Iraq receives two more F-16 fighter jets from US
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This July 20, 2015 photo shows Iraqi’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (C) speaking with Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obaidi (3R) as he sits in the cockpit of one of the two recently delivered F-16 fighter jets from the US at Iraq's Balad air base in S
The Iraqi air force has taken delivery of two more F-16 fighter jets as part of a deal with the United States to improve the country’s military capability in the face of threats from terrorists.
According to Press TV, a Baghdad-based spokesman of the US military said on Wednesday that the warplanes were delivered to Iraq to bring the number of the sophisticated US warplanes procured to the country to six.
Colonel Steve Warren said lack of trained Iraqi pilots has been the main factor holding up the delivery of 30 more F-16 jets which Iraq has purchased from the US.
“The limiting factor has been pilot generation,” Warren said in a video conference with reporters, adding, “We bring the F-16s in as pilots are available.”
The US official said Iraqi pilots need to go through a year or more of instruction in Arizona before they could operate the jets.
Over the past few years, Iraq has signed contracts with major military powers to buy modern warplanes in a bid to strengthen its air force in the fight against terrorists.
The Iraqi army and allied volunteer fighters have been battling ISIL Takfiri terrorist group since it overran parts of the country in the summer of 2014 and the Iraqi fighter jets have provided a big boost to the ground operation against ISIL.
Warren said the US has been considering the fact that Iraq needs the warplanes to facilitate its ground operations against terrorists.
ME
