discovered an insurgent weapons cache in Nasiriyah, complete with rockets, improvised explosive devices and control systems. Iranian Influence Training that the U.S. military provides at the request of their Iraqi partners includes a course next month for police on evidence collection and preserving crime scenes, said U.S. Army Major Sean Kuster. Iraqi Army Staff Major General Habib al-Hussani told Gates in one briefing he is still concerned about border security. As commander of the 10th Iraqi Army division, he urged Gates to make the border a priority and said his forces need more electronic monitoring equipment. Iran remains a source of concern, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Charles Jacoby said. Iran and Iraq share a common border. “We have seen consistent Iranian influence across all domains in Iraq, and we continue to see that today,” Jacoby told reporters. Gates, who flew to Baghdad from Tallil, stopped in Jordan yesterday to meet with King Abdullah II, urged more countries in the region to aid in the transition by normalizing relations with Iraq. Sanctions “The deepening economic and diplomatic ties between Iraq and Jordan offer an example of the type of support needed from other countries to fully re-integrate Iraq into the region,” Gates told reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman. “This is the only way to forge a stable and prosperous Iraq, a goal that is in the interest of all the nations of the Middle East.” Gates also told reporters in Amman yesterday that the U.S. would seek international backing for stiffer sanctions on Iran should the Persian Gulf nation rebuff talks aimed at curbing its nuclear program. “We would try to get international support for a much tougher position,” Gates said. He added that any new sanctions wouldn’t be incremental. Earlier yesterday, in meetings with top Israeli officials, Gates said the U.S. plan to engage Iran over its nuclear program wasn’t open ended, while his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak warned that his country is considering all measures if diplomatic efforts fail. “No options should be removed from the table, despite the fact that at this stage priority should be given still to diplomacy,” Barak said at a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Gates. Barak is a former Israeli prime minister. The U.S. and Israel suspect that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at building a weapon, while Iran says its atomic pursuits are a legitimate effort to generate nuclear power.

Gen. Raymond Odierno: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki To Decide On Troops In Cities

Gen. Raymond Odierno: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki To Decide On Troops In Cities

(NSI News Source Info) April 13, 2009: The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday a decision on withdrawing American forces from Iraq's major cities by a June 30 deadline will be made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with U.S. military advice. President Barack Obama is greeted by Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, as he arrives in Baghdad, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. At center is U.S. Charge d Affaires Patricia Butenis. Gen. Raymond Odierno did not specifically say whether U.S. troops would leave Iraqi cities by the deadline, which is part of a plan for the gradual drawdown of American forces. Odierno contends that overall violence in Iraq remains at the low levels seen in the early months after the U.S. invasion in 2003. But he noted "there are still some elements" in Iraq able to conduct serious attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces. A roadside bomb killed an American soldier north of Baghdad on Sunday, the sixth U.S. combat death in the past three days. "So we will continue to conduct assessments along with the government of Iraq as we move forward (to) the June 30th deadline. If we believe that we'll need troops to maintain a presence in some of the cities, we'll recommend that, but, ultimately, it will the decision of Prime Minister Maliki," Odierno said. The deadline is included in an agreement negotiated between the governments of al-Maliki and former President George W. Bush last year. President Barack Obama plans to pull combat troops from the country by September 2010 and bring home the last of the force by the end of 2011. Odierno said the suicide bombing that killed five American troops in Mosul last week was a "tragic, tragic event," but did not presage a return to the violence that took the country to the verge of civil war in 2006 and 2007. "But this is not a significant increase in overall lack of security. There just are still some suicide bombers and those who profess suicide attacks that are still very dangerous," the four-star general said on CNN's "State of the Union." Questioned about his earlier opposition to an announced timeline for the U.S. withdrawal, Odierno noted that the Bush administration had since negotiated a pullout by the end of 2011 and that he was "comfortable" with that. "We will continue to train and advise. We'll continue to assist. We'll continue to conduct combat operations, where we believe it's necessary," Odierno said. "And I do believe, now, that it is probably the right time frame." A member of the Iraqi security forces stands guard at the entrance of the Kirkuk's Chaldean Cathedral during the Sunday Easter mass on April 12, 2009. Christians make up around three percent of Iraq's overwhelmingly Muslim 29 million population and are mostly concentrated in the relatively stable Kurdish autonomous north of the country. According to Christian leaders, 250,000 of the 800,000 Christians who lived in Iraq before the invasion six years ago that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, have now left the country. Odierno took over control of U.S. forces from Gen. David Petraeus last year, about the same time that Ambassador Ryan Crocker left his post in Baghdad. Crocker has not been replaced because diplomat Christopher Hill, who had led American negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, has not been confirmed by the Senate. "So, of course, it would be much better to have our ambassador here. We have a process that we have to go through to get our ambassadors confirmed. We're going through that process. Hopefully we'll have an ambassador out here very soon. It would certainly help to have an ambassador here as quickly as possible," Odierno said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki In Moscow On A Goodwill Mission

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki In Moscow On A Goodwill Mission *Analysis: Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev are matured and good politican as well statesmen, under their leaderships, Russia will progress further economically and financially. (DTN Defense-Technology News) (NSI News Source Info) April 10, 2009: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Moscow on April 10, 2009.

Iraq is to consider restoring lucrative contracts won by Russian companies before the 2003 war that ousted Saddam Hussein, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said.