Fighting are tough for Iraqi helicopter pilots

Iraq’s war on Islamic State has taken a heavy toll on the Iraqi army’s helicopter crews. And the battle of Mosul that began in October 2016 has only increased the pressure on the young aviation force, which formed with American assistance in 2007.

Many of the Iraqi army’s chopper crews fly from Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan and Qayyarah airfield south of Mosul. The force suffered its latest loss on Oct. 29, 2016, when a Bell IA-407 belonging to the army’s 21 Squadron crashed in the Mukeshefah area north of Samarra.

We spoke to two pilots who’ve been fighting ISIS for more than two years.

Iraqi Army Chopper Pilot — ‘The Fighting Must Continue!’

Iraqi Army Aviation used improvised base to be closer to the fighting

During the battle of Tikrit on March, Iraqi Army Aviation used an improvised base near Samarra to support operations over the city (see IQAF and IAA in the battle of Tikrit). Other type of airstrips are used by Iraqi forces like parts of highways for maintenance and refueling. Shortly before the liberation of the city, Bell IA-407 and Mi-171E were spotted by Badr Brigade fighters on the highway east. Actually, with the increase of the number of sorties, any valid place is used to drop helicopters.

Photos and video of Iraqi Mi-35M over Tikrit

Three Mi-35M from 35th Attack Squadron are involved in Tikrit combats (see previous article IQAF and IAA in the battle of Tikrit). These rare photos and video show Mi-35M using twin-barreled 23 mm cannon GSh-23V and S-8 rockets during the battle of Tikrit. The gun can fire 3,400 to 3,600 rounds per minute with 450 to 470 rounds of ammunition. Mi-35Ms are mainly used for night attacks.

Mi-35M using its twin-barreled 23 mm cannon GSh-23V

Photos and video of Iraqi Su-25 engaged in Tikrit battle

The first series of six photos of Iraqi Air Force Su-25 was taken at Al Rashid airbase near Baghdad by Rod Nordland (Foreign Correspondent for NYT). Three different "Frogfoot" can be seen. The first one is a former-Iranian Su-25UBKM delivered on July 2014 and coded "2500", the two others are former-Russian Su-25SM coded "2520" (c/n 03124 delivered on June 28) and "2522".On the video, Su-25SM "2520" is preparing to take off for a bombing mission over Tikrit. It carries two external fuel tanks and four FAB-250 bombs.

Former Iranian Su-25UBKM "2500"

IQAF and IAA in the battle of Tikrit

For more than ten days, combat for the recovery of the city of Tikrit in the hands of the Islamic State since June 2014 are intense. Iraqi forces managed to enter the Qadisiyah district on Wednesday 11. The Iraqi Air Force and the Iraqi Army Aviation were engaged from the beginning of the battle. Despite the heavy presence of IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) on the ground in the recent operations in Iraq, nor IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force), IRGC-ASF ( Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's Aerospace Force) and IRIAA (Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation) hadn't any presence in the air. IQAF (Iraqi Air Force) have played very effective role with its own Su-25s and its own pilots whom a second group, ended its gunnery training sessions in Russia just three months ago. Also, Iraqi Army Aviation had a very important role during these operations. Actually, three Mi-35M (35th Attack Squadron), five Eurocopter EC-635 (55th Attack Squadron), five Bell IA-407 (21st Armed Reco Squadron), three UH-1H (2nd Utillity Squadron) and six Mi-17v5/Mi-171 (15th Special Operations Squadron) are used for attacks and reco missions. Mi-35 are intensively involved for night attacks. According to Iraqi sources, Iraqi Army Aviation airstrikes destroyed a six vehicle convoy on al-'Alam-Albu Ajeel road (East of Tikrit) on March, 4. The day after, three armoured vehicles and two explosives-laden oil tankers were hit in al-'Alam town. On March, 10, Iraqi Army Aviation struck two car bombs and two oil tanker bombs in central Tikrit.