Will Operate Alongside US Equipment

The Iraqi Air Force (IAF) is showing off its newest equipment at New Al Murthana Air Base. The Mil Mi-17 helicopters are brand new, with zero hours, and are being delivered, up to four at a time, by Russian Antonov-124 transports. Four were delivered on February 14, four more on the 17th, and two more are coming. In all, 24 are expected to be acquired by mid-2007.

The aircraft were acquired from Poland, and the Poles will provide a year of support and flight and ground crew training, which may be all that's necessary because the nation operated the similar Mi-8 before. The Iraqis proudly indicate that this is the first aircraft system that was acquired directly by the new Iraq, with no input from the Coalition.

Other utility and cargo helicopters were considered, but none had the Mi-17s blend of low cost and high performance. The helicopter is larger than a Huey or Black Hawk, with rear clamshell cargo doors. (It can be flown with doors off for missions like paratroop training).

The versatile helicopter can lift almost 9,000 lbs of cargo, 20 troops, or 20 litter patients. The Iraqis have also acquired a couple in VIP configuration. It handles the Iraq density altitudes (do some calculations for 2,000 feet MSL and 130 degrees F) with aplomb. Aero-News has spoken several times to Western pilots and crew chiefs who transitioned to the Mil, and they universally praise the robust machine, particularly for reliability and maintainability.

A US military report says that the Office of the IAF Director of Engineering "chose the Mi-17 because it was simple, capable and had been flown by Iraq in the past." However, with most of the Air Force grounded between 1991 and 2004, many pilots are rusty -- or retired.

While most media reported that the Iraqi military was "thrown into unemployment," former Coalition Provisional Authority director Ambassador Paul Bremer said Friday on the Tod Feinberg radio show that was not true; while the privates, mostly Shiite draftees, just walked off the job and went home, the officers were pensioned by the CPA "and the pension was calculated to be a little higher that what they'd have made if they continued to retirement."

Iraq couldn't keep all the officers for the new military. "Saddam's Army was huge," said Bremer. "It was the size of the US Army." (The unspoken background to Bremer's statement: Iraq has just over 26 million inhabitants, according to the CIA World Factbook; the US has 298 million, according to the US Census Bureau).

But some retired officers are being recalled, and new officers will join them for training on the Mi-17s. When the cadre of the unit have been trained, they will move to Taji Air Base for a permanent duty station. Iraqi leaders are optimistic that they will be flying the Mi-17s operationally within two to three months.

The Iraqi Air Force operates Huey and Jet Ranger helicopters already, and they will be adding 16 upgraded Huey IIs and five more Jet Rangers, even as the Mi-17 fleet climbs to its projected count of 24. Iraq also operates several types of light GA aircraft for reconnaissance and surveillance.

"The new helicopters will increase the battlefield mobility capability of the new Iraqi Air
Force and mark the beginning of their move toward becoming an independent air arm," writes Capt. Russ Cook of the Multinational Security Training Command-Iraq, the coalition unit charged with "working itself out of a job" by preparing Iraqis to handle their own security. 

FMI: www.centcom.mil