Iraq Takes Delivery of Final Batch of U.S. Tanks

Aug. 29, 2012 - 05:18PM |
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military took delivery of nine American M1A1 Abrams tanks, the last in an order of 140 that it has received over the past two years, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said in an Aug. 29 statement.

The tanks, which were displayed at a demonstration exercise at a military training complex southeast of the capital, are part of Baghdad’s efforts to build up its military, which U.S. and Iraqi officials admit cannot secure the country’s borders, airspace or maritime waters.

“The Iraqi Army officially took possession of nine M1A1 tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Centre, Iraq, on Aug. 27,” the statement said.

The 140 tanks cost a total of $860 million, $804 million of which was paid by Iraq with the remainder of the cost borne by the U.S., according to Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesman for the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, part of the U.S. Embassy.

Iraq received the first batch of tanks, which it ordered in March 2009, in August 2010.

The tanks’ capabilities and their operators’ training were put on display at the Besmaya complex on Aug. 29, the statement said.

“This exercise clearly illustrates the growing capabilities of the Iraqi Army,” said OSC-I commander Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen.

Iraqi Army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Babaker Zebari has persistently said that the country’s military will not be able to fully defend it until 2020, though U.S. and Iraqi officials insist the armed forces and police are capable of maintaining internal security.

Baghdad has made $12 billion worth of military acquisitions from the U.S., whose forces pulled out of Iraq in December, notably including the purchase of 36 F-16 warplanes.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

I reckon we know the tanks soft spots for when we have to take them out although the solution will likely be an area wide boom. I understand we left all our other tanks and vehicles there anyway. Lord have Mercy
Mc

We left a lot of vehicles in Iraq, most of them Hemmuts, M-1151's and earlier models, M113's, and very sparse numbers of earlier versions of the MRAP. Nothing much, and not worth the shipping costs to bring them back to the states. If it was junk to us we gave it to them, that is pretty much how it worked. Every single fob we were on in 2009-2010, we hauled all armoured units out. Any armoured units Iraq received from us were outdated, and stripped units from the fields of the United States. When we went to Hammer in Iraq we hauled out every tank they had, 36 from what I remember (all M1 Abrams), and that was closing it down.