The State Department approved a proposed foreign military sale to Iraq, estimated at $800 million, to sustain the Iraqi air force’s C-130E and C-130J fleets, announced the Pentagon. The package is in response to an Iraqi request for a five-year sustainment package that includes operational, intermediate, and depot-level maintenance, along with spares, repair parts, support, personnel training, and contractor logistics support, among the elements, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s Nov. 26 notice. “The Iraq[i] air force’s limited maintenance capability necessitates the need for continued contractor logistics support,” states the notice. The deal would allow the IAF to operate its C-130s past 2015 and will aid the IAF in executing humanitarian relief missions in various locations, declared DSCA. Currently the IAF operates three C-130Es and six C-130J airlifters. This sustainment package comes as the United States moves to build up the Iraqi military after its losses to ISIS terrorists this past summer.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
