Iraq to buy 36 F-16 fighter jets from the US

According to Reuters, on July 30, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the government will buy 36 F-16 fighter jets from the US, twice as many as originally planned, to strengthen Iraq's weak air force.

Mr. Maliki made the statement as Baghdad and Washington are discussing whether to keep some troops or military trainers in Iraq after the US withdraws all troops from the country by the end of 2012 as planned.

American F-16 fighter jet.

"A delegation of the Iraqi Air Force and its advisers will go to the United States to adjust the aircraft purchase contract to double the number previously signed. We will buy 36 F-16s, instead of the original 18. We must equip these aircraft to protect national sovereignty," Prime Minister Maliki told reporters.

The Iraqi Air Force is one of the weakest in the country's armed forces. More than eight years after the US-led invasion that toppled former President Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi military is still battling insurgents across the country./.

According to (Vietnam+)