Iraq issues

[12Alfa]

The Americans suspended the technical support of the Abrams tanks of the Iraqi army

As the Iraqi newspaper Al Ghad Press reported on January 28, 2018, the American General Dynamics corporation ceased the program of technical and service support of the M1A1M Abrams tank of the Iraqi army at its technical base at Al Matan airport in Baghdad from the end of 2017. This was in response to Iraq's revealed violations of the contractual agreement on the receipt of these tanks, expressed primarily in the transfer of at least two Abrams tanks from the Iraqi army to the pro-Iranian Shiite militia "Khashd al-Shaabi" ("People's Mobilization Force"). It is reported that General Dynamics has previously repeatedly informed the Iraqi government of the inadmissible from its point of view the transfer of Abrams tanks to armed groups that are not part of the Iraqi army.

All American employees of the technical base of General Dynamics at the Al Matan airport departed in the US at the end of 2017 formally for the Christmas holidays and have not yet returned to Iraq. At the request of the US company, the government of Iraq withdrew one Abrams tank from the Khashd ash-Shaabi militia in Anbar province and promised to return it to the company's base in early February. Prior to this, the US side refuses to conduct any work on the base.

General Dynamics also threatened "with the final withdrawal from Iraq" if it turns out that "one state in the region supporting the" Hasd Al-Shaabi "[ie Iran] militia had access to Abrams tanks or reproduced any of their components.

Earlier Iraqi Kurds complained about the use of the Abrams tanks, HMMWV vehicles and other American-made equipment in the fighting against the Kurdish formations in the Erbil area in October 2017, using the "Khashd ash-Shaabi" militia received from the Iraqi army. Then, according to their statements, the Kurds succeeded in destroying two M1A1M tanks of the Shiite militia [the Kurds destroyed with the use of the MILAN ATGM MILAN of one Abrams tank on October 20 - it is possible that the second tank has now been withdrawn from the militia].

According to the newspaper, during the fighting against the "Islamic State" in Mosul, 60 Abrams tanks of the Iraqi army were disabled, which now need to be restored, which was what General Dynamics did at the technical base in Al Matanah [it is unclear whether this number irrevocably lost tanks].

p.s - Iraq received from the United States 152 tanks M1A1 Abrams. The American side supplied the first Iraqi army with the first 140 M1A1M tanks (modified by M1A1 from availability) from August 2010 to February 2011 by agreement of August 2008 with a total cost of $ 2.16 billion. In 2013, six additional M1A1M tanks were delivered to Iraq, and in February 2015 - six more M1A1 for replenishment of losses. Tanks M1A1M regularly equipped with four tank regiments of the 9th Armored Division - the most "heavy" junction of the new Iraqi army (three more regiments of the 9th Division had tanks T-72M1). The staff of the tank regiment is 35 tanks - two tanks in the regiment's control and 11 tanks in three tank companies (each company has three platoons of three tanks plus two tanks in the company's management).

In December 2014, the Pentagon's notification was announced of the forthcoming delivery of 175 upgraded M1A1 tanks from Iraq to Iraq, but there is no information on its implementation.

Already in early January 2015, the magazine "Jane's Defense Weekly" reported that of the 146 M1A1M tanks received by the Iraqi army, by that time 28 machines had been lost or put out of action in the fighting against the "Islamic State."

We also note that reports on the use of the Abrams tanks transferred to the Iraqi army by various Iraqi proshite militias have appeared repeatedly. Thus, as early as 2015, one Abrams tank was used by the Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah.

 

 

 

[Furia]

My question is where and how those „militias“ learn to fight with,  operate and mantain such equipment considering their knowledge and military background?

I gess it is not that simple as just giving them two tanks.

Some serious support must follow behind to make that happen

[speckfire]

Probably they were trained on them when they were in the Iraqi army, then decided to join the "Militias" after.

[speckfire]