Iraqi Air Defence Command

The Iraqi Air Defence Command () is one of the branches of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was established on February 1, 1993. It is responsible for the protection of Iraqi airspace. Before 1993 a considerable anti-aircraft gun and missile force had been built up, but not under a separate command. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the dissolution of all Iraqi Armed Forces it was reformed in 2011. In 2023 the commander was Lieutenant General Maan al-Saadi.

Iraqi air defence began with the purchase of 20-mm and 40-mm anti-aircraft guns for the Iraqi Army, and each of its divisions had an anti-aircraft battalion by the 1950s. Thereafter the force saw continual growth. But after the Israelis destroyed the atomic reactor at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in 1981 through the air raid Operation Opera, the defences were extensively redesigned. A network of radars, surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns were installed, centered on the strategic and industrial facilities of Baghdad.

In 1988 the Air Defence Command had about 10,000 personnel.

After the Gulf War of 1991, the force became a separate service in 1993.

Status in 2002

By 2002 the IADC had four air defence sectors and at least five missile brigades, the 145th, 146th, 147th, 148th, and 195th. It was commanded by General Yassin Mohammed Shaheen, who had been deputy air defence commander during the 1991 Gulf War, and had an estimated strength of about 17,000. The ADC HQ, part of which was underground, was close to Muthenna Air Base in the Mansour area of Baghdad. The four regional SOCs co-ordinated SAM and anti-aircraft gun batteries. The longer-range SAMs consist primarily of the SA-2 and SA-3, with the SA-6 fulfilling a mobile, medium-range role. Jane's reported in May 2002 that other equipment includes Roland SAMs, anti-aircraft guns, and a mix of Western and Soviet-designed radar.

The air defence system consisted of the National Air Defence Operations Center in Baghdad and four air defence sectors:

* Central Region Air Defence Sector, with an operations center in Taji and operations centers in Taji, Taqaddam, Salman Pak, Kut, Najaf and Nukhib.
* Western Air Defence Sector, with its headquarters close to H3 airfield"Iraq's Air Defence Command," Jane's Intelligence Review, 16-May-2002
* Southern Air Defence Sector
* Northern Air Defence Sector, headquarters Al-Hurriya Air Base close to Kirkuk

Each sector had missile brigades; anti-aircraft artillery; and early warning radar units.

References

* Major General Dr Naji Khalifa Jassim Al-Dahan, "Iraqi air defense: A historical and documentary study of its development and national and national role 1939- 1993," ISBN 978-9923-27-025-7, Dar Al-Academies Publishing and Distribution Company, Amman - Jordan, 2020

Military of Iraq
Air defence forces