Korean T-50 Jets Could Enhance Iraq’s Air Campaign Against ISIS

Aerospace & Defense Korean T-50 Jets Could Enhance Iraq’s Air Campaign Against ISIS Paul Iddon Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write mostly about Middle East affairs, politics and history. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience.

Got it! Jun 27, 2022, 08:00am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin One of Iraq’s two-dozen South Korean-built T-50IQ Golden Eagle trainer/light combat aircraft took off for the first time on June 22 . Pressing these jets into service and eventually combat could significantly enhance Baghdad’s ongoing air campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) militants that still threaten the country’s security. The final two KAI T-50IQ Golden Eagle trainer/light combat aircraft delivered to Iraq in December .

. . [+] 2019.

Iraqi Air Force official Facebook Iraq signed a contract for these jets back in December 2017 and began taking delivery of them in 2017. However, they were never used, reportedly because of a funding problem. That could soon change.

Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) Block 52 F-16 Vipers currently carry out the majority of airstrikes against ISIS targets, primarily located in rural parts of the country’s north and west. They are augmented partially by the country’s modest fleet of 12 second-hand Czech L-159s (consisting of 10 single-seat L-159As and two two-seater L-159Bs) light combat aircraft and a dozen Russian-built Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes. Quarterly reports by the U.

S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on Operation Inherent Resolve (the codename for the U. S.

-led coalition war against ISIS) give useful, up-to-date insights into the present state of the IQAF. They also highlight the severe limitations IQAF L-159s and Su-25s have exhibited, even in their limited role as supplementary aircraft for Iraq’s F-16s. SALADIN, IRAQ – NOVEMBER 05: A L-159 Czech fighter jet is seen during a delivery ceremony of the .

. . [+] Czech fighter jets at Balad air base in Saladin, Iraq on November 05, 2015.

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A Bizarre Mix Of Local Jets Rose To Meet It. According to the July 1-Sept. 30, 2021, OIG report, for example, Iraqi L-159s and Su-25s only carried out training missions.

In the case of the L-159s, this was “due to maintenance contract issues and awaiting targeting pod installation”. In the case of the Su-25s, it was “only due to lack of confidence in air-to-ground weapons accuracy (only uses unguided rockets and bombs)”. L-159s were put back into combat in the last quarter of 2021 for the first time in five years.

However, as the Oct. 1-Dec. 31 OIG report noted, they only used unguided 500-pound Mark 82 general-purpose bombs since they still lacked those laser designation pods.

IQAF Su-25s performed even more poorly in the same period, carrying out only a single combat strike. The main strike aircraft used in that quarter after IQAF F-16s were bulky AC-208 Combat Caravans, which are capable of firing guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. AC-208s carried out five airstrikes, just three less than the eight strikes conducted by IQAF F-16s.

An Iraqi Air Force AC-208 Cessna Caravan launches a Hellfire missile at a target on the Aziziyah . . .

[+] Training Range, south of Baghdad, Nov. 8, 2010. The Iraqi airmen destroyed the target with a single hit in their second-ever launch of a Hellfire missile.

DVIDS via Wikimedia Commons In the latest OIG report, covering the quarter Jan. 1-Mar. 31, it was noted that the IQAF did not employ unguided munitions during airstrikes, aside from Iraqi Army helicopters firing unguided rockets.

Coalition advisors had suggested that Iraq use cheaper unguided bombs for striking pre-planned targets to save its more expensive precision-guided munitions, something that could give its L-159s, which still don’t have those targeting pods, a more significant role. “The use of Iraqi L-159s, in combination with Iraq’s F-16s, is a force multiplier and helps manage F-16 utilization rates and aircraft flight hours,” the OIG report noted. However, Iraq has twice as many T-50IQs, the Iraqi variant of the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle, which, when they finally enter service and combat operations, could prove the ideal supplementary aircraft for its F-16s.

The T-50IQ can carry much of the same missiles and bombs Iraq’s F-16s can, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) and ‘dumb’ bombs like the Mk. 82. Furthermore, the its targeting computer and radar can guide dumb bombs “with a high degree of accuracy” , making the T-50IQ ideal for the role coalition advisors suggested the L-159 could fulfill.

Janes noted that the T-50IQs manufacturer, Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI), announced the signing of a $360 million contract with Iraq last November for the provision of maintenance and logistics support as well as training. KAI built the T-50 based on its experience building F-16s under license. It was conceived as a two-seat trainer for pilots who would one day fly more high-end jets like the F-15 and F-16.

It also shares F-16 characteristics and is one of the few trainers capable of reaching supersonic speeds. With KAI maintenance support, T-50IQs could help ease any burden on Iraq’s 34 F-16s, a significant number of which were reportedly grounded in recent years over maintenance-related issues. They could even help train future Iraqi F-16 pilots while reducing the number of flight hours Iraqi F-16s would need, thus prolonging their airframes’ lifespan for use in combat.

Whether they ultimately play more of a training or combat role, Iraq’s 24 T-50IQ will undoubtedly enhance the IQAF and its ability to sustain its campaign against ISIS when they finally enter service. Follow me on Twitter . Paul Iddon Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.