More information has come out recently about the problems that the Iraqi Air Force is facing in terms of maintaining their F-16C/D Block 52 Aircraft which they bought as brand new back in 2011-2012.
These are also reportedly known as the "F-16IQ". Iraq initially bought 36 Aircraft, but 2 were lost due to crashes during Training in the US.
Of the remaining 34 Aircraft, at least 10 were reportedly now not flyable at all, and in fact only 23 took part in a flyby earlier this Month (January 2021). And of the 23 that flew, around half had defective Radars and Avionics and thus are unable to operate their Weapons.
One reason for their trouble maintaining the F-16 is reportedly due to lack of Money, Oil Prices have gone down considerably recently and thus the income of Iraqi Government is not as high as it was before.
Iraq reportedly needed to loan Usd 2.7 bilion from the US just to maintain the F-16s and other American made Equipment like the M-1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT).
Note that these F-16IQ Aircraft are already downgraded from current, standard F-16C Aircraft operated by the US and other Countries, they are unable to use the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) and instead use only the older and less capable AIM-7 Sparrow Medium Range Missile.
SOURCE: The Iraqi Air Force’s F-16 Fleet is on the Brink of collapse despite showy Flybys {Archived Link}
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