Iraqi errors report - Part 2

[Marcello]

Formations 240-241-242: Rocket Bn, Rocket Bty and Rocket Pl
According to the "The Iraqi Army: Organization and Tactics" the towed MRLs (107mm Type 63 and the likes) were used in special “light batteries” composed by twelve launchers organized in three platoons with four launchers each.
I therefore suggest the following changes
Formation 242 be renamed “Rocket Sec” and have only two units
Formation 241 be renamed “Rocket Pl” and have only four units
Formation 240 be renamed “Rocket Bty” and have twelve MRL. Availability dates for this one would also be changed to 1/1960-4/2003 instead of current 1/1970-12/1981, which does not make sense.
Such organization would also be more useful for gaming purposes in (who’s going to buy the 27 rocket launchers of the current bn anyway?)

A towed and offboard version of the 152mm D-20 should be added, using the already available weapon n. 230 152mm D20 FH..
Unit 426 from and unit 177 from OOB 11 Russia can be used as templates.
Availability dates: 1/1975-4/2003
Many sources and plenty of pictures like the following support its availability in the iraqi inventory.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/imgs/d20.jpg

Unit 97: 180mm S-23 FG
Unit 181: 180mm S23 Pl
Final availability date should be restricted to 12/1988.
If they had them at all, none were probably available by OIF. They aren’t mentioned in many sources in first place and no pictures of it have emerged. The ordnance disposal reports have not turned up any 180mm ammo for them either despite the fact they are very comprehensive. I would guess that at a minimum there were not many of them to start with and they were used up well before 2003.

EDIT
Alternatively Formation 240 could have a 1/1970-4/2003 availability. But it should be available in the Iran-Iraq/GW1/OIF period and not stop at 1981.

[Marcello]

Unit 90: 122mm Sddm FH
Unit 175: 122mm Sddm Pl.
They should be deleted
Those “Saddam” guns were just locally assembled D-30. Like a lot of things in Iraq they got the “Saddam” label but they actually were nothing of special.
Currently in the game they have much greater range than the ordinary D-30, 215 vs 205
But the ordnance disposal reports have not turned up any 122mm (unlike others calibers) RAP or base bleed round that would warrant a D-30 clone with extra range.

Formation 31: R Guards Wpn Co
Formation 32: R Guards Wpn Co
Formation 291: Mot Bn Sup't Co

They should be deleted they do not match any known formation or any likely support allotment.

Formation 316: Bde Hy Mor Co
It could be deleted as redundant (others formations alredy cover thee use of the 160mm mortars adequately).

[Marcello]

Formation 165: Bde AA Company
It should be renamed “Bde SP AA Bn” or similar.Three SP SAM platoon, formation n. 175, should be added slots 6-7-8. Availability dates should be changed to 1/1978-4/2003
This formation would be used to represent the mixed SPAA/SP-SAM battalions used in the armored divisions.

Unit 178: 155mm M114 Pl
Initial availability date should be changed to to 1/1986 or similar. AFAIK the ones in service were captured from Iran. Picture should be changed to n. 12089 representing the towed gun.

Formation 295: Inf Bde Rec Co
Should be renamed Recon Plt + or similar and have a 4/2003 cutoff.

Formation 296: Mech Bde Rec Co
It should be deleted

Formation 298: Arm Bde Rec Co
It should have the formations in the slots 5-6-7 deleted and renamed Recon Plt (AT)
"The Iraqi Army: Organization and Tactics" describes a recon platoon variant composed by two standard BRDMs and four SP-ATGM. 4/2003 cutoff should be applied

[Marcello]

Some units to be added

1) Unit 983 GSP Ferry from OOB 11 Russia
2) Unit 775 PTS-M from OOB 11 Russia
Availability dates should be late 70’s, say 1/1978-4/2003. There are pictures showing them in iraqi service.

Here for example a GSP ferrying an iraqi T-62 across a river during the Iran Iraq war:



Another abandoned in a tank graveyard in Iraq:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdraide...n/photostream/

PTS-M abandoned in Iraq:



3) Unit 52 Ferret Mk 1 from OOB 7 (Great Britain)
Availability dates 1/1955-12/1970.
It could be armed with weapon n. 29 .50 cal M2 AAMG
Source: SIPRI

4) Unit n.2 Vickers Mk.6b from OOB 64 (Saudi Arabia). Availability dates 1/1946-12/1959
Armament should be the same from unit 280 Humber Mk III.
Source : I found a picture of it and a brief description at http://www.jedsite.info/tanks-victor...ion-intro.html
Though the website is not longer available I have seen pics of it elsewhere. I could track them down if you are interested.
It seems the iraqis refurbished a number of Vickers light tanks abandoned by the british at the end of WW2 and put them in service postwar. At least one of them took part in the 1958 coup and was turned into a monument.

5) An antiaircraft machine gun using weapon n. 29 .50 cal M2 AAMG
Availability date 1/1946-12/1960
This would be used to provide an antiaircraft machine gun before the arrival of the Zpu in 1959. As it is the only towed antiaircraft weapons available before that date are the 40mm Bofors.
It seems common sense that some antiaircraft machine gun was available or could have been (mounting some available .50 cal on some custom made AA mount for example) in that timeframe if needed.

[Marcello]

Formation 386:R/G SP-ATGM Pl
Formation 297: 3 SP ATGM
Formation 185: SP-ATGM Pl

Should have four units instead of three. As far I can gather from the “The Iraqi Army: Organization and Tactics” four SP-ATGM per platoon were the norm.
Also formation 185 should get a 4/2003 cutoff.


Units 159-160: MiG-29A
They should be deleted.
None would have been really available for tactical ground attack missions, because:
1)MIG-29A was an air to air version with only limited, dumb bombs only, strike capabilities
2)There were few of them at hand and those were earmarked for air defence.
3)There were several others dedicated strike planes available for ground attack.
4)Serviceability was poor, between 1991 and 2003 the MIG-23/25 did most of the air to air work as they were much easier to keep in service for the iraqi logistics. By accounts in 2003 only a couple of MIG-29s were still barely flyable. No way they would have been wasted for tactical strikes.

Source Acig.org.


Formation 141: Bombers
Final availability date of this formation should be restricted to 4/2003
Most of the planes that might qualify as “level bombers” in the game were destroyed or otherwise eliminated during the Gulf War.
1)SU-24s, with only one exception, were destroyed or defected to Iran during the Gulf War.
2)TU-22s were already out of active service during the Gulf War and were all destroyed on the ground by coalition bombing.

Only a single TU-16 was left in flyable condition betweeen the Gulf War and OIF.

Source Acig.org.

Unit 190: PC-7
It should be deleted. It is not suitable as level bomber.

[Marcello]

Some notes on the border guards

Formation 28: Border Guard Co
I would suggest it being restructured with a scout section (unit 450) in slot 2 and a MG section (formation 215) in slot 5. Final availability date would be 4/2003.

Only formation 48 Border Guard Pl would be left after that date. During the Saddam era border guards were occasionally put together in large units for frontline combat against the kurdish insurrections and the iranians but after 2003 they would be deployed in platoon size strenght only.

Unit 506: Border Guards
Initial availability date should be pushed back to 1/1986

Unit 507-508: Border Guards
They should be either deleted or rearmed, there would not have been BG-15 grenade launchers for them.
One squad should be armed with AK-47/RPK/grenades
Availability date 1/1986-12/2020

Sources:
Iraq's Ground Forces: An Assessment
http://www.foia.cia.gov

Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 3-203, Lessons
Learned: The Iran-Iraq War, Vol . I

[Marcello]

Some changes and tweaks for infantry units

A clone of unit 411 rifle section should be added
It would be armed with weapon n.4 SKS Carbine in the first slot instead of the M.44 rifle .
Availability date would be 1/1961-12/1975
SKS were available in substantial numbers in the 60’s to the iraqi army.

Unit 411: Rifle Section
Final availability date should be restricted to 12/1967
SKS were available in substantial numbers in the 60’s to the iraqi army.

Unit 413: Rifle Section
Initial availability date should be pushed back to 1/1980
PKM machine guns were a standard issue already in the 80’s

Unit 414: Rifle Section
Initial availability date could be pushed forward to 1/2010
LAWs are not issued to normal infantry yet.

Unit 476: Mech Section
The RPD should be replaced by PKM (weapon n.13)
Availability dates should be changed to 1/1980-12/2020
The RPD was largely superceded by PKM/RPK by then.

Unit 477: Mech Section
The RPD should be replaced by PKM (weapon n.13)
Availability date should be changed to 1/1990-4/2003
The RPD was largely superceded by PKM/RPK by then.

Unit 488: Mech Section
Availability date should be changed to 1/1990-4/2003,
RPG-18 was not issued past 2003.
Unit 476 would fill the formations after 4/2003 so it should not be a problem.

Unit 502: Reserve Section
Weapon n. 17 RKG-3M Grenade should be added in slot 4.
RKG-3 series grenades were still issued as late as 1991

A clone of unit 502 with weapon n. 18 RPG-7 in slot 4 should be added with availability dates 1/1992-4/2003.
After the downsizing of the army post 1991 there were apparently enough AK-47/LMGs/RPG-7 for basically everyone.

A clone of unit 501 with weapon n.4 SKS Carbine in the first slot and weapon n. 17 RKG-3M in the fourth slot should be added with 1/1975-12/1986 as availability dates.

Also

Formation 344: ILAV Company
The Strela SAM in slot 2 should be replaced by a scout section. No MANPAD have been issued to the iraqi army yet, nor such unit is planned to receive them.


With the changes above the iraqi infantry units should be as close as possible to the real thing, especially for the 1958-2008timeframe, which is probably the most important one for wargaming purposes anyway.

[Marcello]

Unit 64: YW 531 APC
Availability dates should be changed to 1/1982-12/2005

http://www.sinodefence.com/army/armour/type63.asp

“The improved Type 63C (YW531C) was introduced in 1982 for export market. This variant uses a German-designed BF8L413F air-cooled diesel engine to replace the original indigenous liquid-cooled engine. The Type 63C was exported in significant numbers to Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.”
SIPRI also confirms the 1982 deliverey date, which is consistent with the timeframe for major arms trade between China and Iraq. Few of them have also been used by the new iraqi army, at least early on, though they have been probably replaced by now as far as I can tell.
Also ground speed could be reduced from 23 to 22. 65 km/h is the maximum road speed quoted by most sources.

Unit 282-602: Panhard AML 60
All AP and HEAT rounds should be deleted. Loadout should be changed to 53 HE rounds.
Unit 282 could be deleted as redundant.
I have done some research on the matter using tanknet, ordnance disposal reports and other sources.
There were actually several different AML-60 configurations produced; some of the later ones did have a 60mm gun mortar capable of firing HEAT and kinetic rounds. Given the timeframe the iraqi ones were almost certainly early ones capable of firing only HE/Smoke/Illumination.
http://208.84.116.223/forums/index.p...7995&hl=aml-60

Unit 289: MOWAG
Availability dates should be changed to 1/1981-12/1998.
Source SIPRI

Unit 318: Panhard M3 VTT
Initial availability date should be changed to to 1/1971
It should also be rearmed with weapon 67 7.62 PKM AAMG.
According to SIPRI the first ones were supplied in 1971. Some have also been in service with the new iraqi army, see for example : http://www.longwarjournal.org/multim...-Equipment.pdf
There are also picture of it in service in the new iraqi army.

Unit 357: AUF-1 GCT
Unit 179: 155mm GCT Pl
Initial availability date should be changed to 1/1983
Source SIPRI.

Unit 362: GAZ/107 SPA
It availability dates could be changed from current 5/2003-12/2004 to 1/1980-4/2003
I have seen pictures of jeep mounted RR used for indirect fires during the Iran Iraq war.
As an alternative it could be simply deleted.

Unit 366: SA-3 Neva
Vision rating should be dropped to 0

Unit 395: T-55u
No idea if the iraqi had anything of the sort (meaning a tank with fake/absent main gun used as FO vehicle like some units in WW2) but it might be possible. I suggest initial availability date moved back to 1/1987

Unit 535: BMD-1
Initial availability date should be changed to 1/1981
Source: SIPRI

Unit 545: BM-14-16
Final availability date should be restricted to 12/1991 or such. No 140mm rockets have been found in iraq after 2003, only 107mm ones. It was probably in use at some point but not anymore by the 2000s.

Unit 554: Sajil-30
It should have 32 rockets in total, not 64. ROF should be adjusted accordingly as well.

Unit 555: Sajil-40
ROF should be decreased to 8

Unit 575: T-34/85 CS
Final availability date could be extended to 12/1986
Source: T-34-85 Medium Tank 1944-94 by Steven J. Zaloga

The following units should be rearmed with weapon 67 7.62 PKM AAMG
unit 216 BREM-1
unit 324 HMMWV
unit 604 M901 ITV
unit 643 Ain Jaria 1

[Marcello]

Formation 42: Mech Sapper Pl
The BMP-1 APCs in the last threes slots are not available in 1965(platoon start date)
I suggest them to be changed with unit 61 BTR-50PK or another class 25 APC.
This way the platoon could be used throught its entire life.

Unit 324: HMMWV
It has 111 in the heat ammo slot. Probably 111 was entered in there instead of the sound slot where it would have been approapriate.
Also survivability should be increased to 2 as it seems to be the norm for such vehicles.
This would apply to unit 910 too.

A clone of formation 19 Mech Weapons Pl should be added with unit 311 BTR-152
or another class 23 APC in slots 6-7-8 (it could be called “Mot Weapons Pl”).
Availability date would be 2/1959-4/2003.
In this way the the correct allotment of support weapons could be provided to units mounted on wheeled APCs.
Source : "The Iraqi Army: Organization and Tactics"

Formation 37: Mot Rifle Co(+)
Final availability date should be restricted to 4/2003.
Its component, formation 216 Motor MG Sec in slot 7, should be replaced with the above described Mot Weapons Pl

[Marcello]

Some notes on mountain units

Formations 100 : Mountain Co
Formation 105: Mountain Pl
They should have final availability date restricted to 4/2003.

Unit 517: Mountain Sec
Final availability date should be restricted to 12/1991
RPD machine guns were being superceded by PKM/RPK.

Unit 520: Mountain Sec
It should have the RPG-16D in slot 3 replaced with weapon n.18 RPG-7. Availability dates should be changed to 1/1980-4/2003
RPG-16D were pretty rare among iraqi forces.

Unit 518-519: Mountain Sec
They should be deleted.
RPG-16D were pretty rare among iraqi forces and BG-15 grenade launchers were even more rare, if available at all. They would have been reserved for the special forces and in any case iraqi mountain units are described as using standard weapons in the available sources.


To summarize the background.
Iraqi army mountain infantry units ceased to exist during April 2003 along with the rest of the army.
For a variety of political and military reasons the process of military reconstruction has not contemplated raising mountain infantry units until 2009.
A couple of mountain infantry divisions, the 15th and 16th, are now being raised by transferring kurdish paramilitary under iraqi military command. This will probably lenghty and complicated and in in any case mountain infantry units will not, in all likelyhood, have the same company structure of the old army. Therefore I have suggested a 4/2003 cutoff.

Sources: http://www.specialoperations.com/For...q/Mountain.htm
http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/OOBpage5- IGFC-North.pdf And others.


Some notes about artillery

A clone of unit 536 AMX-10P could also be added.
This new unit would be reclassed as class 57, renamed AMX-10 VLA and have 1/1983-4/2003 as availability dates. These vehicles were used as forward observers for the french supplied artillery systems (Unit 357 AUF-1 GCT).
Source SIPRI, Acig.org

Units 92 and 183: 5.5 Inch FG
Final availability dates don’t match with unit 92 ending at 12/1989 and unit 183 at 12/1974
All sources do indeed point to it being already out of service by 1991 but an out of service date is a bit hard to pick. As a possible solution unit 92 final availability could be set to 12/1974, as it seems at least plausible for an out of service date.

Units 85 and 170: 25 Pdr FG and 25pdr Platoon
Final availability dates don’t match with unit 85 ending at 12/1960 and unit 170 at 12/1969.
As a possible and plausible solution unit 85 final availability could be set to 12/1969 like for unit 170.

Unit 299: ZU-23 AA-Gun
Final availability date could be extended to 12/2020
They are still being used on fire support vehicles but they could be used dismounted if needed.

Source: pictures