The Iraqi military warns of the consequences of Lockheed Martin’s withdrawal

The Iraqi army warned of the implications of Lockheed Martin’s withdrawal from the country after the corporate decided to get rid of its contractors performing on the upkeep of F-16 fighter jets at an Iraqi military base over security concerns.

In a statement to the state-owned press agency , Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, said that F-16 jets are vital , describing them because the backbone of the Iraqi air force in its fight against ISIS.

Khafaji added that the businesses involved within the maintenance of those aircraft have an immediate impact on training Iraqi technicians

He hoped the technicians are equipped to take care of the fighter jets, warning that any interruption within the maintenance will negatively affect the training and therefore the army’s engineering and technical capabilities.

The company’s vice chairman for communications, Joseph LaMarca Jr., said that in coordination with the United States government and with employee safety as a top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating its Iraq-based F-16 team.

According to an Iraqi official, the corporate has 70 employees at the Balad base, and 50 of them are going to be sent back to the US, while 20 are going to be sent to Erbil within the Kurdistan region.

The withdrawal of personnel and technicians comes because of repeated missile attacks on the bottom launched by armed groups affiliated with Iran.

A recent report by the US Department of Defense said that in the primary three months of this year, the militias focused on attacking the most bases in Iraq, which prompted the US contractors to go away al-Balad base of the Iraqi air force temporarily.

Lockheed Martin’s decision will stop the remaining number of F-16 fighters within the Iraqi fleet from operating, which casts doubts on Iraq’s ability to fight ISIS militants without US assistance.

Security expert Fadel Abu Ragheef, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the sole remaining foreign forces in Iraq are maintenance companies, noting that their presence is important for the upkeep of F-16 jets bought from the US

Abu Ragheef said that the withdrawal of the workers of this company will cause very serious harm, warning that these jets will become useless.