Military of Iraq
The Iran-Iraq War ended with Iraq supporting the largest military of the Middle East, with more than 70 army divisions and over 700 aircraft within its air force. Losses during the invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent ejection of Iraqi forces from Kuwait by a United Nations coalition resulted in the reduction of Iraq's ground forces to 23 divisions and the air force to less than 300 aircraft. Military and economic sanctions prevent Iraq from rebuilding its military power, however, Iraq still maintains a standing military of about 375,000 troops.Iraq is said to have a large arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, as well as the beginnings of a nuclear weapons program (see weapons of mass destruction, Disarmament of Iraq).
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2 Iraqi Equipment 3 Is the Regular Army Loyal? 4 Statistics 5 See also 6 External link |
The Iraqi Army fields at least 11 infantry, 3 mechanized, and 3 armored divisions. In addition, the Iraqi Republican Guard fields 3 armored divisions, 2 mechanized divisions, and 1 motorized infantry division, while the Special Republican Guard fields 6 brigades, including two tank brigades and an anti-aircraft brigade..
Number of equipment as of 2003 is presented inside parenthesis.
Tanks (Total: 2,200)
The Iraqi tank forces consist mainly of old Soviet gear. The Type-69/59 are Chinese copies of the Soviet T-55/54 tanks. (see List of Soviet tanks)
The J-7 is a Chinese copy of the MiG-21.
Former General Bernard Trainor and Colonel Jack Jacobs, working now for MSNBC, argue that the central location of the Republican Guard Troops indicates that the Iraqi government does not trust its regular army. However, this is speculation.Order of Battle of the Iraqi Army -- January 10 2003
Iraqi Equipment
Towed Artillery (Total: 1,900)
Self-Propelled Artillery (Total: 150)
Multiple Rocket Launchers (Total: 200)
Surface-to-Surface Missiles
Fighters
Surface-to-Air MissilesIs the Regular Army Loyal?
