Parliamentary Security Committee: Tendency to buy air defense system from three countries

INA - BAGHDAD

The Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee revealed an Iraqi tendency to purchase an air defense system from three countries, while confirming that the draft federal budget law for 2022 will allocate a budget to the Ministry of Defense to purchase such a system.

"The failure to equip the Ministry of Defense with advanced and modern weapons during the current year is due to the financial crisis and the limited allocations of the ministry within the 2021 budget," said the Committee member Badr Al-Ziyadi in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

He noted, “the draft federal budget law for 2022 will work in it to provide a special budget for the Ministry of Defense for the purpose of contracting to purchase the weapons it needs, especially in the field of air defense and air force,”

“The armament file needs large sums, and the budget for the current year was mostly operational, and not enough funds were allocated to conclude armament deals between the Ministry of Defense and other armament sources," he noted, explaining that "the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee submitted a survey to the Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, to increase  Financial allocations to the Ministry of Defense to be able to conclude contracts and complete the air defense system and other needs.

He added, "Iraq needs an advanced air defense system to cover all its lands and hold the land from north to south," pointing out that "the prices of these systems are high, and there is an Iraqi trend towards France, Korea and Russia regarding the air defense system,”