When asked if Iraq had the capability to defend its own air sovereignty, the General had a different answer.
“No, not completely. You know, to defend air sovereignty, you have to see what is coming across the border, and then you have to be able to react and defend your sovereign airspace. Right now, there’s no problem at all with commercial air traffic inside the country. The government of Iraq controls all the airspace. But if there is someone that wants to breach the airspace that doesn’t have any kind of transmission capability in their airplane or does not want to transmit, to not be seen as they cross the border, Iraq cannot see them. And Iraq doesn’t have an advanced jet fighter yet to be able to react and defend their airspace.”
However, that will eventually change. Helmick said Iraq has purchased 16 F-16s. but the purchase and training of pilots will take time. As of now, Iraq understands they have a gap in their defense. “How they deal with that gap is really up to them.”
Iraq cannot defend air sovereignty after US withdrwal
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