Iraq seeking US drones to curb al-Qaida threat.

[Doritos11]

It would take time for the drones to be operational too. There are more logistical problems with drones than there are with helos.

Less time then helos being built, crews trained and forming squadrons.

Not sure what ur point is

 

[That Guy]

Less time then helos being built, crews trained and forming squadrons.

Not sure what ur point is

Not really, it would take a similar amount of time, considering that building up the logistical infrastructure for drones and training pilots would take similar amount of time. Iraq would need guaranteed access to US GPS, and then building the ground control stations, and airfields, plus bases especially made for drones. Then comes training crews on how to repair and maintain drones, so on and so forth.

Now considering that the Iraqi army has more experience with helos, I'd say that they're better off with helos.

 

[Doritos11]

Not really, it would take a similar amount of time, considering that building up the logistical infrastructure for drones and training pilots would take similar amount of time. Iraq would need guaranteed access to US GPS, and then building the ground control stations, and airfields, plus bases especially made for drones. Then comes training crews on how to repair and maintain drones, so on and so forth.

Now considering that the Iraqi army has more experience with helos, I'd say that they're better off with helos.

You dont understand, the US will operate their drones in Iraq.
Iraq has hundreds of airfields, all the US has to do is ship some equipment to Iraq and some crewmen to operate it, does not take a lot of time, within 48 hours is even possible.

 

[That Guy]

You dont understand, the US will operate their drones in Iraq.
Iraq has hundreds of airfields, all the US has to do is ship some equipment to Iraq and some crewmen to operate it, does not take a lot of time, within 48 hours is even possible.

Okay, but that means this drones would only be there for a limited amount of time, with a limited capacity. In the long term, Iraq would still need something to fill in the gaps.

I don't know who told you this, but first of all, 48 hours is not possible, and second, even with crewmen and equipment being transferred to an Iraqi airfield, the US would still have to build up much needed infrastructure to operate drones effectively, such as Control centers and radar stations, then build bases to house the drones, which again, would take a long time, then build repair stations within those bases. This is ALL with only US operating the drones using Iraqi territory, and no Iraqi oversight and complaint, meaning a 100% US operation.

It's not an easy task, and would likely still take at least a year or two to become fully operational.

 

[Doritos11]

Okay, but that means this drones would only be there for a limited amount of time, with a limited capacity. In the long term, Iraq would still need something to fill in the gaps.

I don't know who told you this, but first of all, 48 hours is not possible, and second, even with crewmen and equipment being transferred to an Iraqi airfield, the US would still have to build up much needed infrastructure to operate drones effectively, such as Control centers and radar stations, then build bases to house the drones, which again, would take a long time, then build repair stations within those bases. This is ALL with only US operating the drones using Iraqi territory, and no Iraqi oversight and complaint, meaning a 100% US operation.

It's not an easy task, and would likely still take at least a year or two to become fully operational.

In the long term attack helicopters fill the gap.

Ok, not 48 hours, 1 week then, Baghdad airport has almost all the infrastructure they need including radars covering the entire country are running now, by the time they get there more radars are in service.
It does not take 1 to 2 years to build a UAV operating environment.

They build this in 48 hours, US military does not need 2 years to get a UAV operating room up and ready.

 

[That Guy]

In the long term attack helicopters fill the gap.

Ok, not 48 hours, 1 week then, Baghdad airport has almost all the infrastructure they need including radars covering the entire country are running now, by the time they get there more radars are in service.
It does not take 1 to 2 years to build a UAV operating environment.

They build this in 48 hours, US military does not need 2 years to get a UAV operating room up and ready.

You're making a flawed comparison.

First of all, the building you posted, it had preconstructed block, and those blocks took just as long to build as it would take to build an actually building from scratch.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that you can't just use any sort of satellite and radars or use a public airport, because first; you need military specific sats and radars, that are secure in sending and receiving signals. An airport radar doesn't allow that. Second; building the environment does take at least a year or two, simply because transfer of equipment, UAVs, and building the bases, which would be 100 times larger than that building, would take construction time of at least a year. During that time, they would have to resettle crewmen, build the logistical support, build a control center specially designed for UAV and on top of all that, get government guarantees that US personnel will not be arrest and prosecuted if a drone ends up killing civilians.

This is a long process, it doesn't just happen over night. What I've listed is just the bare minimum, I'm sure there is a lot more to it than that. In the end, Iraq would either be better of buying armed drones, developing them, or just not using them at all.

 

[Doritos11]

US RULES OUT NEW DRONE WAR IRAQ

For weeks, Iraqi officials have been publicly floating the idea of using American drones to hit the increasingly lethal al-Qaeda-affiliated militants on their soil. But the ordinarily drone-friendly Obama administration is apparently in no mood to open up a new front in global campaign of unmanned attacks. An administration official tells The Cable that American drone strikes in Iraq are now off the table.

Though neither Iraqi nor U.S. officials will say who called off the drones, it's no secret who began discussing them in the first place. In an August 17 trip to Washington, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters that Baghdad is seeking U.S. advisers, air surveillance or drone strikes to combat al-Qaeda's grip on the country. "We cannot fight these increasing terrorist" threats alone, he said. Speaking of drone strikes specifically, he said as long as they were used to "target al-Qaeda and their bases," without "collateral damage," Iraqis would welcome them.

That same month, Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. Iraq Lukman Faily reiterated Iraq's interest in drones. "The reason we're now considering drone support is because we need to get better control of the sky so we can track and destroy al-Qaeda camps in the country," Faily told The Cable.

It's not hard to understand why they'd be interested in the unmanned aircraft. On Monday, the detonation of 15 car bombs in Baghdad left dozens dead in an event that would've shocked any other country not embroiled in a civil war. However, in Iraq, it was only the 38th such atrocity in the last 12 months. In 2013 alone, Iraq is averaging 68 car bombings a month. The United Nations reports that 5,740 civilians were killed since January, which is almost two times more deaths than recorded in all of 2010.

Despite the staggering numbers, the U.S. isn't about to open up a new drone war in Iraq. An administration official tells The Cable the use of lethal drones has not been discussed nor is it even under consideration for Iraq.

Publicly, U.S. officials say they stand behind the Iraqi government in its struggle to combat a growing wave of al-Qaeda attacks in the country.

"We consider the Government of Iraq an essential partner in a common fight against al-Qaeda," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Mehan told The Cable. "We have an ongoing dialogue to explore possible ways of expanding cooperation and help facilitate Iraq's capacity to degrade and defeat the al-Qaeda network operating inside Iraq. Beyond that, I am not going to discuss details of diplomatic discussions."

But experts on Iraqi counterterrorism say there are any number of reasons why the U.S. might be reluctant to engage.

"The administration got us out of Iraq, which is seen as an accomplishment for the administration. So any ramping up of activity back in Iraq would go against that success," Joseph Quinn, an instructor at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, told The Cable. "They might also be weary of what in the military we call ‘mission creep.' It starts with drones, but where does it end?"

There are legal considerations, too. "There's a pretty rigorous legal process that's behind the determination of who's a viable target and who's not," said Sam Brannen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They don't strike targets without there being a pretty strong intelligence understanding that the target is a direct threat to the United States. In this case, clearly they're a threat to Iraq, but not necessarily to the United States."

Faily, speaking with The Cable today, declined to say if the Iraqis ever made a request for drones in the first place, but he did say they would continue asking for more assistance for the U.S.

"As for the support we are getting, is it to the urgency to the level that we need? No," he said. "That's an area that we have highlighted clearly and other officials have highlighted."

Still, he said the U.S has been supportive in many ways, including on surveillance of terrorists. "We are getting positive messages from the U.S. that they are more than happy to work with us in addressing the urgency on the ground primarily in the Western desert, and to that effect, there is cooperation taking place, including surveillance," he said.

 

[copasi]

drone for al-Qaida? Is this techinically possible?

 

[Doritos11]

drone for al-Qaida? Is this techinically possible?

?

What’s your question

 

[-SINAN-]

Too bad Iraq is not on friendly terms with Turkey... we could have supplied you with these.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

Too bad Iraq is not on friendly terms with Turkey... we could have supplied you with these.

What are the alternatives a Iraq may choose? U-40 of the UAE? :/

 

[-SINAN-]

What are the alternatives a Iraq may choose? U-40 of the UAE? :/

Yeah, why not. Good idea. What is the possibility and why didn't Iraq asked UAE at the first place they are both Arab countries ?

 

[Doritos11]

Money allocated for the air force has priorities which are attack helicopters, fighter jets and air defence, not armed UAVs despite Iraq & UAE officials visiting each others weapon expeditions.

Btw, UAE can’t be trusted for supplies by Iraq therefor no deals will be possible with them neither with Turkey nor any other neighbour as they could cut off supplies anytime disabling the weapons.

Example of this is Egypt, deal cut off because of regime change, it’s not reliable.

 

[Doritos11]

 

[copasi]

?

What’s your question

I think al-Qaida do not have base area in Iraq，so how can a drone be useful