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In September 2006, “Up to $750M in Weapons & Support for Iraq” described Iraq’s order for a number of American small arms, as well as helicopters and blast resistant vehicles. About a year later, we have a follow-on order that extends a number of the trends that request started. While the temptation exists to focus on the helicopters, blast-resistant vehicles, small arms, et. al., that would be a mistake. This is an extremely important contract for Iraq’s armed forces, and none of those systems are the reason why.
On Sept 25/07, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced [PDF format] Iraq’s formal request for vehicles, small arms, ammunition, explosives, and communications equipment as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.257 billion. The request includes:
* 123,544 M16A4 Rifles.
* 12,035 M4 Carbines, a shorter version of the M16 widely used by US forces.
Ammunition
100 million rounds M855 5.56 Ball
20 million rounds 5.56mm Tracer
16.7 million rounds 5.56mm Blank
5.7 million rounds 5.56mm 4 Ball/1 Tracer
5.7 million rounds 7.62mm 4 Ball/1 Tracer
13.6 million rounds 7.62mm Ball Long
5.8 million rounds 9mm Ball
890,000 rounds 12 Gauge 00 Buckshot
790,000 rounds .50 Caliber 4 Ball/1 Tracer
10,000 40mm HEDP(High Explosive, Dual-Purpose anti-personnel/ anti-vehicle) Grenades
32,000 60mm High Explosive Mortar Rounds
32,000 60mm Illumination Rounds
5,000 81mm High Explosive Mortar Rounds
5,000 81mm Illumination Rounds
7,000 Signal Flares
7,300 Stun Grenades
6,700 HC Smoke Grenades
Communication towers
* Troposcatter and Microwave radios, IDN, DPN, VSAT Operations and Maintenance
* 1,518 VHF Wheeled Tactical and Base Station Radios
* 4,800 VHF hand-held radios
* 6,490 VHF man pack radios
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The request is also busy on the vehicle and support infrastructure front. In fact, the large amount of support equipment is one of the most important features of this contract. As Up to $750M in Weapons & Support for Iraq” noted:
“DID summarizes those requests below, but it’s worth noting that they represent an evolution. For the last few years, the US approach has focused on building up the Iraqi Army’s fighting capacity. Native logistics and support was less important than rifles on the ground, for obvious reasons, and US forces could and do fulfil those support functions. These contracts include a number of provisions for training Iraqi personnel in these back-end tasks, however, as well as equipping them.”
That September 2006 request began the process of setting up the support and logistics back-end for Iraqi forces. This request begins a serious push to give Iraqi forces full independent operational capability, by building out the army’s logistics and supply train. Vehicles and infrastructure requested include:
* Upgrade and refurbishment of 32 additional UH-I HUEY helicopters to the UH-II configuration; this would give the IqAF 64 total helicopters, given their 16 upgraded Jordanian Hueys, and their $150 million August 2007 DSCA request for 16 more out of US stocks;
* 336 BTR-3E1 amphibious armored personnel carries, built by an international consortium led by the United Arab Emirates’ ADCOM MANUFACTURING Company Ltd. WLL, in partnership with Ukrainian firms Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau, and the State Scientific Technical Centre of Artillery & Rifle Arms. Jane’s describes the BTR-3 as: “a more recent design [than the BTR-80] with a raised roof for greater internal volume… powered by a locally developed UTD-20 diesel coupled to a manual transmission. Armament consists of the Shturm combat module armed with a locally produced 30mm ZTM-1 cannon, 40mm automatic grenade launcher, 7.62mm machine gun and twin launcher for Barrier ATGW with a maximum range of 5,500m. The vehicle is fully amphibious, being propelled in the water at a speed of 8-10km/h.” It has been sold to 8 countries, including Thailand.
* 55 ILAV ‘Badger’ blast-resistant Route Clearing Vehicles, derived from the Cougar.
* 980 M1151 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV)
* 189 Armored Land Cruisers
* 10 Armored Mercedes
* 1,815 Light utility trucks
* 70 Fire trucks
* 40 Fuel trucks
* 20 Septic trucks
* 45 Water trucks
* 112 Motorcycles
* 1,425 Sedans
* 600 5-Ton Trucks. Note that “5-ton truck” is the load rating, not the vehicle’s total weight which is higher
* 600 Medium Trucks
* 400 8-Ton Trucks
* 400 12-Ton trucks
* 100 16-35 Ton Trucks
* 20 35-Ton Trucks (20)
* 105 Contact Maintenance Trucks
* 122 Ambulances
* 127 11-Passenger Buses
* 207 24-Passenger Buses
* 80 44-Passenger Buses
* 33 Bulldozers
* 10 Excavators
* 20 Wheeled Loaders
* 10 Variable Reach Forklifts
* 19 Wreckers w/Boom
* 447 5Kw generators
* 34 Fuel Pumps
* Clothing and individual equipment
* Standard and non-standard vehicle spare and repair parts, maintenance, support equipment, publications and documentation; personnel training and training equipment; Quality Assurance Team support services, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics support services, preparation of aircraft for shipment, and other related elements of logistics support.
The contractors are unknown at this time, and there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government and contractor representatives to Iraq.
Additional Readings
* DID (Dec 10/09) – Ukraine, Iraq in $2.5 Bn Weapons Deal. Includes a reported 420 BTR-4s.
* WIRED Danger Room (July 7/08) – Forgery Alleged in Weldon Firm’s Iraqi Arms Deal (Updated). “One of the contracts aggressively pursued by Defense Solutions was a foreign military sale potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars to provide the BTR-3E… Defense Solutions marketed itself, according to documents provided to DANGER ROOM, as having an arrangement with Ukraine to be the only supplier of the BTR-3E to Iraq. Defense Solutions’ claim to exclusivity was supported by a letter bearing the signature of Andri Veselovsky, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister… But… [in] an e-mail to DANGER ROOM, Veselovsky, whose name and signature appears on the letter and is now Ukraine’s Ambassador to the European Union, denies signing the letter.”
