Bird Dogs for the Iraqi Air Force
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Cessna 208B:
note ISR turret
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Iraq’s air force has been very slow in getting to its feet. A handful of Seeker light observation aircraft with their distinctive bubble-shaped fronts, a few Comp Air light propeller aircraft, a couple of old, refurbished C-130E transports, and a handful of helicopters. A few Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s have been ordered for transport and surveillance duties, and an RFP for armed counterinsurgency aircraft has resulted in an official sales request, but decisions to date have ensured that the Iraqi air force is still a long way from being able to secure Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. While it continues to grow, its primary duties remain troop/medical transport, light supply duties, and surveillance of roads and infrastructure.
That kind of surveillance doesn’t require high tech, high-end aircraft. The USAF has been using F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft at $15,000 per flight hour, plus recapitalization amortization. Iraq’s solution offers a significant contrast to the American approach – and armed AC-208 variants are about to enter operation…
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Light propeller aircraft like Cessna’s L-19 “Bird Dog” and O-2 successor worked very well in Vietnam. Their modern descendants can be outfitted with modern surveillance turrets plus “Mk1 eyeballs and ears” for a fraction of a fighter jet’s acquisition and amortization cost, in order to do more or less the same ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) job. They’ll also crash less often than expensive UAVs, and are more suitable for fledgling air forces. Specialty models like the Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor even add acoustic silencing, plus more mission space for dedicated surveillance equipment.
The “Bird Dog” concept certainly fits the IqAF’s profile and support capabilities, and was initially slated to serve as a trainer aircraft. Sure enough, statements from people on the front lines suggest that Cessna aircraft are in fact acquiring other IqAF roles as well.
Meanwhile, deliveries are underway.
Contracts & Events:
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Nov 16/09: ATK announces delivery of the 3rd AC-208B Combat Caravan aircraft to the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission in Kirkuk, Iraq. To date, ATK has delivered 11 modified C-208 aircraft in support of U.S. Government contracts for rebuilding the Iraqi Air Force: 3 RC-208B reconnaissance aircraft, 5 C-208B trainer aircraft and 3 AC-208Bs.
The AC-208B Combat Caravan aircraft is a specially modified Cessna Grand Caravan that incorporates an electro-optical targeting system with integrated laser designator, Hellfire laser guided missiles, an air-to-ground and air-to-air data link and aircraft self-protection equipment. ATK’s STAR Mission System provides both day and night reconnaissance and fire control capabilities for the mission crew.
The Combat Caravan program was awarded to ATK in 2008. Within 11 months, ATK completed live fire testing and delivered its first aircraft to Iraq. The aircraft holds both a Military and Civil Certification.
Nov 4/09: A 3-man Iraqi aircrew from Squadron 3 fires an AGM-114 Hellfire missile from an AC-208B Caravan at a target on a bombing range near Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Pentagon AFPS.
Oct 5/08: Aviation Week reports that IqAF AC-208 Combat Caravans have been fitted with launchers, and will be cleared to start shooting laser-guided Hellfire missiles later in October 2009. The report adds that:
“On the intelligence-collection side, operating the C-208 Caravans, Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s and SAMA CH2000s also has progressed well. As a result, coalition advisers are focusing more on teaching the Iraqis how to exploit the sensor information.”
Sept 22/09: L-3 WESCAM announces an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract to provide more than 50 MX-15D surveillance turrets with laser designation and rangefinding capability to the U.S. Army, in support of the Army’s Iraqi Air Force Reconstruction Program.
The MX-15D will likely be used to equip several Iraqi platforms, including its AC-208B Combat Caravans. Iraq’s larger MC-12W King Air twin-turboprops also use the MX-15, and it may end up equipping Iraq’s counter-insurgency aircraft – currently projected to be HawkerBeechcraft’s AT-6B, which is still in development.
Aug 19/09: At Kirkuk AB, 3 Iraqi airmen, assigned to Iraqi Air Force Squadron 3, become the first Iraqi weapons loaders certified as a lead weapons crew. As a lead weapons crew, they are qualified to load weapons, and to train and evaluate their fellow Iraqi service members. The associated pictures show them working to fit a dummy Hellfire missile onto the weapons pylon of a Cessna AC-208 Caravan. Pentagon DVIDS.
March 25/09: L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace in Madison, MS receives a $15.6 million firm fixed contract to provide fleet maintenance and training support on 12 Cessna 173 aircraft and 5 Cessna 208B trainer aircraft owned by the Iraqi Government. At this time, $7.6 million has been committed. The 727 ACSG/PKB at Tinker Air Force Base, OK manages this contract (FA8106-09-C-0004).
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Oct 14/08: Aviation Week reports that armed Cessna 208Bs destined for Iraq are flying out of an airport near Fort Worth, TX, and are set to be delivered in December 2008. The airport is used by ATK Integrated Systems for its projects:
“Two Cessna Grand Caravan 208Bs, armed with a pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles each, have been photographed flying out of Meacham Airport earlier this month…. In December the Iraqi Air Force will receive the first three armed Caravans – with laser designators for the missiles – followed by two more in early 2009, says USAF Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash, current chief of the Coalition Air Force Transition team.”
some Cessna Caravans are already in service with the IqAF, as unarmed reconnaissance planes.
July 9/08: U.S. forces transfer ownership of 11 aircraft to the Iraqi air force during a ceremony at New Al Muthana Air Base. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, signed over 8 Cessna 172s and 3 Cessna Caravan 208s worth more than $9 million to Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji.
Hawker Beechcraft’s new King Air 350 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and King Air 350 light transport aircraft were also unveiled during the ceremony.
Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash said the Cessna 127 and 208 aircraft would be part of the IqAF training program at Kirkuk Regional Air Base in northern Iraq, allowing more than 130 new pilots to train and graduate by 2010. “As of now, the Iraqi air force is just beginning to grow,” [Bash] said. “They will double in size within the next year, giving them up to 6,000 airmen and 133 aircraft by the end of 2009.” USAF release.
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Nov 29/07: Cue more Cessna Caravans. The Cessna Aircraft Co. of Wichita, KS received a firm-fixed price contract for $23.7 million to buy 5 Cessna C-208B Caravan aircraft along with minor aircraft modifications, logistic support services, and one year of spares for the Iraqi Air Force. The contract also includes an option for 2 additional aircraft, At this time, all funds been obligated. The 337th AESG/FMS at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8617-08-C-6183).
Oct 31/07: U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Wobbema, Chief of Staff for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, says in an interview that: “And then we’ve got this Cessna [208B] Caravan. The Cessna Caravan will also become—there will be an armed variant of that that will come online.”
Aug 3/07: Cessna Aircraft Co. in Wichita, KS has received a firm-fixed-price contract for $10.6 million. The aircraft will reportedly be used primarily in a trainer role, and for about the price of a high-end Predator UAV system, this contract action will procure 18 Cessna C-172 aircraft (with an option for 10 more), logistics support services, and 1 year of spares for the Iraqi Air Force. At this time, $7.5 million has been obligated. Work will be complete December 2008. Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8617-07-C-6181).
Additional Readings & Sources
- DID – Standing Up the IqAF: King Air 350s. Many are 350ER-ISR specialty variants. They aren’t really “Bird Dog” aircraft, however – more like the low end of long-endurance, dedicated surveillance aircraft, with armament comparable to a Predator or the Caravan 208Bs.
- DID – Task Force ODIN: In the Kingdom of the Blind…. The USA discovers that low-cost manned aircraft, plus UAVs, plus better organizational approaches, can yield significant success.
- Defense Tech (July 23/09) – COIN Air Force on its Way – in the US, as well as Iraq. Its exact shape remains TBD.
- StrategyPage (Feb 19/08) – Iraq Seeks Cessna Solution. “The 208Bs are being equipped with the same sensors and targeting pods used on the Predator UAV. The 208B can be rigged to carry Hellfire missiles as well, giving the Iraqis an aircraft that can act as an Predator clone, a personnel transport or a cargo hauler. Many are available on the used aircraft market for about $2 million each. And pilots can be quickly trained on the 172, and easily transition to the 208B.”
- Defense Tech (Oct 31/07) – Rebuilding the Iraqi Air Force.
- USAF, Wright-Patterson AFB (Oct 31/07) – Wright-Patt plays a part in training future Iraqi pilots
- USAF (Oct 5/07) – Iraqi air force flying training school opens at Kikuk.They mean Kirkuk, where the 52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron operates.
- USAF Guy’s Milblog (June 11/07) – Manners & Mustaches (pics). “Got to fly up in the Iraqi Air Force’s newest aircraft—a modified Cessna Caravan. It’s a great little aircraft and has a large forward looking infrared and video pod the Iraqis will use for reconnaissance.” The Author is a US Air Force officer currently deployed to Basrah Air Station, Iraq where he is embedded in an Iraqi Air Force squadron as a military advisor.
- Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Steve Sommer of Corporate Skyways, Inc., who first brought our attention to a long-standing mis-labeling in one of the Cessna photos.
