1958 - in the process of conversion to the
de Havilland Venom FB.50 at Firnas AB.[6] The Venoms were flown alongside the older Furies until around 1967.[7]
1967 - declared operational on the
Sukhoi Su-7BMK in December.[8]
2004-05 - reestablished at
Taji flying donated Jordanian UH-1s, but suffered severe spares shortages.[18]
2007 - five rebuilt Huey II helicopters were turned over to Squadron 2 at Taji. Over the next few months, several were occasionally flown back to NAMAB, Phoenix Base, and Baghdad’s Green Zone to take Iraqi defense officials aloft for the benefit of the press.[19] Additionally, the Hueys were used to train Iraqi airmen. Although the rebuilt aircraft had been factory-equipped with armor, they remained within Taji’s airspace for the first several months, as insurgents had damaged or shot down several US helicopters in only two weeks, in late February and early March. It was not until 10 April that two Iraqi pilots made Squadron 2’s first flights outside Taji’s perimeter. Those sorties included live-fire exercises using externally mounted machine guns.[20] Five more aircraft arrived at NAMAB on 2 May, and the final six were airlifted in from the United States on 29 July, by which time Squadron 2 had accumulated about 1,300 flying hours in training missions, passenger movement, and infrastructure protection and assessment."[21]
1957 - started flying
Hawker Hunter F.6s at Habbaniyah Air Base.[43]
1967 - flying the Hunter F.59 from Habbaniyah AB.[17]
1973 - transferred to Qwaysina Air Base in Egypt between 6 and 8 April, together with No. 29 Squadron. There, they were grouped into No. 66 Independent Squadron
EAF, which participated in the
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.[44]
1973 - transferred to Qwaysina Air Base in Egypt between 6 and 8 April, together with No. 6 Squadron. There, they were grouped into No. 66 Independent Squadron
EAF, which participated in the
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.[44]
1974 - returned to Iraq. Gave its remaining Hunters to No. 6 Squadron, and re-equipped with
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19s.[45]
^“Huey II,” Advisor 4, no. 9 (3 March 2007): 11; MC2 Elisandro Diaz, “Iraqi Air Force Celebrates 76 years,” Advisor 4, no. 17 (28 April 2007): 4 and 5; and “First Five Iraqi Huey IIs Delivered,” Air International, April 2007, 8.
^66. Erik Holmes, “Iraqis Fly First Helicopter Training Sortie,” Air Force Times, 11 April 2007,
[1]. 66
Cooper, Tom (2018). MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East. Warwick: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-912-390328.
Cooper, Tom (2021). In the Claws of the Tomcat. US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat Against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-913118-75-4.
Cooper, Tom; Sipos, Milos (2019). Iraqi Mirages. The Dassault Mirage Family in Service with the Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988. Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-912-390311.
Cully, George W., "Adapt or fail : the USAF’s role in reconstituting the Iraqi Air Force 2004-2007" Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air University Press, Air Force Research Institute, 2016.
ISBN9781585662692. Public Domain - U.S. government work.
Delalande, Arnaud (2016). Iraqi Air Power Reborn, The Iraqi air arms since 2004. Houston: Harpia Publishing.
ISBN978-0-9854554-7-7.
Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2020). Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-913118-74-7.
Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2022). Wings of Iraq, Volume 2: The Iraqi Air Force, 1970-1980. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-914377-17-4.
Further reading
Tom Cooper and Ahmad Sadik, Iraqi Fighters: 1953–2003: Camouflage and Markings. Harpia Publishing, 2008,
ISBN978-0-615-21414-6.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004,
ISBN1-84176-655-0.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 1: Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-15 and MiG-17 in Service with Air Forces of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Syria. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2009,
ISBN978-0-9825539-2-3.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 2: Supersonic Fighters: 1956–1967. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2011,
ISBN978-0-9825539-6-1.
Tom Cooper, David Nicolle, Lon Nordeen and Patricia Salti: Arab MiGs. Volume 3: The June 1967 War. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2012,
ISBN978-0-9825539-9-2.
1958 - in the process of conversion to the
de Havilland Venom FB.50 at Firnas AB.[6] The Venoms were flown alongside the older Furies until around 1967.[7]
1967 - declared operational on the
Sukhoi Su-7BMK in December.[8]
2004-05 - reestablished at
Taji flying donated Jordanian UH-1s, but suffered severe spares shortages.[18]
2007 - five rebuilt Huey II helicopters were turned over to Squadron 2 at Taji. Over the next few months, several were occasionally flown back to NAMAB, Phoenix Base, and Baghdad’s Green Zone to take Iraqi defense officials aloft for the benefit of the press.[19] Additionally, the Hueys were used to train Iraqi airmen. Although the rebuilt aircraft had been factory-equipped with armor, they remained within Taji’s airspace for the first several months, as insurgents had damaged or shot down several US helicopters in only two weeks, in late February and early March. It was not until 10 April that two Iraqi pilots made Squadron 2’s first flights outside Taji’s perimeter. Those sorties included live-fire exercises using externally mounted machine guns.[20] Five more aircraft arrived at NAMAB on 2 May, and the final six were airlifted in from the United States on 29 July, by which time Squadron 2 had accumulated about 1,300 flying hours in training missions, passenger movement, and infrastructure protection and assessment."[21]
1957 - started flying
Hawker Hunter F.6s at Habbaniyah Air Base.[43]
1967 - flying the Hunter F.59 from Habbaniyah AB.[17]
1973 - transferred to Qwaysina Air Base in Egypt between 6 and 8 April, together with No. 29 Squadron. There, they were grouped into No. 66 Independent Squadron
EAF, which participated in the
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.[44]
1973 - transferred to Qwaysina Air Base in Egypt between 6 and 8 April, together with No. 6 Squadron. There, they were grouped into No. 66 Independent Squadron
EAF, which participated in the
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.[44]
1974 - returned to Iraq. Gave its remaining Hunters to No. 6 Squadron, and re-equipped with
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19s.[45]
^“Huey II,” Advisor 4, no. 9 (3 March 2007): 11; MC2 Elisandro Diaz, “Iraqi Air Force Celebrates 76 years,” Advisor 4, no. 17 (28 April 2007): 4 and 5; and “First Five Iraqi Huey IIs Delivered,” Air International, April 2007, 8.
^66. Erik Holmes, “Iraqis Fly First Helicopter Training Sortie,” Air Force Times, 11 April 2007,
[1]. 66
Cooper, Tom (2018). MiG-23 Flogger in the Middle East. Warwick: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-912-390328.
Cooper, Tom (2021). In the Claws of the Tomcat. US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat Against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-913118-75-4.
Cooper, Tom; Sipos, Milos (2019). Iraqi Mirages. The Dassault Mirage Family in Service with the Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988. Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-912-390311.
Cully, George W., "Adapt or fail : the USAF’s role in reconstituting the Iraqi Air Force 2004-2007" Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama : Air University Press, Air Force Research Institute, 2016.
ISBN9781585662692. Public Domain - U.S. government work.
Delalande, Arnaud (2016). Iraqi Air Power Reborn, The Iraqi air arms since 2004. Houston: Harpia Publishing.
ISBN978-0-9854554-7-7.
Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2020). Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-913118-74-7.
Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2022). Wings of Iraq, Volume 2: The Iraqi Air Force, 1970-1980. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing.
ISBN978-1-914377-17-4.
Further reading
Tom Cooper and Ahmad Sadik, Iraqi Fighters: 1953–2003: Camouflage and Markings. Harpia Publishing, 2008,
ISBN978-0-615-21414-6.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2004,
ISBN1-84176-655-0.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 1: Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-15 and MiG-17 in Service with Air Forces of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Syria. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2009,
ISBN978-0-9825539-2-3.
Tom Cooper and David Nicolle, Arab MiGs. Volume 2: Supersonic Fighters: 1956–1967. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2011,
ISBN978-0-9825539-6-1.
Tom Cooper, David Nicolle, Lon Nordeen and Patricia Salti: Arab MiGs. Volume 3: The June 1967 War. Harpia Publishing, Houston 2012,
ISBN978-0-9825539-9-2.