Who was really involved in the ISIS convoy attacks near Fallujah ?

On 30 June, 2016, the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad announced an attack on a big convoy of Islamic State fighters moving out of Fallujah.

During the night of June 28 and 29, someone destroyed most of this convoy — around 260 vehicles — and killed as many as 750 militants.

Later during the day, the spokesman for the coalition Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve announced that it took part in these air strikes — but Iraqis sources denied that claim.

Who was really involved and what was the actual target? I asked Iraqi military pilots. And what they told me contradicted the coalition’s official story.

Iraqis and Americans Butted Heads Over the ISIS ‘Convoy Massacre’

My publications in January

This month, I publish two articles in DSI Magazine and in Brasilian magazine ASAS in collaboration. The first is a paper about the Russian aerial engagement in Syria. The second is an article about the gunship helicopter Mi-28NE : Iraqi Havocs in combat and some photos. Ce mois-ci, je publie deux articles dans le magazine DSI et dans le magazine brésilien ASAS en collaboration. Le premier est un papier concernant l'engagement aérien russe en Syrie. Le second est un article sur l'hélicoptère d'attaque Mi-28NE: les "Havoc" irakiens au combat et quelques photos.

Exclusive footage of Iraqi Army Aviation engaged near Ramadi and Baiji

The first video below was taken by the FLIR of a Bell IA-407 engaged in combat operation in Ramadi area together with Mi-28NE. The action took place precisely in Albu Faraj area near Ramadi on October 17th. Many ISIS positions were destroyed using Ataka missiles and rockets.

Video of Iraqi Mi-28NE using 9M120 Ataka missile

Iraqi Army Aviation received its first batch of Mi-28NE on August 28th, 2014. They were engaged in combat quickly. On 1st February 2015, a new batch of two helicopters was delivered by Antonov An-124 transport aircraft. By April, the "Havocs" were deployed to Camp Taji, some of them were used for the training of new pilots on the type. The Iraqi Mi-28 were already seen carrying rockets launchers, but never with ATGM, so that we wondered if the Iraqis had received some. This recent video below shows the FLIR of an Iraqi Mi-28NE in combat. It uses its canon and for the fist time the launching of one 9M120 Ataka missile (AT-9 Spiral-2) can be seen.

Translation :

Pilot 1 :
- "Ataka"
- "Has the missile been dispatched ?"
Pilot 2 :
- "It has been fired and is on it's way !"
Pilot 1 :
- "Can you switch the target now ?"

Video : TV documentary on Iraqi Army Aviation

This documentary about Iraqi Army Aviation was broadcast on Iraqi TV Saturday, August 15th, 2015 (Mi-28, Mi-35, Mi-17, Bell IA-407, Eurocopter EC-635, UH-1H)

New photos and video of Iraqi Mi-28NE training pilots

Pictures and videos of "Havoc" helicopters are rare because they are involved in a limited way for the lack of readiness of the crews. These footage were taken in Camp Taji few weeks ago during training mission for new Mi-28NE pilots. Currently, many pilots of others squadrons are sollicited to make the role of navigator. These two photos below were taken by a pilot of 21st Armed Reco Squadron who were involved in these training missions.

Iraqi Mi-28 operating in Baghdad area

Update on 16^th October 2014

In a previous post (Iraqi Mi-28 engaged in combat against IS ?), I mentioned the issue of engagement of Iraqi Mi-28 in combat against the Islamic State. On a video released today by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and available here, we can see, furtively a Mi-28 in flight (1:44) during an operation in the city of Banat Al-Hassan located 40 km northwest of Baghdad. This city was freed on October 3 by the Iraqi army.

Mise à jour le 16 octobre 2014

Dans un précédent billet (Les Mi-28 irakiens ont-ils déjà été engagés au combat contre l’IS ?), j'évoquais la question de l'engagement des Mi-28 irakiens dans les combats contre l'Etat Islamique. Sur une vidéo publié aujourd'hui par le Ministère de la Défense Irakien et disponible ici, nous pouvons apercevoir furtivement un Mi-28 en vol (01:44) au cours d'une opération dans la ville de Banat Al-Hassan situé à 40 km au nord-ouest de Bagdad. Cette ville a été libéré le 3 octobre par l'armée Irakienne.

Iraqi Mi-28 engaged in combat against IS ?

Les Mi-28 dans l’armée Irakienne

Au moment même où les premiers Rafale français frappent des cibles des combattants de l'IS, un petit retour sur les Mi-28 irakiens. Cet appareil était très attendu par les pilotes. En effet, il dispose d'un fuselage entièrement blindé pouvant encaissé directement des coups de 12.7 mm et est équipé de deux turbines TV3-117VMA autonome développant 2200 ch chacune, placées de chaque coté du fuselage, permettant ainsi à l'hélicoptère de voler même si l'une d'entre elles venait à tomber en panne ou était touchée par des tirs.