9th Squadron (Iraq)

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9th (Fighter) Squadron, Iraqi Air Force
An Iraqi Air Force F-16C. The 9th Squadron has operated the F-16 since it was recreated, in 2015.
Active1961-1963[1]
1966-1995[1]
2015-present[2]
CountryIraq
BranchIraqi Air Force
RoleFighter
BaseBalad Air Base
Insignia
Fin Flash
Aircraft flown
FighterF-16IQ

The 9th (Fighter) Squadron is a squadron of the Iraqi Air Force.

First Iraqi Republic[edit]

No. 9 Squadron was established in 1959 with 16 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S aircraft and based at the Rasheed Air Base near Baghdad.[3] The squadron was officially declared operational on 11 June 1961 and envisaged as a "flying praetorian guard" for regime of Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim.[4]

During the 8–10 February 1963 Ramadan Revolution, between four and six of its aircraft were destroyed on the ground by a pair of Hawker Hunters flown by pilots supporting the coup, while none of No. 9 Squadron's pilots managed to take off to confront the coup.[5] Subsequently, most of the squadron's pilots were arrested, and the unit was grounded. Many of the remaining personnel fled to Jordan and Syria.[6] The unit was then disbanded.[1]

In 1966, No. 9 Squadron was recreated.[1] As of June 1967, it was still working up on MiG-21FL/PFMs.[7]

Ba'athist Iraq[edit]

In 1973, the squadron was in the process of receiving MiG-21MFs. Midway through the conversion to the newer variant, with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War on 6 October, all training stopped and the squadron's older MiG-21s were transferred to al-Wallid Air Base the next morning. By the afternoon of 7 October, the first 10 aircraft were forward deployed to Dmeyr and Tsaykal Air Bases, in Syria.[8] Because the aircraft still were in aluminum finish, the Syrians took care to apply their own camouflage colours on them.[9]

Yom Kippur War[edit]

The pilots quickly started flying combat air patrols, and had their first contacts with Israeli fighters less than an hour after their arrival.[8] On 9 October, during a combat between two MiG-21s from No. 9 Squadron and four Israeli Dassault Mirage III over the Golan Heights, one of the Iraqi pilots hit a Mirage with two R-3S missiles. However, the other was shot down and killed.[10] The next day, a pair of MiG-21s intercepted two Israeli McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, but they were targeted by several air-to-air missiles and had to disengage.[11] On 12 October, MiG-21s from No. 9 Squadron escorted Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F that were attacking Israeli positions in the Quneitra area; while an Israeli Mirage was claimed shot down by No. 9 Squadron's commander, Major Namiq Sa'adallah, a MiG-17 was downed by the Mirages.[12] On 13 October, a pair of MiG-21PFMs intercepted a formation of Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, and one was claimed shot down by two R-3S missiles. Later that day, a pair of MiG-21s acted as baits for a group of Israeli Mirages, one of which was shot down by surface-to-air missiles.[13] On 23 October, Major Sa'adallah claimed a second Mirage shot down. Following the end of the war, all Iraqi units were withdrawn from Syria, including No. 9 Squadron.[14]

In 1974, the squadron finally converted to MiG-21MFs.[15] As of 1980, it was based at Firnas Air Base, near Mosul, with a detachment at Abu Ubayda Air Base.[16]

Republic of Iraq[edit]

The squadron is now based at Balad Air Base and flies General Dynamics F-16IQ Fighting Falcons.[17] 34 Iraqi F-16s operate in the country.[18]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. VIII
  2. ^ Delalande 2016, p. 22
  3. ^ Milos, Sipos; Cooper, Tom (2022). Wings of Iraq, Volume 2: The Iraqi Air Force, 1970-1980. Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-914377-17-4.
  4. ^ Cooper, Tom; Sipos, Milos (14 October 2020). Wings of Iraq: Volume 1 - The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Helion and Company. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1913118747.
  5. ^ Cooper, Tom; Sipos, Milos (14 October 2020). Wings of Iraq: Volume 1 - The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Helion and Company. p. 53. ISBN 978-1913118747.
  6. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 55
  7. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2020, p. 65
  8. ^ a b Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 12
  9. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. III
  10. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 14
  11. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 15
  12. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 15–16
  13. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 16
  14. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 18
  15. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, pp. 24, 29
  16. ^ Sipos & Cooper 2022, p. 53
  17. ^ AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. October 2016. p. 22.
  18. ^ "Four More F-16IQs delivered to Iraq – Military Aviation Review". militaryaviationreview.com. Retrieved 2017-12-13.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Delalande, Arnaud (2016). Iraqi Air Power Reborn: The Iraqi air arms since 2004. Houston: Harpia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9854554-7-7.
  • Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2020). Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-913118-74-7.
  • Sipos, Milos; Cooper, Tom (2022). Wings of Iraq, Volume 2: The Iraqi Air Force, 1970-1980. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN 978-1-914377-17-4.


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