WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Iraq seeks to purchase radar and other systems and equipment from the United States in a deal that would be worth $299 million.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its notification to Congress of the possible sale, said the systems and services requested include six AN/TPQ-36(V)10 Firefinder radar systems, 18 AN/TPQ-48 light-weight counter-mortar radars, meteorological measuring sets, 36 export variant single-channel ground and airborne radio systems, six advanced field artillery tactical data systems and three position and azimuth determining systems.
Also requested are common hardware and software, communication support equipment, tools and test equipment, spare and repair parts, support equipment, publications and technical data, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. government and contractor engineering, logistics and technical support services and other related elements of logistics support.
The DSCA said the proposed sale of the Firefinder radars will advance Iraq's efforts to develop an integrated ground defense capability and to develop a strong and dedicated military force.
"The Firefinder radars will enable Iraq to assume some of the missions currently accomplished by U.S. and coalition forces and to sustain itself in its efforts to establish stability to Iraq," it said.
The prime contractors involved with the sale would be Thales Raytheon Systems, Northrop Grumman, Smith-Detection Technologies, ITT Corp., Defense Electronics Services, Raytheon Co., L-3 Communications and SRCTec.
Implementation of this proposed sale would require U.S. government or contractor representatives to travel to Iraq for up to three years for equipment de-processing/fielding, system checkout, new equipment training and logistics support.
