Thread: Sit back an enjoy the Iraqi army...

Iraq arms sales request worth over nine billion dollars: Pentagon

7 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon said Friday it has notified Congress of proposed military sales to Iraq valued at more than nine billion dollars, including helicopters, tanks and armored vehicles.

The biggest proposed sale was for 392 Light Armored Vehicles, radios and anti-tank weapons at an estimated cost of three billion dollars, the Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said.

Congress also was notified of a possible sale of 140 upgraded M1A1 Abrams tanks as well as armored Humvees, tracked logistics vehicles, armored ambulances, vehicles to carry shelters and command posts, and trucks to transport heavy equipment.

It was valued at 2.16 billion dollars.

A separate 2.4 billion dollar helicopter deal would provide the Iraqi government with 24 Bell Armed 407 helicopters or 24 Boeing AH-6 helicopters, along with engines, missiles, mortars, machineguns, and rocket launchers.

Another proposed sale involved technical assistance in the construction of garrisons, training areas and operational facilities for the Iraqi security forces.

"The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as 1.6 billion dollars," the DSCA said.

On Monday, the DSCA announced a possible contract to sell Iraq six C-130J aircraft, with engines and other equipment, which it said was worth 1.5 billion dollars if all options were exercised.
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Iraq: Looking for LAVs in All the Right Places
Iraq: Looking for LAVs in All the Right Places
31-Jul-2008 20:13 EDT

Related Stories: Americas - Other, Americas - USA, BAE, Britain/U.K., Contracts - Intent, Force Structure, General Dynamics, Guns - 20-59 mm direct, Guns - Personal Weapons, Middle East - Other, Other Corporation, Raytheon, Tanks & Mechanized, Trucks & Transport
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USMC LAV-25
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July 30/08: The US DSCA announced [PDF] Iraq’s formal request for LAV the same kind of amphibious wheeled armored personnel carriers used by the US Marines, as well as associated services and some replacement equipment. When coupled with the recent M1117 armored car, helicopter, and infrastructure requests, the DSCA has announced over $7 billion in contract requests from Iraq’s military over the past week. The volume of these announcements, and their content, strongly suggests an Iraqi military that is making significant strides in organization and responsibilities, and is beginning to order the equipment to match. Time will tell.

The estimated cost, if contracts are concluded for all items, is up to $3 billion. The principal contractors will include General Dynamics in Warren, MI; Armatec in London, Ontario, Canada; BAE Systems in London, United Kingdom; Force Protection in Ladson, SC; Oshkosh Trucks in Oshkosh, WI; and Raytheon in Waltham, MA. Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of 24 contractor representatives to Iraq for a period of 2 years.

The exact request involves:

* 352 LAV-25s. This is the standard wheeled LAV APC used by the US Marines, which includes a 25mm cannon in the top turret. LAVs and associated equipment are manufactured by General Dynamics and Armatec. Although Iraq does have T-72 tanks and tacked BMP-1 APCs, its recent APC order pattern is strongly stressing wheeled vehicles (BTR-3, M1117, LAVs), which are easier to use in cities and along roads one wishes to protect.

* 24 LAV-CC command variant. Sacrifices the cannon in exchange for a raised rof and communication gear.

* 16 LAV-A Ambulance variant. Also more lightly armed. Ambulance specialist.

“The following are considered replacements to vehicles/weapons requested in the Military Table of Equipment (MTOE):”

* 5 LAV-R Recovery vehicles. No turret, but it does have a crane arm used for towing or winching other vehicles out if they get stuck or damaged.

* 4 LAV-L Logistics vehicles, with no turret and a raised roof. Designed to provide ammunition, rations and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) supplies for the LAV units they accompany.

* 2 MRAP Vehicles. These would be Badger ILAVs, a Cougar variant offered by Force Protection and BAE Systems.

* 41 Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) medium trucks. Oshkosh makes the MTVR, which forms the backbone of the US Marines’ medium truck fleet.

* 2 MK19 40mm Grenade Machine Guns. General Dynamics ATP makes these.

* 773 9mm Pistols. Maker and model unspecified. If Iraq follows the USA’s lead, it would be the Beretta – but previous requests have been for Glock 17s.

* 93 M240G 7.62mm Machine Guns. The M240 family are made by FN Herstal, and its FN Manufacturing, LLC subsidiary handles orders in the USA. They are the USA’s standard coaxial machine guns for turrets, and are also used pintle-mounted on vehicles and helicopters. They can also be used by dismounted troops, if removed from their pintle mount. This is not Iraq’s first request for the M240.

* 10 AR-12 rifles. This one was frankly puzzling. Armalite does manufacture the AR-15 commercial replicas of the 5.56mm M16/M4 family, and the similar 7.62mm AR-10 set. There was reportedly an AR-12 design at one point, but Armalite confirms that it does not offer an AR-12 for sale.

* Plus unspecified ammunition, construction, site survey, spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical data, personnel training and training equipment, cont

Iraq Requests M1117 ASVs

30-Jul-2008 16:14 EDT
Iraq Requests M1117 ASVs
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Convoy lead, Tikrit
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Textron Marine and Land Systems’ M1117 Guardian Armored Security Vehicle (ASV) provide better mine and ballistics protection than the Hummer, coupled with with an armored turret that offers both mounts for advanced sensors, and firepower overmatch via a .50 cal machine gun and 40mm grenade machine gun combination in its turret. It’s a classic revival of the armored car segment, which had fallen into disuse but has begun to attract interest again.

The vehicle has traveled a lot of difficult roads, both inside and outside of combat. The US military was backing away from the project, until Iraq came along and military police adopted the 3-man vehicle. Textron had to undo production line shutdowns and rehire skilled talent, and they were just hitting their stride when Hurricane Katrina flooded their only factory in New Orleans. Heroic efforts were required to get it up and running again. When the US military finally got serious and began buying MRAP vehicles, however, the stretched M1117 ICV failed the tests and was removed. This was actually the vehicle’s second competition loss, following Iraq’s selection of the Cougar-based ILAV Badger as its mine-resistant vehicle. American MPs continued to order the vehicle, however, and an artillery-spotting variant known as the M707 Armored Knight also picked up a few contracts. A small order came in from the Bulgaria, but the USA remains the vehicle’s sole customer of note.

That may be about to change, however, due to a formal request from… Iraq.

July 24/08: The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced [PDF] Iraq’s formal request for:

* 160 of Textron’s M1117 Armored Security Vehicles
* 160 M2 .50 caliber Machine Guns to equip the turrets
* 160 Mk19 MOD3 40mm automatic grenade launchers to equip the turrets
* 160 Vehicular Radio Systems from Harris Corp.
* 4 Heavy Duty Recovery Trucks to help pull damaged or stuck M1117s out of trouble
* All associated support, spare parts, and training required for initial fielding.

These vehicles will not displace the Badger in its MRAP role, but recent success in Iraq will allow them to operate performing the same kinds of local patrol and convoy lead duties undertaken by American MP vehicles.

U.S. Government and Contractor technical assistance will be required in association with the sale, but was not defined in the DSCA request. The usual practice is to have American units on the scene who use the same equipment help support their Iraqi counterparts, until the Iraqi unit is ready to operate on its own. Some contractor assistance is usually involved in that kind of process, but it’s difficult to tell exactly how much until the final arrangements are made.

The estimated cost is $206 million, but the exact amounts will be negotiated in the relevant contracts.

They already operate what I think is the ICV, so some of the support structure for the ASV should already be in place. They'll need it, too. It's a dog for maintenance. I wonder who they will equip with them. It'll be useful for convoy support, but I don't know how well it'll work in the cities.