Iraq buys former built corvettes &frigates from Italy

[Penguin]

Lupo are old ships now, Iraq has the money. Don't you think it would be better to get 2 new FREMM GP, they are expanding the naval ports + building a large new port ( grand faw port ) with space for naval ships. Maybe sign an agreement with Oman for example to refuel/dock the naval ships so they can operate in the Gulf & beyond.

2 frigates + ~6 corvettes are sufficient for the Iraqi navy together with smaller patrol vassals.

There are no Lupo's left for the Iraqi's to take home and only 2 of the 6 missile corvettes. They are not in the market for frigates. Please read up on the topic.

 

[atlssa]

Iraqi corvettes set to leave Italy after 28 years
Jeremy Binnie, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
29 May 2014

The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and the Iraqi government have signed an agreement that resolves the long-running dispute over two corvettes that Baghdad ordered in 1980.

The two Assad-class corvettes Musa Bin Nussair (F 210) and Tariq Bin Ziad (F 212) were handed over to the Iraqi Navy in 1986, but were still in Italy when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. The subsequent imposition of a UN arms embargo on Baghdad ensured the ships remained at the Italian Navy's La Spezia base with skeleton Iraqi crews since that point.

The Italian Embassy in Baghdad, which facilitated the negotiations, announced on 15 May that Fincantieri and the Iraqi government had reached "an agreement that paves the way for closing the protracted dispute." It also said the shipbuilder would modernise the two corvettes, which are 62.3 m long and have a full-load displacement of 680 tonnes.

Iraqi corvettes set to leave Italy after 28 years - IHS Jane's 360