Iraq receives additional Su-25s from Russia

[Zarvan]

One of a number of Su-25s gifted to Iraq by its neighbour, Iran, to augment platforms already received from Russia. The Iraqi Air Force has now received a further three aircraft from Russia. Source: Iranian MoD
Iraq has received three additional Sukhoi Su-25 'Frogfoot' ground-attack aircraft from Russia, the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 17 April.

The three aircraft were delivered to the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) on the same day as the announcement, along with other unspecified military equipment from various global sources.

In June 2014 Iraq requested the supply of Su-25 ground attack aircraft from Russia to bolster air support capabilities in the face of an urgent threat from the Islamic State. The first batch of five aircraft arrived on 29 June of that year.

Further to the aircraft delivered by Russia, Iraq is believed to have also received Su-25s from Iran. On 1 July 2014 a video and statement posted on the Iraqi MoD website announced that a second batch of five jets had arrived "over the skies of Baghdad" to join the five aircraft that had recently come from Russia.

While the MoD statement made no mention of the origin of these aircraft, regional media sources claimed the aircraft were flown to Imam Ali Air Base (also known as Talil Air Base) from Iran. The MoD video footage appeared to give credence to this, showing the aircraft painted in an Iranian camouflage scheme minus national markings.

A further three aircraft were reported to have arrived from Iran over the following days and weeks, with a loss-replacement platform also being delivered in 2015. It appears that some of these hurriedly acquired aircraft may have since been returned to Iran.

The Russian ambassador to Baghdad, Ilya Morgunov, was cited as saying in an interview in 2014 that Iraq would get another five to 10 Su-25s by September of that year, though delivery of these aircraft has not been confirmed. It could be that these latest three arrivals could be part of that additional batch.

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