The State Department approved a possible $350 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) request to Iraq for KA-350 sustainment, logistics, and spares support.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the potential sale on Feb. 23.
The possible FMS includes a five-year sustainment package for Iraq’s fleet of KA-350 aircraft, including operational and intermediate depot level maintenance, spare parts, component repair, publication updates, maintenance training, and logistics. The sale includes no major defense equipment (MDE).
The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) operates five King Air 350 ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) and one King Air 350 aircraft.
The prime contractor is Beechcraft Defense Company [TXT].
These KA-350 aircraft are Iraq’s only ISR-dedicated airborne platform and are used to support Iraqi military operations against Al-Qaeda affiliates and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces, DSCA said.
The sustainment package “will allow the IqAF to continue to operate its fleet of six (6) KA-350 aircraft beyond September 2016 (end of the existing Contract Logistics Support (CLS) effort),” the agency said in a statement.
Implementation of the FMS would not require U.S. government or contractor representatives to be assigned to Iraq.