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List of Iraqi Air Force aircraft squadrons

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

  • 1933 - established in June, flying de Havilland Dragons.
  • 1941 - flying the de Havilland Dragon and the Vickers Vincent from Rasheed Air Base.
  • 1958 - Avro Anson, Stinson L-5, Cessna O-1A, Westland Dragonfly. Based at Rasheed Air Base.
  • 1959 - started receiving Mil Mi-4s.
  • 1967 - flying Mil Mi-4s from Firnas Air Base near Mosul.
  • 1973 - flying Mil Mi-1s and Mi-4s from Firnas AB.
  • 2003 - disbanded.
  • 2004-05 - reestablished at Taji flying donated Jordanian UH-1s, but suffered severe spares shortages.
  • 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. 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. 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."
  • 2010 - at Taji with Bell UH-1s in November 2009 and May 2010.
  • 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.
  • 3rd Squadron

Notes

References

  • 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. . Public Domain - U.S. government work.
  • Malovany, Pesach, "Wars of Modern Babylon", University Press of Kentucky, June 2017, / .

Further reading

  • Tom Cooper and Ahmad Sadik, Iraqi Fighters: 1953–2003: Camouflage and Markings. Harpia Publishing, 2008, .
  • Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004, .
  • 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, .
  • Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 2: Supersonic Fighters: 1956–1967. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2011, .
  • Tom Cooper, David Nicolle, Lon Nordeen and Patricia Salti: Arab MiGs. Volume 3: The June 1967 War. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2012, .