Bird Dogs for the Iraqi Air Force

Cessna 208B:
note ISR turret

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 slowly growing fleet 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 only given Iraq a set of unarmed T-6B trainers. Even subsequent orders for F-16C/D fighters and L-159 advanced trainer and attack jets leave the Iraqi air force a long way from being able to secure Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. While it continues to grow< , the IqAF's 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 was using F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft at $15,000 per flight hour, plus recapitalization amortization. Iraq's solution takes a page from the US military's own past, and offers a significant contrast to the American approach.

Japan, Indonesia Look at More Assertive Security Stances While Xi Jinping Purges for Power

• Last week Japan’s cabinet changed its constitutional interpretation of the country’s right to collective self-defense. Ryo Sahashi, a visiting professor at Stanford University, argues that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still has much convincing to do in order to change a Japanese public opinion that’s deeply averse to the use of force. There are months of legislative work ahead to reflect this change into bills.

• East Asia Forum expects a military buildup in Indonesia no matter who wins the forthcoming presidential elections:

“Even with modest economic growth projections, an Indonesian military build-up is inevitable. Both candidates, running on nationalist platforms, desire a more powerful Indonesian military that can project its power. The only difference is that Prabowo prefers a powerful — yet stationary — military presence initially and power projection capabilities later on, while Jokowi seems to prefer it the other way around.”

• China’s Communist Party under general secretary/president/chairman Xi Jinping is increasingly sounding like it’s in the middle of a full-blown purge, after it expelled former vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission Xu Caihou last Monday. See the language of state and party-sanctioned headlines: People’s Daily scolds ousted military leader; Battle against the enemy within. Xu Qiliang, a former PLA Air Force pilot, replaced Xu Caihou as the CMC’s #3.

• C. Christine Fair from Georgetown University thinks the Pakistani army’s operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan should be met with deep skepticism. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the area… and business has been booming for barbers.