Iraq Air Force Rebuild Deal

AT-6B Concept
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In April 2007, Flight International reported that the USAF’s Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) has issued a solicitation on behalf of the Iraqi Air Force [IqAF] to buy at least 8 counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft that can serve a dual role as a intermediate to advanced single-engine turboprop trainers. The aircraft should be delivered from November 2008 – April 2009, with options to buy additional aircraft in annual lots of 6.

The solicitation requires a single-engine turboprop powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 family engine, that is in “wide use,” with an advanced suite of sensors and weapons including electro-optical sensors and guided weapons capability. Indeed, it went one step farther and narrowed the field to 4 candidates that can be difficult for a novice to tell apart.

That schedule has slipped considerably, but a formal request has now been issued for 56 aircraft, as Iraq seeks a combination of trainer and armed counterinsurgency aircraft to support its force. Delivery will give the IqAF’s its first combat aircraft since the Saddam Hussein era. Work is reportedly underway, and a contract has been placed for the complementary trainer version…

• The COIN Contenders
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings

The COIN Contenders

KAI’s KO-1
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Korea Aerospace’s KO-1 Woong Bee, the armed forward air control & light attack version of its KT-1 training aircraft. The KT-1 project began in 1988, and the first aircraft was delivered to South Korea’s air force in 2000. Turkey has also ordered the KT-1.

Pilatus PC-9M. The Swiss firm has created a widely-popular trainer turboprop. The design has been licensed by other firms (see below), and Pilatus has sold this aircraft to 14 countries beyond Switzerland – including 20 aircraft sold to Iraq from 1987.

Super Tucano ALX
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Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano/ ALX – see also Embraer’s pages. The Super Tucano is used in an armed role by Brazil as a patrol and border overwatch aircraft in the Amazon region, with additional orders from Colombia, Chile, and the Dominican Republic; the older EMB-312 Tucano trainer aircraft has been bought by 17 countries. Brazil also has some familiarity with Iraq, as a mid-level military equipment supplier in previous years.

The Super Tucano has a reputation for being a bit ‘heavy’ as a training platform, as a tradeoff for being built from the ground up as an effective short-field light attack/ patrol/ counter-insurgency aircraft that can operate with little ground support. Unlike its fellow contenders, for instance, the aircraft carries 2 of FN’s M3P .50 caliber machine guns in the wings. In 2006, the USA successfully discouraged a $500 million sale of Super Tucanos to Venezuela, a decision that Embraer accepted in good grace. The firm had moved to sweeten the pot for that sale by promising to set up a Florida manufacturing facility; a reprise of that approach might help take some of the “Buy American” label off of…

Canadian T-6B
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Hawker Beechcraft’s AT-6B Texan II; the firm also unveiled an AT-6B light attack/COIN version at Farnborough 2006, back when they were still Raytheon Aircraft. The T-6 is the result of iterative modifications to the Pilatus PC-9 design that left it with no common parts; it serves as the USAF’s and US Navy’s JPATS intermediate to advanced training aircraft. It is also used by Canada and Greece. Greece specified that its T-6Bs had to be capable of being armed, but the aircraft was not initially designed for an armed role.