DefenceTalkMilitants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a militant offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday, with the US said to be considering air strikes on the rebels. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-calls-crisis-talks-as-iraq-militants-advance-on-baghdad-59870/

DefenceTalkWashington vowed Wednesday to boost aid to Iraq and is mulling drone strikes amid fears Iraqi forces are crumbling in face of militants increasingly emboldened since the US withdrawal. Iraqi officials have already privately asked the US to consider sending in drones to root out militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-may-send-in-drones-to-iraq-to-battle-militants-59855/

DefenceTalkLockheed Martin (LMT) delivered the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force during a ceremony today at its Fort Worth facility. The Republic of Iraq’s first F-16 Fighting Falcon on display at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility. Lockheed Martin is producing the F-16s under a contract from the U.S. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraq-accepts-first-lockheed-martin-f-16-aircraft-59803/

DefenceTalkThe State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq for AT-6C Texan II aircraft and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $790 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on May 13, 2014. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-plans-790m-at-6c-texan-ii-aircraft-sale-to-iraq-59588/

DefenceTalkLockheed Martin successfully completed the first flight of the inaugural F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Iraq Air Force. The jet is the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft on order through the U.S. Department of Defense for Iraq. With more than 4,540 F-16s delivered to date, the Foreign Military Sale to Iraq adds to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/first-iraqi-f-16-completes-first-flight-59522/

DefenceTalkThe planned sale of the redundant L-159 combat planes to Iraq may fail for three reasons: the Czechs may not be able to quickly deliver the planes, the Czech military may consider the sale unprofitable, and a new Iraqi government may reject the sale, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes yesterday. The aircraft producer, Aero Vodochody, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/l-159-sale-to-iraq-may-fail-for-several-reasons-59287/

DefenceTalkThe Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq for AH-64E Apache Longbow Attack Helicopters and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $4.8 billion. The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of 24 AH-64E Apache Longbow Attack Helicopters, 56 T700-GE-701D […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraq-to-buy-ah-64e-apache-longbow-attack-helicopters-50171/

DefenceTalkThe White House said Monday that the United States will remain strongly committed to Iraq as it fights al-Qaida affiliated groups, but it said, again, that American troops will not return to Iraq. The surge in fighting between Iraqi government forces and al-Qaida-linked militants is a concern to the United States, which is accelerating the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-accelerate-iraq-weapons-drone-deliveries-50036/

DefenceTalkAn intensifying revolt in a Sunni Arab province of Iraq sparked by the Shiite-led government’s dispersal of a year-old protest leaves the country at the crossroads between reconciliation and civil war, analysts say. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki must decide in the coming days whether to offer a real share of power to the disenchanted Sunni […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraq-at-crossroads-between-reconciliation-and-war-analysts-50047/

DefenceTalkIraq signed a $1.1 billion deal on Thursday to buy 24 multi-role light fighters from South Korea, as it seeks to build its fledgling air force amid rising violence. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said it would deliver the T-50IQ, a variant of its T-50 supersonic aircraft, to Baghdad between 2015 and 2016, under the terms […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraq-signs-1-1-bn-deal-to-buy-south-korean-fighter-jets-49931/