TSAMTO, February 7. According to information published on the Tactical Report website on February 4, Iraq is negotiating with China on the acquisition of long-range anti-aircraft missile systems FD-2000B.
Recall that in April 2020, the Iraqi media reported on the intention of the Iraqi leadership to consider the acquisition of the Russian S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system. As Al Sabaah newspaper reported at the time, the Security and Defense Committee of the country's parliament submitted a report to the Office of the Prime Minister of Iraq recommending the purchase of S-400 air defense systems.
Earlier, in January 2020, Iraq announced that it would study potential offers to purchase air defense systems from China, Russia and Ukraine.
Later, on October 11, 2021, The New Arab edition, citing a member of the Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi parliament, Bader Al-Ziyadi, reported that the purchase of long-range air defense systems from the following three countries is being considered: Russia, France or the Republic of Korea.
At the same time, it was noted that the acquisition of the S-400 is fraught with political risks, as it may lead to sanctions from the United States, Iraq's key security partner, in accordance with the law "On Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions" (CAATSA). Although Turkey, despite the threat of sanctions, decided to continue purchasing the S-400 air defense system, the threat of sanctions from the United States under CAATSA has already had a "negative impact" on some countries that were considering the possibility of acquiring the Russian system.
FD-2000B is a long-range air defense system developed by the Chinese corporation CASIC (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation). The air defense system can intercept air and ballistic targets at a range of up to 200 km, the interception height is 500-30000 m, the radar detection range is 280 km. The air defense system is designed to defeat all types of aerodynamic targets (airplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles) flying at speeds up to 1000 m/s at a distance of up to 125 km and at altitudes from 25 m to 27 km. Deployment time is about 20 minutes.
