Armed Forces of the Tl/orld
lrag
For centuries lraq has been one o; tne
'rosi tJrbu-
lent of all the nations in the Midd e East. and has
been beset by a tradition of intemal ..:nrest and an
aggressive foreign policy. Historically. rr l;tary ac-
tion has followed a cycle of victory and tnen defeat
leading to expansion followed by occupation, and
the nature of the population is such tnat it has a
reputation for ungovernability. ln recent years this
latter problem has been partially conected by the
imposition of a rigid military autocrary leading to a
period of relative stability, but for the armed forces
this period has been marked by a constant war
against the Kurds, a warlike minority seeking auton-
omy. This Kurdish war has now been going on for
over 1 5 years but in recent times has been oversha-
dowed by the now stalemated lran-lraq conflict.
Although this war has now settled down into a
state of virtual immobility, it still occupies most of
:ne lraqi armed forces' resources and manpower.
-nlike their opponents, the lraqis do at least have
:re advantage that their armed forces are still in a
:shesive state and new weapons and supplies are
3otainable, The air force is still active and the small
-avy is still operating. However the lraqis simply
ec< the strength to overcome their opponents who
:'e still numerically superior, in men if not in mat6r-
e When lraq invaded lran back in September 1980
i d/ent well, though only at first. The subsequent
='.an counteroffensives pushed the lraqis back
r--:
raqi territory, but the two sides are now unable
:: -ake any marked impact upon each other. lran
-es already resorted to chemical warfare in an
m:-ot to make a breakthrough and the lraqis are
lr:rtV'nstallations
using their air force to attack the oil tankers
a-r: : that shore up lran's shaky eco-
rar, Throughout this war, as in the Kurdish war, it
s :-e r-aqi army that is bearing the brunt of the
j61:,9, and to date casualties have been heavy (but
ur:ra'. 'npossible to quantify). But the army, like
fir* 3-=.'ce and navy, remains a cohesive body.
Tfrrc lraqi Army
:r* :-e : n-:e the lraqi army is some 475,000
,iti
sr:trrq ::€ -ea/ great maiority of these men being
lmrTisi::trr: ::^scr;pts normally serve a two-year
mrrn-, :r-: i-€ ,'r3r nas meant that many have to
mnnarr r -- =:- -lch longer. Many of the army's
Misn!€€ ;i ' l'l lg! -er have also been recalled for
@rrdlmg -*E ?-* S c.ganized into a number of
'mrw* - : *3xe .,;p +rom six armoured divi-
tr-r *a:r-a-z€a
$rrmrrnn tr*' nfantry divisions and six
llfrlli nTrtrr 3-r: -:----: - : .'s ons. Tnere are also two
iiffimuruu,,Lra- :-ar: ar*:--eC br;gades, mainly re-
r,mnillriw@ .ltr fl*l; le-s:ra -se o' tne president, and
ttlliffimi s0imsa-r:F::= :.;a:s-s 'A r'3n, as their name
liltt'Il@Irm. Irt* ;**:'i:-:--:':s:: :-:^ as behind-the-
line operations or airborne missions. There are nine
reserve brigades, and to these can be added 15
People's Army and other volunteer infantry bri-
gades, not all of which are for front-line use.
ln recent years lraq has deliberately tried to get
away f rom a reliance on the Soviet Union for all arms
supplies, but the army is still largely equipped with
Soviet weapons. There are over 2,1 00 tanks in ser-
vice including T-54, T-55, T-62 and T-72 main battle
tanks (MBTs). To these can be added about 100
PT-76 amphibious tanks and an undefined number
of ex-Chinese T-69 tanks. Captured equipment has
also been impressed for use (including numbers of
Chieftain MBTs), and other equipment has been
passed to lraq by supportive Arab nations such as
Kuwait. Other armour includes virtually the entire
range of Soviet armoured personnel carriers and
light armoured vehicles, but in recent years more
have arrived from Brazil. Brazil is now one of lraq's
majorweapon suppliers and in lraqiservice are EE-3
armoured cars, EE-9 Cascavel light armoured vehi-
cles and EE-1 1 Urutu armoured personnel carriers.
Other equipment has come from France (Panhard
M-3 armoured cars) and Switzerland (MOWAG
wheeled armoured vehicles). Czechoslovakia has
been another weapons supplier.
The lraqiartillery is a powerfularm with wellover
3,500 pieces of towed and self-propelled ordnance.
Most of the weapons are of Soviet origin and include
large numbers of FROG rockets and even heavy
mortars. Anti-tank weapons include Soviet guns,
Austrian tank destroyers and missiles including the
Soviet 'Sagger', French SS.1 1 , HOT and Milan, and
British Swingfire weapons. Air defence weapons
include all the usual Soviet missiles, large and small,
along with numbers of Soviet anti-aircraft guns. As
with the armour, many ex-lranian weapons are in The poster on this T-55 commemorates the great
service. Arab victory over f/rePersrbnslh 637 at Qadisiya.
The main point to bear in mind at the moment is President Hussein gambled he could win another,
that lraq is still obtaining supplies of weapons from a but hk attack stalled, embroiling lraq in a war of
number of sources while lran ls not. Weapons con- attrition against a country withfiree fimes jts
popula6on ruled by uncompromising fanatics.
tinue to be sent to lraq from Brazil, France and many
other nations; for example, a new weapon recently
delivered by France has been the 155-mm (6.1-in) ing the early days of the war with lran many political
GCT self-propelled gun. Many Arab nations support differences were set aside and for a period even the
lraq in the conflict with lran, and even if they do not Kurds ceased their small war, but as the war con-
provide weapons they donate funds for arms pur- tinues and no results are to be seen, the army is
chases. being used lncreasingly to maintain internal stability.
Anotherpointto bearin mindwith the lraqiarmyis and at times combat units have had to be withdrawn
that it remains an organized fighting force. even from the front for internal security duties. ln theory
after four years and more of constant war, to say the People's Army is used for this purpose, but the
nothing of the war against the Kurds that still sput- fact that it is found necessary to employ combat
ters away in the mountains to the north. But set units for the task speaks volumes in itself.
against this is the fact that the lraqi regime is a
military dictatorship that retains its hold on power to The lraqi Navy
great extent by the imposition of military force. Dur- The lraqi navy is an integral part of the army, anci
numbers only about 4,000 men. The main naval
bases are at Umm Oasr and Basra. The largest lrac'
ship is a single training frigate, the main comba:
strength being formed by a number of small attac<
craft or coastal vessels, During the war with lran the
lraqi navy has been engaged in some spirited scraps
wlth the lranian navy, and has suffered accordingr
in men and vessels. ln time, however, these losses
I raqi gunners pound the I ranian oil city of
Khoramshahr with Russian M 1931 /37 (A- I 9) I 22-
mm gans. Iraq has about 3,500 gans, mostly of
Soviet origin, varying from theseWorldWat ll
models to the latest Soviet equipment. Holding
positions against lranian human wave attacb. the
Iraqi forces rely heavily on such long-range
firepower.

Armed Forces of the World
Iraqi infantry use a bewildering variety of Souiet'
French, Brazilian and, in this case, Czech APCs;
these are OT-64Cs, capable of carrying up to I 5
men in addition to their two-man crew. The tunet
mounts a 1 4'5-mm KPW machine-grun with a
co-axial7.62-mmMG.
will be more than compensated by the arrival of four
frigates and six corvettes currently on order from
Italy. These will have logistical backing from a new
support ship. ln the meantime the main striking
force of the navy is invested in about six or seven
ex-Soviet 'Osa' class missile-armed fast attack craft
The lraqiAir Force
The lraqf airforce ls a separate arm from the army,
and has a numerical strength of 38,000 men, includ-
ing air-defence personnel. lt is still organized very
much along Royal Air Force lines, a legacy of the
period when the UK occupied lraq, but much of the
equipment is Soviet in origin. However, determined
efforts have been made to diversify supply sources
and thus some French aircraft are used along with
the remaining few Hawker Hunters (and Westland
Wessex helicopters) from many years back.
The lraqi air force is one of the most powerful in
the N/iddle East, and despite combat losses it re-
mains an effective operational force still. lt includes
among its aircraft some of the most sophisticated
Sovlet warplanes available, and it still manages to
obtain the latest types from the Soviet Unlon,
although aircraft from France have been among the
most recent aircraft arrivals ; these include Dassbult-
Breguet Mirage F.1 fighters and the well-known
A Hawker Hunter FGA.Mk 59 of the lraqi air torce
is seen at Dunsfold before delivery. Iraq received
its frrst Hunters in 1957, and large numbiers of
refurbished aircratt, like this ex-Belgian example,
have been procared subsequently. Thanks to the
Bitish occupation of lraq, the modern lraqi air
force owes muchot its organization and doctrine
toRAF practice.
A T-62 crosses the Karoun river in October I 980 , as
the advance into lran continues. Until the invasion
of I ran, I raqi tanks were more usu ally seen on the. -
streets of Baghdad or surrounding the Presidential
palace during the frequent coups d'6tat.
combination of Dassault-Breguet Super Etendards
and Exocet missiles.
The main striking force of the air force is its two
bomber squadrons, one with the Tupolev Tu-22
'Blinder' and the other with venerable llyushin ll-28
'Beagle' bombers. Combat has cut down the num-
bers of these to perhaps seven and five respective-
ly, but these two squadrons are still able to provide a
powerful raiding potential. There are no fewer than
11 fighter/ground attack squadrons with a mix of
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BM' Flogger', Sukhoi Su-
7'Fifier' and Sukhoi Su-20'Fitter' aircraft along with
the few remaining Hunters. The five interceptor
squadrons have an even more varied mix of MiG-19
'Farmer', MiG-21'Fishbed' and MiG-25'Foxbat' air-
craft along with the f irst of the Mirage F.1 s to arrive.
The MiG-19s and MiG-21s come from both Soviet
and Chinese sources.
The advanced MiG-25'Foxbat'also equips a sing-
le reconnaissance squadron, and there are two
transport squadrons, again with a varied mlx of
Antonov transports, llyushin ll-76 'Candid' heavy
transports (including some impressed civilian exam-
ples), llyushin ll-14'Crate' light transports and two
Tupolev fu-124s. More transport capability is sup-
plied by 1 t
helicopter squadrons. The range of
equipment used by these squadrons is wide, and
covers all the usual Soviet Mil designs, French
46rospatiale Super Frelons and Gazelles, West Ger-
man MBB BO105s, and the last of the ex-British
Wessex helicopters.
A great deal of equipment is on order for the air
force, some of it combat replacements, but much of
it new. A portion of this new equipment, including
missiles, is already to hand and has been used in
action against the lranian oil installatlons and tankers
r
Iraq H
in the Persian Gulf . The lraqi air force at present has
air superiority over the remains of the lranian air
force, and as supplies of new mat6riel continue to
arrive it seems set to retain this superiority for some
time to come. lt has certainly been one of the major
reasons why the lranian army is unabie to use its
manpower to 'steamroller' through the lraqi army
lines.
Order of battle
lraqi Army
6 armoured divisions (T-54, T-55,f -62,1-72and
Chieftain MBTs. PT-76 lighttanks, and numerous
armoured cartypes)
4 mechanized infantry divisions (B RDM, FUG-70,
ERC-90, MOWAG, EE-9 and EE-3 armoured cars,
and BMP, BTR-50, BTR-60, BTR-70, 0T-62,
0T-64, Panhardand EE-1 1 APCs)
6 infantry and mountain divisions
2 Republican Guard armoured brigades
3 special forces brigades
9 reserve brigades (mostly infantry)
1 5 People's Army and volunteer brigades
various security troops
some 10,000 volunteers from otherArab countries
lraqiNavy
1 training frigate
8'Osa' missile attack craft
3'SO-1 'large patrol craft
6 'P-6'torpedo attack craft
6 coastal patrol craft
5'T-43' minesweepers
3 tank landing craft
lraqi Air Force
2 bomber squadrons (Tu-22 'Blinder' and ll-28
'Beagle')
11f ighter/ground attack squadrons (MiG-238M
'Flogger', Su-7 and Su-20'Fitter', and Hunter)
5 interceptor squadrons (MiG-25 'Foxbat', MiG-1 9
'Farmer', MiG-21 'Fishbed'and Mirage F.1 )
1 reconnaissance squadron (MiG-25'Foxbat')
2 transport squadrons (An-2 'Colt', An-1 2 'Cub',
An-24'Coke', An-26 'Curl', ll-76 'Candid', ll-14
'Crate' and Tu-1 24'Cookpot')
1 t helicopter squadrons (Mi-4'Hound', Mi-6
'Hook',
Mi-8'Hip', Mi-24'Hind', Alouette lll Super Frelon,
Gazelle. Puma, BO1 05 andWessex)