Military of Iraq

The military of Iraq is the armed forces of Iraq, consisting of the New Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Air Force, and the Iraqi Coastal Defense Force. Iraq is currently rebuilding its military after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

History

The Iran-Iraq War ended with Iraq supporting the largest military of the Middle East, with more than 70 army divisions and over 700 aircraft within its air force. Losses during the invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent ejection of Iraqi forces from Kuwait by a United Nations coalition resulted in the reduction of Iraq's ground forces to 23 divisions and the air force to less than 300 aircraft. Military and economic sanctions prevent Iraq from rebuilding its military power, however, Iraq still maintained a standing military of about 375,000 troops. It was during the late 80's until 1991 the worlds 4th biggest, smaller only than the armed forces of USA, Soviet Union and China.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Iraq had an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. During new weapons inspections in 2003, United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix, searched Iraqi sites again, but found no new weapons. In late 2003, an American-led coalition invaded and occupied Iraq. After a year-long investigation by an American weapons inspections team, headed by David Kay, found that no large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (though a clandestine network of laboratories did exist).

Order of battle (pre-2003)

Before January 10, 2003, the Iraqi Army fielded at least 11 infantry, 3 mechanized, and 3 armored divisions. In addition, the Iraqi Republican Guard fielded 3 armored divisions, 2 mechanized divisions, and 1 motorized infantry division, while the Special Republican Guard fielded 6 brigades, including two tank brigades and an anti-aircraft brigade..

Republican Guard (RG)-- 80-100,000 troops located along the Tigris, to the north and south of Baghdad
Special Republican Guard (SRG) -- 15-20,000 troops located along the Tigris, just south of Baghdad
Regular Army -- 375,000 troops located primarily in eastern Iraq
Iraqi Special Forces -- Six brigades
Fedayeen Saddam and other paramilitary forces

Iraq equipment

Number of equipment as of 2003 is presented inside parenthesis.

Tanks (Total: 2,200)

The Iraqi tank forces consist mainly of old Soviet design. The Type-69/59 are Chinese copies of the Soviet T-55/54 tanks. (see List of Soviet tanks)

T-72 (700)
T-62 (500)
T-55/54 (500)
Type-69 (350)
Type-59 (150)

AIFV/APCs (Total: 3,800)

AML-60/-90 (300+)
BMP-1/-2 (900)
BRDM-2 (1300+)
EE-9 (600+)
EE-3 (300+)
FV-601 (100+)
FV-701 (90+)
PT-76 (100)
MT-LB (1,500+)
YW-531 (1,000+)

Towed Artillery (Total: 1,900)

M-56 105 mm
D-74 122 mm
D-30 122 mm (100+)
M-1938 122 mm (400+)
M-46 130 mm
Type-59-1 130 mm
M-1937 152 mm
M-1943 152 mm
G-5 155 mm (100+)
GHN-45 155 mm (200+)
M-114 155 mm

Self-Propelled Artillery (Total: 150)

2S1 SP 122 mm
2S3 SP 152 mm
M-109A1/A2 SP 155 mm
AUF-1 SP 155 mm (85+)
Majnoon SP 155 mm
Al Fao SP 210 mm

Multiple Rocket Launchers (Total: 200)

BM-21 MRL 122 mm
ASTROS II MRL 127 mm (60+)
BM-13/-16 MRL 132 mm
ASTROS SS-30 MRL 180 mm
Ababeel-50 MRL 262 mm (50+)
ASTROS SS-60 300 mm

Surface-to-Surface Missiles

Fighters

The J-7 is a Chinese copy of the MiG-21.

Surface-to-Air Missiles

Crotale
Roland
SA-2 Guideline
SA-3
SA-7 Grail
SA-6
SA-8
SA-9
SA-13

Statistics

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Border Guard Force (Historical - Republican Guard, Fedayeen Saddam)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 5,674,990 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 3,176,826 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 266,736 (2000 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%

Current order of battle

New Iraqi Army

1 Div: Fallujah (aka IIF) -1 Bde -2 Bde -3 Bde -4 Bde

2 Div: Mosul -1 Bde -2 Bde -3 Bde -4 Bde

3 Div: Yethrib -1 Bde -2 Bde -3 Bde

4 Div: Tikrit -1 Bde -2 Bde -4 Bde

5 Div: Balad -1 Bde -2 Bde -(3 Bde forming)

6 Div: Bagdad (Div certified) -1 Bde -2 Bde -3 Bde -5 Bde 7 Div: West Al Anbar Province -1 Bde -2 Bde -(3 Bde forming) 8 Div: Al Kut (Div certified) -1 Bde -2 Bde -3 Bde 9 Mech Div: Taji (77 T72/10 T55/32 MTLB/100 BMP1/(180 M113 enr)) -1 Mech Bde -2 Arm Bde -(3 Mech Bde planned)

10 Div: Basrah -1 Bde -2 Bde -(3 Bde forming)

Division unidentified or independent units: SOF Bde (36 Cdo Bn, CT Bn, Support Bn) 1 Cdo Bde 2 Bde 3 Bde 4 Bde 40 Bde 41 Bde 201 Bn 202 Bn 203 Bn 205 Bn

Iraqi Air Force

Iraqi Coastal Defense Force

References and links