Orden de Batalla

ORBAT

 20 febrero de 2003

Fuentes : Global Security Org      

Ejercito

The Iraqi regular army has three basic types of divisions: armored, mechanized (mech) infantry, and infantry. The basic organizational structure of each type of division is similar. They consist of 3 x maneuver brigades, divisional artillery, and various combat support and service support units. Typically a mechanized infantry division has 3 x mechanized infantry brigades and an armored division has 3 armored brigades. The infantry division has 3 x infantry brigades.

Headquartered in Baghdad, the army -- of an estimated 1.7 million or more Iraqis, including reserves and paramilitary -- in 1987 had seven corps, five armored divisions (each with one armored brigade and one mechanized brigade), and three mechanized divisions (each with one armored brigade and two or more mechanized brigades). An expanded Presidential Guard Force was composed of three armored brigades, one infantry brigade, and one commando brigade. There were also thirty infantry divisions, composed of the People's Army (Al Jaysh ash Shaabi--also cited as the Popular Army or People's Militia) brigades and the reserve brigades, as well as six Special Forces brigades

Since the War, the army reduced the numbers of units and personnel, and focused on reconstituting armor and mechanised units with remaining equipment. The number of regular army divisions was cut from seven armored/mechanised and 20 infantry divisions to two or three armor divisions, three mechanised divisions and 15 to 17 infantry divisions

Unidades

• I Corps
• II Corps
• III Corps
• IV Corps
• V Corps

Guardia Republicana

The Republican Guard is the best of the Iraqi ground forces. The RGFC is Iraq's most capable and loyal force, and receives the best training and equipment. It began as an elite organization tasked with regime protection. This organization served as the core around which to build an elite offensive force, which grew dramatically during the last two years of the war with Iran. During the Iran-lraq war this organization was expanded from a Palace Guard of one brigade into a separate force -- the Republican Guard Forces Command -- of thirty to thirty-three brigades in seven divisions.

The Republican Guard Forces Command possesses advantages of personnel and equipment over the larger Regular Army. RGFC armored battalions had nine more tanks than Army tank battalions, giving them added firepower. Otherwise, the organization of combat arms units in the Guard and regular Army appeared identical. All Republican Guard troops were highly motivated volunteers rather than conscripts. Personnel recruited into the RGFC were given bonuses, new cars and subsidized housing. All had more training than the regulars; and all had the most modern equipment in the Iraqi inventory, including the Soviet T-72 tank with night vision capability. This elite corps included infantry, mechanized and motorized infantry, and armored divisions.

Unidades

• 1st Hammurabi Division
• 2nd Al-Medina Division
• 3rd Tawakalna Division
• 4th Al-Faw Division
• 5th Baghdad Division
• 6th Nebuchadnezzar Division
• 7th Adnan Division
• 8th Special Forces Division
• Al Abed Division
• Al Nida Armored Division

Guardia Republicana Especial (SRG)

The praetorian Special Republican Guard (SRG) is responsible for protecting the president and providing a military response to any attempt at a rebellion or coup. The SRG is the only significant military unit allowed in central Baghdad, apart from the intelligence services’ military branches. This elite para-military unit was founded in early 1992 [some accounts say March 1995] by Saddam Hussein. Although sometimes confused with the elite military forces of the Republican Guard, it is an entirely separate entity with quite different functions and capabilities.

Initially, the unit consisted of some 15,000 young troops, composing thirteen battalions of 1,300-1,500 men each. Subsequently this force grew to upwards of 26,000 troops in thirteen battalions. Units are deployed to guard Saddam's palaces, to escort Saddam on his travels, and others as `emergency response' forces. As of 1998 the SRG was estimated to include about 15,000 troops. As of 2002 the SRG was estimated to include about 12,000 troops, reportedly with armor, air defence and artillery units. These were variously reported to consist of as many as 14 battalions, apparently organized into four Special Republican Guard brigades of up to 2,500 troops each

Unidades

• 1st Brigade
• 2nd Brigade
• 3rd Brigade
• 4th Brigade
• Air Defense Command
• Tank Command

Fuerza Aerea

In 1987 the Iraqi air force consisted of 40,000 men, of whom about 10,000 were attached to its subordinate Air Defense Command. The air force was headquartered in Baghdad, and major bases were located at Basra, H-3 (site of a pump station on the oil pipeline in western Iraq), Kirkuk, Mosul, Rashid, and Ash Shuaybah. The Iraqi air force operated from 24 main operating bases and 30 dispersal bases, with extensive nuclear-hardened shelters and multiple taxiways to multiple runways.

Iraq's more than 500 combat aircraft were formed into two bomber squadrons, eleven fighter-ground attack squadrons, five interceptor squadrons, and one counterinsurgency squadron of 10 to 30 aircraft each. Support aircraft included two transport squadrons. As many as ten helicopter squadrons were also operational, although these formed the Army Air Corps. The Air Defense Command piloted the MiG-25, MiG-21, and various Mirage interceptors and manned Iraq's considerable inventory of surfaceto -air missiles (SAMs).

Even after the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi military still possesses a wide range of sophisticated weapons that potentially could be used to attack civil aviation aircraft overflying Iraq at cruising altitudes. These weapons include Russian- and French-made fighter and attack aircraft armed with cannons and air-to-air missiles, as well as Russian surface-to-air missile systems. The partially rebuilt integrated air defense command and control system combines early warning radars and visual observers with the sophisticated weapons.

Equipamiento estimado

Defensa Antiaerea

 2002 Iraq's military had modifyied its once standard Soviet-era air-defense systems with newer equipment from a variety of sources. The result is that Iraq's air-defense systems are becoming amalgams of Western, old East European, and Far Eastern technologies that behave in non-standard ways. That makes them less predictable for the US and British planes that are their targets and increasingly difficult to counter. Assistance from the Chinese has been forthcoming in terms of laying fiber-optic cables between the various air-defense nodes, particularly in southern Iraq. The purpose behind this is to reduce the electronic emissions given out by the air-defense facilities which, normally, the Americans either would jam or spoof [electronically deceive], or indeed collect intelligence data from.

By 2002 Iraq still maintained an integrated air defense system (IADS) of overlapping rings of surface-to-air missiles around Baghdad and Tikrit. However, in the no-fly zones air defenses consisted of antiaircraft artillery and modified artillery rockets, with occasional surface-to-air missiles moved into unprepared sites for a short time. Command and control in the no-fly zones is rudimentary and decentralized, because the air defenses there have been attacked with regularity over the years. By 2002 Iraq's shoulder-fired, low-altitude missiles were primarily the aging SA-7 and SA-14s. The Iraqis were not thought to have the more sophisticated SA-16s and SA-18s. The primary air defense operations center is in Baghdad, with sector air defense centers in Taji (central), Kirkuk (north), H-3 (west) and Talil (south). These centers control about 60 SAM firing units [variously called batteries or battalions] of SA-2s, SA-3s and SA-6s. At the beginning of Desert Storm, there were 90 such units. According to some estimates there are as many as 7,000-7,500 AAA guns of 23 mm or greater caliber [IISS estimates about 6,000 such guns]. The most numerous AAA guns are reportedly the 57-mm S-60 and the 100-mm KS-19.

Navy

The most significant threat from the Iraqi navy is from smaller patrol boats that could be used to lay mines or harass shipping. Iraq also has a limited number of SEERSUCKER coastal defense cruise missiles.

The Iraqi navy consists of three major surface classes: an 1850-ton Class FFT, a BOGOMOL Class PC, and an OSA I Class PTG. Minor classes include: PB 90 Class PB, ZHUK Class PB, BHC SR N6 WINCHESTER Class LCPA, YEVGENYA Class MSI, NESTIN Class MSB, and a yacht with a helicopter deck. There are, however, numerous units of smaller patrol boat size, such as the SWARY classes. Iraq is estimated to have more than 150 of these smaller boats. Although these boats are typically the size of small to medium power/speed boats and not heavily armed, they could be used for limited mining or raiding missions

Inventario Estimado.

Misiles

Los datos son estimados en función del inventario anterior a la Guerra del Golfo y a sus perdidas en la misma.

Alcances de los diversos tipos de misiles en el inventario iraquí.