BAGHDAD — Flying high above Baghdad, the Iraqi Air Force demonstrated its capability to view polling stations and other potential critical-incident locations in preparation for the upcoming Provincial Elections.  

This “eye in the sky” is a sensor system, similar to that of a U.S. Predator UAV, down-linked for display into the Iraqi Prime Minister’s National Operations Center.

The demonstration of this capability was conducted for the Iraqi National Security Advisor, Dr. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, other senior Government of Iraqi officials, and Coalition military advisors, Jan. 28. 

The demonstration was designed to showcase the functional capability of the Iraqi Air Force’s King Air 350 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance aircraft to provide real-time surveillance and full-motion video to support decision-making in the PM-NOC.

The King Air 350 is new to the Iraqi Air Force.  It represents a substantial leap forward in Iraq’s ability to provide aerial surveillance to support civil and military operations across the country.  

The twin-engine turboprop aircraft boasts a crew of three, including a dedicated sensor operator, over six hours’ endurance, and a radius in excess of 1,000 nautical miles.  The Iraqi Air Force’s five King Air 350 ISR aircraft operate from the 87th Squadron, headquartered at New Muthana airbase in Baghdad.

There are also four fixed ground stations, or downlink sites, located throughout Iraq, and five mobile ground receivers in the Iraqi Air Force.  These mobile ground receivers provided the link into the PM-NOC during Wednesday’s event.   The demonstration highlighted the aircraft’s ability to display full-motion video through the airplane’s 360-degree electro-optical sensor to the mobile ground receiver.  

In addition to the video capability, the system also provides an infrared sensor, synthetic aperture radar imaging capability, and Ground Moving Target Indicator capabilities to detect moving vehicles.   With this capability, Iraq’s top national security leadership and other decision makers now have a system to provide real-time, accurate information, to help make better decisions when responding to crisis events, or conducting military and civil operations. 

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Chuck Pratt, an intelligence advisor with Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq’s Intelligence Transition Team, commented on the advanced capabilities of the King Air 350. 

“We envision the Iraqi Air Force using this system to support Military or Police Operations Centers, or, for example, with the Iraqi Navy, supporting maritime security operations and oil platform defense in the northern Arabian Gulf,” he said.  “We also need to network the ground stations so information can be viewed where it is needed.”

MNSTC-I’s efforts in this operation help to highlight the commitment between the governments of the United States and Iraq in improving the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces during the critical transition from Coalition to Iraqi-led operations in support of a secure and stable Iraq.