Iraq takes delivery of final M1A1 tanks

[GoldComet6]

FYI.

Iraq takes delivery of final batch of US tanks

Thursday, August 30th, 2012



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 US embassy in Baghdad said in a statement on Wednesday.

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 US 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 August 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 US, according to Commander Gary Ross, a spokesman for the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, part of the US embassy.

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

The tanks’ capabilities and their operators’ training was put on display at the Besmaya complex on Wednesday, the statement said.

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

Iraqi Army chief of staff Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari has persistently said that the country’s military will not be able to fully defend it until 2020, though US 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 US, whose forces pulled out of Iraq in December, notably including the purchase of 36 F-16 warplanes.

Story Link: Iraq takes delivery of final batch of US tanks | Army & Land Forces News at DefenceTalk

 

[emmado22]

I'm sure they will do a fine job maintaining them..... NOT....

 

[rronning84]

I wonder if any from the first batch still run?

 

[GoldComet6]

I'm concerned that a few could be "inspected" by Iranian forces or used against us later on. That area is so volatile - who knows how things will be in 5, 10 or 20 years.

Perhaps as mentioned above, the tanks won't be 100% operational for long, so it may not matter that much!

I don't wanna even talk about the F-16IQs we're selling them......

 

[rronning84]

The bright side of country's like Iraq and Afghanistan having our stuff in their arsenal is that they are completely reliant on us for parts.

 

[papabear]

I'm concerned that a few could be "inspected" by Iranian forces or used against us later on. That area is so volatile - who knows how things will be in 5, 10 or 20 years.

Perhaps as mentioned above, the tanks won't be 100% operational for long, so it may not matter that much!

I don't wanna even talk about the F-16IQs we're selling them......

Not to worry...I'm sure we were smart enough to install remote destruct systems in the tanks and aircraft...just in case. yeah...right.

 

[timntrucks]

wonder who was in charge of letting this happen

 

[73m819]

wonder who was in charge of letting this happen

Sorta looks like UPARMERING MOSLUMS, Being that the USA is held in such high esteem by them, I can understand WHY .

 

[gunboy1656]

Don't worry, just like in past years we will go back in a few years in another war and destroy those pieces anyway.

We supplied the afghan army to fight the Russian and well look what happened, supplied Iraq to help against Iran. So on and so on throughout history. Stupid idea that nobody learned from in the past and will only continue to do in the future.

They want to rebuild their army then they need to pay the full price of doing business.

 

[CombatVet]

I was in Iraq and was responsible for training some of the Iraqi military forces on basic vehicle maintenance and operations. I must comfort all of you by informing that the Iraqi military will not keep those high maintenance M1A1's in top operational condition. I spent many frustrating hours just trying to teach them how to set the timing in the injector pumps on some raggedy hand-me-down humvees my unit donated to them. So no worries fellas. You should see/hear some of the daily driven vehicles that some of them drive! LOL

 

[fireball]

actually, we are providing them opportunties to purchase state of the art targets for our drones. I think we have learned our lessons and the idea of putting troops on foreign soil is old thinking. Just keep sending waves of drones over them and before long there isn't a cell phone tower, telephone pole, drill rig, dam or bridge left standing. The bastards will starve to death and sort it out themselves.

 

[F18hornetM]

I sure hope you guys are right about the poor maintenance. I hate us giving them our equipment. Don't even like giving them some old M35's but M1's and F16's takes the cake.

 

[foxmike]

We haven't learned.

 

[uscgmatt]

Funny we were talking about this at work the other day. I was told these A1's are an export version that doesn't have all the up to date bells and whistles. Hopefully that is the case.

 

[davidhdale]

why not just give them every thing that we have , so the next time we face them we are on the same ground .how stupied is this, we are just losing it

 

[davidhdale]

actually, we are providing them opportunties to purchase state of the art targets for our drones. I think we have learned our lessons and the idea of putting troops on foreign soil is old thinking. Just keep sending waves of drones over them and before long there isn't a cell phone tower, telephone pole, drill rig, dam or bridge left standing. The bastards will starve to death and sort it out themselves.

you have to put troops in danger droness are no good if you cant find them.by say that you dont need ground forces you are just kiddding yourself. you are just

 

[Tinwoodsman]

The bright side of country's like Iraq and Afghanistan having our stuff in their arsenal is that they are completely reliant on us for parts.

Not so....they will just have the Chinese duplicate them. Possibly Newstar

 

[maddawg308]

The only weapons we should give Middle Eastern countries should be nukes....delivered in 30 minutes or the second one is free.

Robots can drill for oil through molten glass.

 

[CombatVet]

opcorn:

 

[Blueduce]

Don't worry fellas the republican guard had trouble doing maintenance on there cold war T-62's they "had". Take it from an old D.A.T. You need a full support element and then some to keep those M1's operational. They will be nothing more than glorified artillery pieces in less than a year and jungle gyms in less than a year and a half. Remember for every hour of operation requires at least five hours of maintenance especially in that sand box. And trust me even if they can keep them rolling we will know where they are every second of every day.