U.S. delivers helos to Iraq

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has delivered three armed helicopters to Iraq and is now transporting them to the country, officials said.

The aircraft, Bell 407 Scout helicopters, were delivered at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama to Iraqi officials as part of a 2010 Foreign Military Sale involving the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command and the Army's Program Executive Office Aviation.

This marks the sixth completed delivery of Iraqi Armed 407 Scout helicopter through Foreign Military Sales that began in 2010.

"We are building partner capacity, which means the Iraqi's are building their own capability that allows them to perform operations that the U.S. is no longer there to provide," said Kevin Richardson, deputy director of USASAC's Central Command Region Operations. ""This Foreign Military Sales case is a 'total package' -- it also includes training for the pilots, some of which was conducted here at Redstone this summer, and other support that will sustain the systems and our partnership with the government of Iraq well into the future."