Iraq expects To Receive F-16s in July This Year

Iraq will at long last be getting the first batch of F-16 fighter jets it ordered four years ago.
The fighters would arrive on July 12 along with the U.S.-trained Iraqi pilots and spare parts and would immediately begin carrying out operations.
U.S. did not confirm the date, and only said the planes were expected by the summer.
Iraq first ordered the 18 in 2011 to supplement its almost nonexistent air force.
The pilots have been training with three of the planes in Arizona and plans to send them last year to Balad air force base in Iraq were scrapped after ISIS militants threatened the area.
Iraq's air force has been at its lowest point and currently relies on U.S. planes to carry out airstrikes in the battle to dislodge IS militants from the north and west of the country.
By July, Iraq had also received a total of 13 second hand Russian Su-25 jets.
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