Iraq said it received the first batch of Sukhoi warplanes from Russia as it pressed a counter-attack on Sunday against Sunni militants whose offensive threatens to tear the country apart.The arrival of the fighter jets comes with Iraqi forces, backed by aerial cover, pushing to retake the militant-held city of Tikrit and world leaders urging a speeding up of government formation following elections in April.
The Su-25 ground attack jets are expected to be pressed into service as soon as possible, bolstering Iraq's air power as it combats a sweeping offensive by militants, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), that has killed more than 1,000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands displaced.
But it remains unclear who will fly them — executed dictator Saddam Hussein's air force had Su-25s, but even if they were both trusted and willing, those pilots are unlikely to have had time in the aircraft in more than a decade.
| Wonder if any Iranian 'volunteers' have air time in the Sukhoi... |
| I believe the F16s we promised are due this fall. |