VSE, Westar to Help Train Iraqi Pilots

IqAF Cessna 208B(click to view full) “Bird Dogs for the Iraqi Air Force” discussed orders for the IqAF, and the successful history of Cessna’s “bird dog” aircraft in battlefield surveillance and support roles. While the Cessna 172s will be used for flight training, the incoming Cessna Grand Caravan 208B aircraft are equipped with the same cheap surveillance and targeting turrets used on Predator UAVs. The Cessna 172s may also graduate to this role at some point, and there are indications that the Grand Caravans may be armed with light weapons as a surveillance/ light counterinsurgency counterpart to Iraq’s pending COIN aircraft selection. The Iraqi Air Force is a pale shadow of its former self; in many ways, it is starting over from zero. A small handful of C-130E transports, a couple squadrons of helicopters, and an assortment of light propeller planes are all the IqAF possesses. They’ll need more than that in order to protect Iraq’s basic sovereignty, and training efforts with the USAF are underway. Now, so is a contract to support that effort… IqAF C-130E(click to view full) The US CECOM (Communications Electronic Command) has awarded a e-year, $62 million CECOM Rapid Response Task Order to VSE Corporation […]