User:Al Iraqi87/Iraqi Air Defence Command

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Iraqi Air Defence Command is one of the Iraqi armed forces sService branches, established on February 1st, 1993, and the Branch is responsible for the protection of Iraqi airspace from any external aggression,It had an effective role in protecting the Iraqi airspace even before it was officially formed in 1993, After the 2003 invasion of Iraq it was reshaped in 2011, The current commanding officer, Major General Maan al-Saadi, It has been 29 years since its founding.

History
The emergence and use of aircraft for military purposes in the First World War led to the emergence of countermeasures with artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, balloon barriers and visual monitoring, these methods were used during the First World War and in the period that followed doesn't go beyond the tactical level, during the Second World War and the period that followed it, air defense witnessed a rapid and effective development as a result of the development that took place in modern air attack means. The field of air defense means expanded and exceeded the tactical level and became a field for the art of operations.

In the circumstances of modern war, the destructive power of air attack weapons has increased to a large extent and the tactical methods have developed for their use, which has led to the consideration of air defense as one of the basic elements in the defense of any country. It usually protects industrial and economic areas, political and administrative centers, areas of massing ground, air, and naval forces, and other vital targets and military instrumentalities in the field during the advance and offensive, to protect them from air threats.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Iraqi army, the anti-aircraft weapons had little importance, as there was no air threat, and the role of air defense at that time did not appear clearly, as the ground forces at that time depended on the rifles and machine guns of the infantry regiments and other units to confront the enemy aircraft. After the establishment of the Iraqi army, thought began to buy anti-aircraft weapons for the purposes of protection against enemy aircraft.

The Iraqi air defenses were redesigned after the Israeli raid on the nuclear reactor "Tamouz reactor" in 1981. A network of radars, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) were installed, centered around the strategic and industrial facilities in the city of Baghdad. The National Air Defense Operations Center (Air Defence Operating Center/ADOC) in central Baghdad. It is their responsibility to preserve the skies of Iraq from any external aggression.

Even after the first Gulf War in 1991, the Iraqi army still possesses a wide range of advanced weapons with which it can attack civilian aircraft flying over Iraq. These weapons include Russian weapons, French-made combat aircraft carrying air-to-air missiles, and Russian surface-to-air missile systems. Partially built integrated air defense system and early warning radars.

After the year 2003 and the dissolution of the Iraqi army, the Iraqi Air Defense Command became more dependent on western sources than eastern, so it received advanced American systems such as the Hawk and Avenger, and advanced American radars From the United States, and they got rid of the Soviet doctrine and started using modern radars, communications and technologies,

Monarchy Era to 1958
There was no importance for the anti-aircraft weapons when the Iraqi army was established, because there was no air threat and the role of its was not Obvious clear, and the ground forces at that time depended on rifles and machine guns in the infantry regiments and other units to confront the enemy aircraft. After years, it begans to think about buying anti-aircraft weapons for the purposes of protection from enemy aircraft. The first anti-aircraft unit was formed on January 3, 1939, and it was called (Light anti-Aircraft battalion) and it was made up of German 10mm anti-aircraft guns, and assigned to the first dividion. And participated in the suppression of the Barzani rebellion. The battery was carried on wheels and became the power of a vehicle to protect the columns.

On March 20, 1946, the second battalion was formed in the name of the second light anti-aircraft battalion in Kirkuk, and was assigned to the second division, the battalion was armed with German-made 20 mm cannons and 20 mm Brady cannons.

On July 2, 1947, the battalion of anti-heavy aircraft formed, and it was armed with 3/7 British-made cannons, the battalion based in Baghdad at Al-Washash camp and Al-Waziriyah District. When the Iraqi army participated in the Palestine war in 1948, the need arose to secure weapons of anti-aircraft to a greater extent with the need to admit more advanced weapons into the army's divisions, formations, and units. As a result, the cadres of the anti-aircraft faction were created and added to the staff of the support company in each regiment to protect the headquarters and formations from the potential hostile air threat.

From 1950 to 1958, a number of anti-aircraft units were formed and the first ِanti-aircraft was formed on May 11, 1950, and it was armed with 40 mm guns Boovers, and the first anti-aircraft battalion was Formed January 3 1952, and it was called anti-Light Aircraft The first is to make use of 40mm anti-aircraft batteries. The anti-aircragft 20 mm changed to the first battalion and the second battalion. The name of the following battalions was changed to:


 * The 1st Light anti-Aircraft Battalion 20 mm was changed to the first anti-Aircraft Battalion and attached to the first Division.


 * The 20 mm fixed light anti-aircraft battalion was changed to the second anti-aircraft battalion and attached to the second division.

On March 15, 1955, the anti-Aircraft ward and Scout Lights Wing was formed in the Field Artillery School, to be responsible for opening specialized courses for air resistance artillery, after all courses were organized in the Field Artillery School under the supervision of field artillery officers. The Commander of theanti- Aircraft ward, Lieutenant Colonel Jassim Muhammad Jalil, and here began a new chapter in the life of the anti-aircraft artillery, as a specialized body responsible for training appeared for the first time. On December 31, 1955, the Second Light anti-Aircraft battalion was formed, according to its cadres, and it included a battalion headquarters and three battalions. Each battalion consisted of three platoons, and the platoon contained 6 guns and was armed with 40 mm cannons Bovers. This battalion was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division, which was Equipped before the formation of the battalion with one anti-aircraft battalion armed with 2mm guns.

On October 2, 1956, the Air Target Detachment, controlled by radio, was formed to train anti-aircraft units to shoot. The detachment included several small, unmanned, radio-controlled aircraft in Al-Washash camp, and were associated with the Field Artillery School, due to the difficulty of maintaining these aircraft and their frequent malfunctions. It was abolished after the fall of the Monarchy in 1958.

On January 20, 1957, the designations of the Anti-Aircraft battalions were changed as follows:


 * The first Light anti-Aircraft Battalion to the 23rd Light anti-Aircraft Battalion, attached to the first Division Command and housed in Basra.


 * The second Light anti-Aircraft Battalion to the 27th Light ant-Aircraft Battalion and attached to the second Division Command in Kirkuk and its armament was replaced after the fall of the monarchy with eastern 37 mm cannons.

On October 15, 1957, the Army equipped with 18 American-made 90mm heavy guns. It formed the Heavy anti-Aircraft Battalion/31 Radar-Guided, and was linked to the artillery of the General Headquarters. Colonel Abdel Rahman Fattah was appointed as its commander in Al-Wash camp, and it was not used because the training was not completed.

The Repuplic Era 1958 to 1968
After the fall of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Iraqi Republic, Iraq's policy changed and headed towards the eastern origins to import weapons, especially from the Soviet Union the share of anti-aircraft weapons from Iraq's imports was limited, but a limited number of units were formed, and the armaments of the previously formed battalions were replaced with eastern weapons, and it became the standard cannon 37 mm Soviet-made, and the class did not have a directorate at the time, but Section of the divisions of the Field Artillery Directorate was responsible for anti-aircraft weapons.

On July 17, 1958, the anti-Aircraft Battalion / 29 was formed in the Saad camp, in Baqubah, consisting of a battalion headquarters and three battalions armed with 37 mm single-barrel cannons.

After the declaration of the Iraqi Republic, Iraq was equipped with 100 mm cannons guided by radar and the course was opened inside Iraq on November 1, 1958, under the supervision of Russian experts. After the training was completed, the battalion was reorganized on January 12, 1960, and its name was changed to the Medium anti-Aircraft Battalion/31, and its first commander was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Daoud Salman al-Ghalay, thus being the first piloted anti-aircraft battalion in the army, armed with 100 mm guided guns. The organization of the battalion included a headquarters, a control campany, and three firing campanies.The battalion took Abu Ghraib camp as its headquarters.

Since its formation, anti-aircraft artillery units have been associated with divisional field artillery and general headquarters field artillery commands, originally linked to one directorate, the Field Artillery Directorate, and work continued on this form until the formation of the anti-Aircraft Artillery Directorate and its separation from the Field Artillery Directorate, where each of them became a separate category.

On August 16, 1959, the Light anti-Aircraft Battalion was formed from a battalion headquarters, three companies, and armed with 37 mm single-barreled guns. In October 1959, the 24th Light anti-Aircraft Battalion was formed in the Jisr al-Khar barracks of the battalion headquarters and three batteries were armed with 37 mm single-barrel cannons. On March 1, 1961, the 17th anti-Aircraft Battalion was formed from battalion headquarters and three companies armed with single-barreled guns, and the battalion was reorganized on January 2, 1963, as the Medium anti-Aircraft Battalion/17, which consisted of battalion headquarters and six armed guided firing squads. With 100 mm guns. In 1963, Iraq contracted with the Soviet Union to purchase a battalion of surface-to-air missiles of the type (Dvina), upon its arrival, the anti-Aircraft Battalion was formed, the 34th Missile Battalion (the Dulab Battalion) on March 2, 1963, and its first commander was Colonel Daoud Salman al-Ghalay. And it was based in Abu Ghraib camp and organized training courses on the equipment of this battalion, then it was canceled on July 13, 1963, due to the lack of completion of the equipment supply from the Soviet side, and the equipment was handed over to the Arab Republic of Egypt as a gift to strengthen its alliance with Israel, and Iraq was thus the first Arab country to own Surface-to-air missile weapon.

On August 16, 1965, the anti-aircraft artillery was established, and it included the headquarters and the light anti-aircraft artillery ward, the medium anti-aircraft artillery ward, and the administrative ward. The first commander of the light anti-aircraft artillery ward was Colonel Namik Abdullah, and the first commander of the medium anti-artillery ward Colonel Jalal Saaed, the responsibility of preparing the officers, Non-commissioned officer and other ranks class assigned to the anti-aircraft school, after it was the responsibility of the Field Artillery School.

On June 6, 1967, the 21st Light anti-aircraft Battalion was formed from a battalion headquarters, and three firing companies armed with 37 mm single-barreled guns.

1968-1980
After the Baath Party seized power in 1968, the party leadership paid great attention to modernizing weapons in Iraq, and the anti-aircraft weapon was one of the main questions, in 1970, a committee was formed, headed by Major General Daoud Salman al-Ghalai, and a number of officers concerned with weapons of resistance to aircraft and air defense, and that was under the supervision of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, when he was deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, and this committee developed proposals that served as a basis for developing weapons Resistance to aircraft and air defense, especially in the organizational aspect of air defense and the development of training institutions for the class, methods of development, armament and details, and this resulted in the formation of large numbers of aircraft resistance units and formation headquarters for command and control purposes, and the introduction of modern weapons for service for the first time in the country, which I see rules Establishing an advanced air defense system. In the years from 1968 to 1980, the headquarters formed the following formations and units:


 * On September 8, 1968, the anti-Aircraft and anti-Missile Command was formed, and its first commander was appointed Major General Daoud Salman al-Ghalai. Its responsibility was to command and control all artillery weapons of anti-aircraft and open air defense missiles to protect vital sites and projects in Iraq. The commander presented the command with the commander of the Air Force and Air Defense. The command was attached to the Army Chief of Staff, and reorganized on October 23, 1974 as the anti-aircraft Artillery Department. On November 1, 1976, it was reorganized as the anti-aircraft Artillery Command. At the same time, the Missile Command formed, and the two commands were linked to the Air Force and Air Defense Command, and on July 19, 1979, the Air Force and Air Defense Artillery Command was merged with the Missile Command. Air Force and Air Defense.

After the addmition of the surface-to-air missile weapon, a transformation occurred in the weapons of anti-aircraft, so the first missile battalion was formed, which is the 125th missile battalion on January 31, 1972, and it consists of four Firing companies, which are company 31st, company33rd, company 35th, company 37th with technical company 93rd, and Repair Factory 80th. On April 7, 1972, this battalion was commisioned to protect vital headquarters and projects in Baghdad, and on June 11, 1974, the battalion’s cadre was reorganized into the 145th Missile Brigade, as well as four firing companies Anti-aircraft missile system S-75-2 Volga-2 is the company 50th, the company 52nd, the company 54th, the company 56th, with the Volga Technical company 76th ​​to the battalion staff.

A directorate was formed to assume technical responsibility, after the Iraqi government expanded in the formation of units to resist aircraft, missiles and artillery, and for the expansion of this category, it was formed according to the following stages:

First: On November 4, 1971, the Missile Directorate was formed, and it was linked to the headquarters of the Air Force in all respects, and was linked to The 125th Battalion and missile units, the headquarters of the directorate was considered the headquarters of the missile class, and Brigadier General Burhan al-Din Tawfiq was appointed as its first director.

Second: On April 22, 1973, the anti-aircraft artillery Directorate was formed, on May 10, 1973, Brigadier General Muhammad Salim Ahmed took the position of its director, and the directorate was linked to the Training Department.

Third: On January 1, 1980, its name was changed to the Directorate of anti-aircraft, after the Directorate of anti-aircraft Artillery and the Directorate of anti-aircraft Missiles were merged, and the directorate was linked to the Department of Organization and Mobilization.

Fourth: On February 20, 1980, the Directorate moved from its headquarters in the Ministry of Defense to the Mobilization and Statistics Building (the Military Complex) in Kasra.

Fifth: In 1985, the ant-aircraft Directorate was re-linked to the Training Department, instead of being linked to the Organization and Mobilization Department.

Sixth: On January 18, 1987, the anti-aircraft Directorate moved from the Al-Kasra complex to a new building in the Al-Saadoun area, and on February 25, 1988, the Directorate was transferred to the Al-Kasra complex again.

Seventh: The Directorate of anti-aircraft was reorganized and affiliated in 1989, as follows:


 * 1) delinking of the anti-aircraft Directorate from the Training Department, and its linked with the Air Force and Air Defense Command, and its disengagement was published in the Air Defense Assistant Command’s book 16 on January 7, 1990, as of January 1, 1990.
 * 2) The Air Defense Institute was delinked from the anti-aircraft Directorate’s battle system, and it was linked to the Air Defense Command’s assistant commander, the Air Force and Air Defense Command.
 * 3) On January 1, 1989, the anti-aircraft Command of the Air Force and Air Defense Command was.

Eighth: On December 27, 1989, delinke the repair factory 841 of the anti-aircraft Command of the abolished Air Force and Air Defense Command, and it was linked to the anti-aircraft Directorate in all respects. The technical delinked of the artillery commands of anti-aircraft cutters is linked to the Directorate according to its new link.

Ninth: On January 14, 1990, the anti-aircraft Directorate moved from its building in the Kasra compound to the Air Force compound.

Tenth: The Directorate of Anti-aircraft moved from the Air Force and Air Defense Command Complex to Al-Mustansiriya Complex, after the delinked from the Air Force and Air Defense Command, and was linked to the Training Department. Then the Directorate moved to the Al-Kasra Military Complex, after it formed the Air Defense Command, and it became part of the Commander's Assistant for Technical Affairs on February 1, 1993. The Directorate moved again to the Command Complex, after its buildings were completed, and it became within the Air Defense Command Complex, in the Karada district, in Baghdad, on January 27, 1995.

Eleven: A number of anti-aircraft artillery units were formed, as they formed 13 guided anti-aircraft battalions 57 mm and 10 unguided anti-aircraft battalions (37 mm)-(30 mm)-(23 mm), due to the lack of the previous number to secure the protection of headquarters and vital projects.

Twelve: three hybrid missiles brigdes formed from the S-75 ("Volga") and S-125 Neva/Pechora batteries, and were intended to protect headquarters and vital projects:

Thirteenth: Six self-propelled Kavadrat missile battalions were formed to work within the field air defense (armored and mechanized divisions) and entered this type of missiles in 1974, as follows:

Fourteenth: On April 14, 1975, the 288 (57) mm Autonomous Aircraft Resistance Battalion was formed into the 3rd Corps Air Defense. 16 anti-aircraft forces of 23 mm were formed for the first surface-to-air missiles to provide protection from hostile air attacks.

Fifteenth: Form 15 mixed batteries consisting of Shilka and Strela 1 M for armored and mechanized field formations to confront the very low air threat from the ground forces.

Sixteenth: A number of air defense commands for the corps, armored divisions, mechanized and infantry were formed to secure command and control of the field air defense units operating within the corps and divisions, as follows:

Leadership Structure
The former integrated air defense consisted of the National Air Defense Operations Center in Baghdad and the following four air defense sectors:


 * The First Air Defense Operations Command, also called the Central Region Air Defense Sector, has an operations center sector in Taji and operations centers in Taji, Taqaddam, Salman Pak, Kut, Najaf and Nukhib.
 * The Second Air Defense Operations Command, also known as the Western Air Defense Command, has bases located at the South Oil Company, H-3 airfield with H-1 airfield, and Rutba.
 * The Third Air Defense Operations Command, also known as the Southern Air Defense Operations Command, has bases located in the South Oil Company, Tallil Airport, and the international oil companies in Tallil, Al-Amarah, Salman, and Zubair
 * The 4th Air Defense Operations Command, also known as the Northern Air Defense Operations Command, is headquartered at the North Oil Company in Kirkuk, with the international oil companies in Kirkuk and Mosul.

Each Air Defense Operations Command was assigned early warning battalions, which were responsible for operating optical observation points and air surveillance radars

Air defense coverage is concentrated throughout Baghdad and the main military and strategic objectives. Many of the Iraqi air defense weapons were destroyed in the Gulf War and during the American strikes, which resulted in the imposition of a spokesperson over the north and south of Iraq. Iraq still retains a good number of systems Weapons for Air Defense Despite these losses, Iraq possesses SAM 2 SAM 3 SAM 6 SAM 7 SAM 8 SAM 9 SAM 13 SAM 16 Hawk

Officers and Soldiers
The number of members of the Iraqi Air Defense Command has reached nearly 4,000 soldiers and officers who are in charge of monitoring the Iraqi airspace and protecting it from external and terrorist attacks.

After 2003
The Air Defense Command shares the ranks with the rest of the various Iraqi army commanders with symbols, and the word air defense (abbreviated A.D.) is added after the name of the rank to denote the class, as well as soldiers and non-commissioned officers.

Equipment
By 1990, Iraq possessed 16,000 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with radar and thermal trackers, including the Soviet SA-2, SA-3, SA-6, SA-7, SA-8, SA-9, SA-13, SA-14, SA-16, and French Roland (SHORAD). The Air Force also possessed anti-air defense missiles, including the SA-7/14, SA-8, SA-9/13, SA-16 missile systems, and the ZSU-23/4 AAA self-propelled system. A boost to this, the Iraqi Air Defense had more than 7,500 AAA items all valuable targets, some of which were scattered on the roofs of Baghdad's many buildings. These weapons - 57 mm and 37 mm AAA parts, ZSU-23/4 and ZSU-57/2 AAA self-propelled systems, and hundreds of 14.5 mm and 23 mm anti-aircraft weapons - formed the backbone and integrated air defense network in major relevant and valuable areas. High (such as Baghdad, airports, residential complexes, chemical production plants, and nuclear facilities) Combined air defense may be a lethal weapon for aircraft operating below 10,000 feet.

As a result of the military operations in 2003 and the subsequent events, the Iraqi Air Defense Command lost most of the radars and interceptors, as well as the planes under its command, The Iraqi army began to pay attention to the Air Defense Command and to arm it again with radars and anti-aircraft missiles