Iraq turns its eye on Russian weapons

I think no one sow this coming.

No matter huge US influence Iraq did give nice chunk of its oilfields to Russia but weapons while only few years ago

it had 200 000 US troops stationed on its soil.

Maliki to visit Russia to supply Iraq with warplanes and military equipments

Shafaq News / An official source revealed on Wednesday that the Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki held an agreement with Russia to supply Iraq with warplanes and military equipments worth of an estimated $ 5 billion in to be visit conducted next month at the head of a senior delegation.

The source told "Shafaq News", that "the Defense Minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi will visit Russia next month to put the final touches to the military contracts valued at $ 5 billion."

“Signing these contracts will be during the Prime Minister , Nuri al-Maliki’s visit to Moscow on the tenth of next October," noting that " senior Russian officials will be present in the meeting and it is possibly to discuss the Syrian crisis file."

The source said that "the military contracts will include Sukhoi and MiG aircrafts and Russian Mi helicopters as well as military equipments."

U.S. officials revealed earlier that Iraq will receive the first batch of American fighters, "F - 16" in September 2014.

Kurds leaders led by president of Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani say that Maliki is awaiting the U.S. aircraft deal of F-16 to strike the Kurds, but Maliki denied this and said that Iraq doesn’t think of internal wars and will not allow firing one shot on the Kurds.

Barzani launched an attack last April on al-Maliki, saying that he did not commit to any promise made for the Kurds, noting at the same time that the Kurdistan informed Washington that it refuses to receive the F16 aircrafts as long as al-Maliki is in power.

Iraq has paid the first installment last December in the agreement to purchase the first group of warplanes worth about three billion dollars.

It will be interesting... especially regarding the Syrian situation.

I am surprised at Turkeys involvement in the US led attempt to overthrow Assad, because if Syria collapses then there will be a lot of Kurdish separatists who will want to create Kurdistan out of Syria, Northern Iraq, Turkey, and Iran...

Despite its recent occupation by US forces I rather doubt Iraq wants Syria to collapse.

Hopefully they will buy some Mig-29M2s, or perhaps they might be bargain hunting and be looking for some Mig-29s with an SMT upgrade and some Su-27SMs as a start purchase, plus of course some Mi-35M2s.

The Russian daily newspaper Vedomosti reported late last month that contracts worth $4.3 million were being agreed ahead of Maliki's visit. It said they included deals for 30 Mi-28NE combat helicopters and 42 Pantsir-S1 mobile rocket launchers.

This will be good for the Havoc, as it will be able to mature faster with more users in different environments.

Buying Pantsir-S1 is no surprise... they are very effective systems for what they are designed for.

“Moscow will supply 30 Mil Mi-28NE night/all-weather capable attack helicopters, and 50 Pantsir-S1 gun-missile short-range air defense systems. The contracts, among the biggest ever signed between Iraq and Russia, were signed in April, July and August by Iraq’s acting defense minister, according to documents released on Tuesday during al-Maliki’s visit.

Vedomosti daily said the deal was Russia’s largest arms deal since 2006.”

Read the rest of the article here:http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/10/14/iraq-buys-russian-weapons/

I have to say I'm a bit surprised by this turn of events. .

I have to say I'm a bit surprised by this turn of events. .

I am only surprised in terms of speed.

Iraq was a customer of the Soviet Union by choice after all.

Hopefully they will make sure the payment terms are water tight this time...

Indeed, this is quite a "little" coup.

And a nice way to make up money for the "lost" sales in Libya and Syria.

Also shows that nations act in business/security reasons, not out of anger for support of previous regimes.

We saw this when Libya approached Russia for help maintaining Gaddafi-era vehicles, and now with Iraq.

Its also strange those contracts where signed back in April and is only now confirmed so I guess there is more in pipes to come.

But then this is the logical next step ...isin't it ? The US left behind in Iraq a sizeable number of armoured vehicles. But Iraq still will have to develop it's Army , AirForce and Navy . SO who does it turn for help? A large number of Iraqis both Shias & Sunnis have become vehemently anti US . So importing military hardware from US is a cop out . Neither can the Iraqi Govt. afford the high costs of American military hardware. Also , the Iraqi oil fields are run by US and British companies from which the Iraqi Govt. get very little in return unlike say Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and UAE.

Therefore , the two countries Iraq can import weapons are Russia and China . China cannot guarantee the sale of hight tech weaponry coz they don't produce any themselves except for the ones they rip off from Russian designs .

That leaves Russia as the only seller . I remember in the late 80s & 90s Iraqi MIG 29s were serviced in Bangalore, India. With Russia making effort to improve it's after sales services this seems to be a win win situation for both sides.

It makes sense that the al Maliki regime in Baghdad wants to avoid becoming too dependent on any single country for arms. Anyway, the Iraqi armed forces have always operated both Eastern and Western weapons systems.
I'm glad to see that Russia has found a new export customer for the Mi-28. It's a very capable helicopter. The Mi-24/35 still seems to be far more popular around the world, although newer types have been developed.

Yes, somewhat surprising, although logical.

They have buyed 100 M1A1 Abrams, but have some hundreds T-72´s and Bmp´s these needs to be modernasied. I guess this will be the next deal.
The T-62´s that are left will probabaly be sold to africa or scrapped.

We will for certain see more orders from a more self ruling Iraq.

The US government have a tendency to limit the arms sales to a particular country, I would like to cite my country the Philippines as an example.

In the case of Iraq the US has about 5 reasons why Iraq is a "cautious" customer.
1. Turkey
2. Kuwait
3. Israel
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Iran

They have oil money and want to spend it.

I see they are in the Czech republic and are looking at small arms now.

Iraq cancels $4.2bn Russian arms deal over 'corruption'
Iraqi soldiers (archive image) Iraq is rebuilding its armed forces
Continue reading the main story
Struggle for Iraq

Iraq has cancelled a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) deal to buy arms from Russia because of concerns about "corruption", an Iraqi government advisor has said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has launched an investigation into the deal, his spokesman told the BBC.

The purchase - said to include attack helicopters and missiles - was only signed off in October.

Iraq has been rebuilding its armed forces since the end of US-led combat operations against insurgents.
'Arms monopoly'

Announcing the cancellation of the purchase on Saturday, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki told AFP news agency that "when Maliki returned from his trip to Russia, he had some suspicions of corruption, so he decided to review the whole deal".

"There is an investigation going on, on this," he added.
Maliki and Medvedev The deal was announced after talks between Nouri Maliki (r) and Dmitry Medvedev in Ocotber

The sale would have made Moscow - the main supplier of arms to Iraq under Saddam Hussein - the country's second-biggest arms supplier after the US.

There has been no word from Russia about the cancellations.

In early October, Mr Maliki said in a speech that he did not want Iraq to be "part of someone else's (arms) monopoly."

But he faced criticism from political opponents who questioned buying from Russia, when multiple deals with the US had been signed.

One Iraqi MP suggested that counterterrorism operations - the stated aim of the purchase - required improved intelligence, and not the 30 Mi-28 attack helicopters that were reported to be part of the deal.

The contracts were announced to some fanfare on 9 October after talks between the two countries' prime ministers near Moscow.

At the time the deal was agreed, analysts suggested that while it was clear Iraq wanted to diversify its weapons purchases, buying from Russia would only encourage the sense in Washington that the US is somehow "losing Iraq".

Mr Maliki - who said he was seeking "quick contracts to fight terrorism" - warned even before he left that anything he signed might be scuttled by parliament.

Merged because it belongs here first of all and additional info follows- RP

SOB... we were supposed to get Iraqi contracts after we gave them Libya. Looks like Obama has gone behind our backs and screwed us for pressure on Syria.

SOB indeed. This deal was only agreed upon last month!
And here I was thinking that Iraq was actually gaining some independence from the US and the whole American rhetoric about only being interested in spreading 'freedom' and not directly controlling countries wasn't such complete BS after all. Serves me right.

Iraqi Prime Minister's spokesperson Ali Mussawi told RT that the deal hasn't been cancelled, it is simply under review. He also confirmed it was because of earlier allegations of corruption from the Iraqi side.

Earlier, media reports claimed the deal – which would have made Russia Iraq’s second-biggest arms supplier after the United States – was cancelled.

“When Maliki returned from his trip to Russia, he had some suspicions of corruption, so he decided to review the whole deal. … There is an investigation going on, on this,”Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesperson Ali Mussawi said.

The deal – which was signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Maliki in October – will either be go through or be cancelled only after the Iraqi anti-corruption committee presents it findings.

Officials in Moscow have not yet commented on the matter. The Russian embassy in Baghdad said it has not received word from the Foreign Ministry, and was not informed about the cancellation by Iraqi officials.

The sale was signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Maliki in October, and would have made Russia Iraq’s second-biggest arms supplier after the United States.

The deal is one of the largest in both the modern history of Russia and for postwar Iraq.

Experts speculated that the package likely would have included shipments of aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles and air defense weapons.

Though the details of the deal were kept secret, military analysts believe it was competitive enough to spark concerns in Washington, the primary arms dealer for Iraq.

Military experts speculated that the deal may be cancelled due to pressure from Washington, and may result in punitive sanctions.

Director of the Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade Igor Korotchenko told RIA-Novosti news agency that if the deal does get axed, it would be an unprecedented event in the history of Russia's arms trade

“Self-respecting states and governments don’t act this way,” Korotchenko said.

RIA-Novosti also quoted an unnamed arms expert who warned that Iraq may incur harsh sanctions for the move: “If the deals were drawn up in a proper way from the legal point of view, the Iraqi side may suffer multi-million dollar losses by paying off punitive fees.”

The expert went on to add that statements about suspected corruption have never been a legitimate basis for the annulment of contracts, especially in military-technical cooperation.

http://rt.com/news/iraq-arms-cancel-russia-396/

Got to say that if this deal doe not materializes it makes Iraq very fragile . Any of the adjoining countries can literally walk into Iraq and they will not face any credible resistance.

If Russia ever offers a security umbrella (similar to the one that US provides to Canada, Australia,UK and NZ)in Asia there will be a whole lot of countries who will queue up .

For pulling such a stunt, Russia should sell weapons to Iran, ASAP.

There was never any reason not to supply the S-300 to Iran. The excuse that it falls under the current sanctions is BS since it's a defensive system.

The Iraqi government is a fragile coalition and the Suni faction was against the deal from the start. One of their leaders had to flee to Turkey recently after being sentenced to death for supporting death squads....in any case, it doesn't look good for the deal.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_10/Iraq-sticks-to-Russia-arms-contracts-DM/

Iraq sticks to Russia arms contracts – DM

Iraqi Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi has dismissed reports that his country has cancelled all $4.2bln dollars worth of its arms contracts with Russia, signed in Moscow in October during a visit by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

He said the contracts are on track, if only slightly delayed by a probe into possible corruption in them.

Iraq wants to procure a variety of Russian-made weaponry, including anti-aircraft missile batteries.

The Minister added that within the month the two sides were expected to reach a final agreement.

Earlier, there were reports that the contracts were delayed over a probe into possible corruption.

According to the Defense Minister, rumors in the media aimed to derail contracts for Iraq’s procuring weaponry.

Their own government can't even get their story straight between themselves. Not a good sign in either case.

Just like when the Iraqi Federal army tried to enter Iraqi Kurdistan some months back in order to secure the Iraqi-Syrian border and cease the flow of arms, materials and volunteers from the Iraqi-based PKK to the YNG in Syria; but were stopped by Iraqi Kurdistan's own militia army - the Peshmerga; from even crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan!

Iraq is basically only a country on paper and if things keep going the way they are then soon it won't even be that.

Remember that one of the prime factors for the West going into Iraq was to break a 4-6 billion dollar Russian incentive to upgrade Iraqs oil infrastructure.Western powers would not and could not sit idly by after trillions have been spent destroying Iraq and the subsequent failed reconstruction only to see "Outsider" forces accept lucrative military contracts.The west will only accept Iraq as a weak client state,a sad state but true.

Russia should offer a security umbrella to countries in Asia and there will be a number of takers for this .

The largest purchasers of US weapons are also those states who enjoy a US security umbrella .

It is therefore natural that countries will purchase Russian military hardware if they enjoy security guarantee from Russia .

Very interesting inside in Russia-Iraq arms deal, which is still valid btw.

They want to buy Russian:
- air defense
- fighters
- helicopters
- IFV

Those deals are way above 5 bin mark spoken off recently.

Tanks will be bought in US/West (although we my see Arab spring coming in to Iraq to because of Shia-Shia relation with Iran) which in

turn might make them want Russian tanks (apparently they regard it as bombs on wheels LOL)

Iraq's former Minister of Defense contracts with Russia