The Pentagon plans to sell Iraq 18 F-16IQ (Block 52) aircraft as part of an arms package worth over $4.2 billion.

The Pentagon is embarking on a new arms transfer to Iraq, this time involving a squadron of advanced versions of the Lockheed Martin F-16IQ – Block 52 fighter jets, supply of 440 refurbished Armored Presonnel Carriers and the establishment of a nationwide defense communications network. The estimated value of the entire package could reach about $4.5 billion.

The package notified to Congress by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency includes 18 F-16IQ fighter jets, worth around $4.2 billion. The aircraft will be delivered with weapons and mission payloads for air defense, strike and reconnaissance missions. These packages will comprise AIM-9L/M 8-9 short range and AIM-7M-F1/H Sparrow Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air/air missiles, and air/ground guided weapons including various types of the AGM-65 Maverick missile and GBU-12 Paveway II and Paveway III laser guided bombs, augmented by Sniper targeting pods.

For the reconnaissance mission the F-16IQs will be equipped by the BAE Systems’ F-9120 Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance Systems (AARS) Long-Range Oblique Photographic System (LOROPS) or the tactical, DB-110 Reconnaissance Pods made by Goodrich. The aircraft will be equipped with a standard Electronic Warfare suite including the ALQ-187 countermeasure package and ALR-93 radar warning receiver comprising the Advanced Countermeasure Electronic Systems (ACES), and AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing Systems (CMDS).

Washington also plans to ship 440 refurbished M113A2 Armored Personnel Carriers to Iraq, to equip the Iraqi land forces. The cost of this package is estimated at $131 million. The prime contractor for this upgrade is BAE Systems, the original vehicle manufacturer.

The Pentagon is moving to set up an independent defense network for the Iraqi military, under a 150 million investment that includes design, supply of equipment and technical support. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified congress on the proposed sale, to include the fixed network to be established under a $98 million program and Mobile Communications Centers, worth approximately $57 million. The prime contractors for both systems are ITT Corporation and the Harris Corporation.

A column of Stryker armored vehicles of the U.S. Army 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division arrive in Kuwait, after travelling along the 500 km highway from Baghdad. The 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team was mentioned as the last U.S. Army combat brigade to leave Iraq. Photo: AP

Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border on before dawn today. (check AP report by Rebecca Santana).

It was the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 2nd Infantry Division that pulled back from Iraq, two weeks ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31, 2010 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there. Yet, the U.S. presence in the country is far from over as some 56,000 U.S. troops are staying for at least another year, in what is designated as a ‘advise and assist‘ non-combat role. Special Forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists while other troops will be training and assisting Iraqi troops on their security missions. In fact, as the 4th Stryker BCT left Iraq, soldiers of the 2nd Stryker BCT of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an ‘Advise and Assist Brigade’, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance. The 2nd Stryker BCT is one of seven ‘Advice and Assist Brigades’ currently positioned in the country, along with National Guard brigades.

The military was preparing for the withdrawal for several months, restricting media reports on the brigade’s movements until they were almost to the border. The brigade decided to fly half of the troops by air and send 4,000 soldiers overland, maintaining the 360 Strykers vehicles force in combat ready posture for an extra three weeks. The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling through potentially hostile territory over the 500 km road to Kuwait at night, minimizing U.S. military movements by day. Highway overpasses and other sensitive points were covered by U.S. military overwatches and attack helicopters, with the banks of the highway constantly swept for suspected IEDs. The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south.

The AP story, which was followed by other reports in the U.S. media, seems aimed at looking for a ‘happy end’ for the U.S. role in the Iraqi conflict. However, the international press is not impressed. Here are few the skeptical commentators:

No security and stability in Iraq

U.S. withdrawal from Iraq: Ending or outsourcing the war?

Pentagon denies pullout of combat troops out of Iraq accomplished

Deadly bombing comes hours after talks break down

Bloodbath in Iraq amid political impasse

Will Obama keep US troops in Iraq beyond 2011?

Defense Update News Analysis: The Beginning Or the End of The Iraq War?

Defense Update News Analysis: Are Iraqi Security Forces Up to the Challenge?

A column of Stryker armored vehicles of the U.S. Army 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division arrive in Kuwait, after travelling along the 500 km highway from Baghdad. The 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team was mentioned as the last U.S. Army combat brigade to leave Iraq. Photo: AP

Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border on before dawn today. (check AP report by Rebecca Santana).

It was the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 2nd Infantry Division that pulled back from Iraq, two weeks ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31, 2010 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there. Yet, the U.S. presence in the country is far from over as some 56,000 U.S. troops are staying for at least another year, in what is designated as a ‘advise and assist‘ non-combat role. Special Forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists while other troops will be training and assisting Iraqi troops on their security missions. In fact, as the 4th Stryker BCT left Iraq, soldiers of the 2nd Stryker BCT of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an ‘Advise and Assist Brigade’, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance. The 2nd Stryker BCT is one of seven ‘Advice and Assist Brigades’ currently positioned in the country, along with National Guard brigades.

The military was preparing for the withdrawal for several months, restricting media reports on the brigade’s movements until they were almost to the border. The brigade decided to fly half of the troops by air and send 4,000 soldiers overland, maintaining the 360 Strykers vehicles force in combat ready posture for an extra three weeks. The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling through potentially hostile territory over the 500 km road to Kuwait at night, minimizing U.S. military movements by day. Highway overpasses and other sensitive points were covered by U.S. military overwatches and attack helicopters, with the banks of the highway constantly swept for suspected IEDs. The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south.

The AP story, which was followed by other reports in the U.S. media, seems aimed at looking for a ‘happy end’ for the U.S. role in the Iraqi conflict. However, the international press is not impressed. Here are few the skeptical commentators:

No security and stability in Iraq

U.S. withdrawal from Iraq: Ending or outsourcing the war?

Pentagon denies pullout of combat troops out of Iraq accomplished

Deadly bombing comes hours after talks break down

Bloodbath in Iraq amid political impasse

Will Obama keep US troops in Iraq beyond 2011?

Defense Update News Analysis: The Beginning Or the End of The Iraq War?

Defense Update News Analysis: Are Iraqi Security Forces Up to the Challenge?

The leader of a Lebanon-based al Qaeda affiliate Fatah al Islam has been killed while attempting to travel to Iraq to join the insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to use eastern Syria as a staging ground for foreign terrorists entering Iraq, often with the support of Syria’s intelligence service.

Abdul Rahman Awad, the group leader, was killed along with his deputy, Ghazi Faysal Abdullah, also known as ‘ Abu Bakr ‘. They were shot by Lebanese security forces during a clash in the Bekaa Valley over the weekend. The group confirmed the deaths of Awad and Abdullah in a statement released on a jihadi website, and said that the two leaders were traveling to Iraq to join up with the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s front group. Read more on Awad and his group on the recent Defense-Update news analysis.

The leader of a Lebanon-based al Qaeda affiliate Fatah al Islam has been killed while attempting to travel to Iraq to join the insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to use eastern Syria as a staging ground for foreign terrorists entering Iraq, often with the support of Syria’s intelligence service.

Abdul Rahman Awad, the group leader, was killed along with his deputy, Ghazi Faysal Abdullah, also known as ‘ Abu Bakr ‘. They were shot by Lebanese security forces during a clash in the Bekaa Valley over the weekend. The group confirmed the deaths of Awad and Abdullah in a statement released on a jihadi website, and said that the two leaders were traveling to Iraq to join up with the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s front group. Read more on Awad and his group on the recent Defense-Update news analysis.

The U.S. Air Force has deployed the 30th and last MC-12 ISR Aircraft to Afghanistan in July 2010. Photo: US Air Force

The 30th MC-12 Liberty was recently deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility completing the initial deployment plan, an Air Force official announced July 9. MC-12 Liberty ISR aircraft are currently operating with three units in SOuthwest Asia: the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron operating from Kandahar, Afghanistan and the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan and the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron in Balad air base, Iraq.

Lieutenant General David A. Deptula, deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at Headquarters Air Force. US Air Force photo.

According to Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, the deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at Headquarters Air Force, the aircraft has had a positive impact in theater. He added that the MC-12s assisted in the capture of hundreds of insurgents, and the discovery of weapons caches and improvised explosive devices. The MC-12 fleet has flown more than 5,000 combat sorties and taken more than 22,000 hours of full-motion video and more than 40,000 images to date. ”This project is an unqualified success, and the model for how we should develop and deliver quick-reaction ISR capabilities,” General Deptula said.

“The MC-12W is the fastest weapons system delivered from concept to combat since the P-51 Mustang in World War II” said “We mobilized a significant industry base and every resource at our disposal, and delivered the first Federal Aviation Administration-certified aircraft in six months and three weeks, It began flying combat sorties in less than eight months.”

In April 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates established a Department of Defense-wide ISR Task Force to identify and recommend solutions for increased ISR in the CENTCOM AOR. Secretary Gates tasked Air Force officials July 1, 2008, to acquire 37 “C-12″ class aircraft to augment unmanned systems. It was less than eight months from funding approval to the delivery of the first aircraft in theater. The entire operational fleet of 30 aircraft was deployed in only 13 months.

Lt. Gen Craig Koziol, DOD ISR Task Force director. Photo: USAF

“The entire Project Liberty team worked seamlessly to get this airborne ISR capability to the AOR as quickly as possible,” said Lt. Gen Craig Koziol, the DOD ISR Task Force director. “From concept to all the sensor integration efforts required to get this platform deployed, the team demonstrated superb focus to get this quick reaction, airborne ISR capability fielded to support (Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom).”

The aircraft are military versions of the Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air 350 and Super King 350ER. They are equipped with an electro-optical infrared sensor, and other sensors as the mission requires. The EO/IR sensor also includes a laser illuminator and designator in a single sensor package. A fully operational system consists of a modified aircraft with sensors, a ground exploitation cell, line-of-sight and satellite communications data-links, and a robust voice communications suite. The MC-12 capability supports all aspects of the Air Force Irregular Warfare mission — counter insurgency, foreign internal defense and building partnership capacity — and is capable of worldwide operations.

With the Air Force MC-12 program winding down, the U.S. Army is gearing up to replace its Guardrail aircraft with C-12 based platforms, equipped to carry out a wider range of missions, beyond the traditional electronic surveillance performed by the Guardrail.

The U.S. Army is planning to field upgraded, early production Sky Warrior unmanned systems in Afghanistan in the summer of 2010, to be equipped with improved software, hardware, new Hellfire missiles modified to better operate with unmanned systems. By the end of the year the Army plans to field the first production models of the Sky Warrior, as part of the ER/MP program. Photo: Sgt. Travis Zielinski, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div., USD-C, U.S. Army

As production of Predator A winding, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) shifts to the production of the new Sky Warrior MQ-1C model designed for the U.S. Army Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) UAS program. The company has received $195.5 million in funding from the U.S. Army, part of an estimated $399 million contract to provide Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) aircraft and supplemental hardware for ER/MP.

The remaining amount expected in the late summer of 2010 will provide for 34 Sky Warrior aircraft, 16 One System Ground Control Stations (OSGCS) made by AAI Corporation, airborne and ground Tactical Control Data Link (TCDL) equipment produced by L-3 Communications West, and various other items to include automatic landing systems, spares, and ground support equipment.

Beginning December 2010, the company is scheduled to deliver over two aircraft a month through the end of 2012. New features being introduced with the Sky Warrior system include the capability to carry four Hellfire missiles, fully autonomous operation, including automatic takeoff and landing and the de-icing capabilities enabling the aircraft to fly through degraded weather conditions. Earlier this summer the Army is planning to field four Sky Warrior aircraft configured with the latest ‘Quick Reaction Capability’ (QRC-2), fitted to carry four new Hellfire AGM-114P+ missiles modified to better perform with unmanned aerial systems. Early models (QRC-1 and Sky Warrior Alpha)  have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2008, and to date have logged over 145,000 flight hours.