Iraqi Air Force shows off rebuilt Huey helicopters (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Iraqi Air Force shows off rebuilt Huey helicopters
03 Mar 2007 13:46:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Claudia Parsons

BAGHDAD, March 3 (Reuters) - Iraq's Air Force should have 50 to 60 helicopters by the
end of the year, including 28 new Russian aircraft, Iraq's defence minister said on Saturday
as he inspected two refitted Vietnam-era Huey helicopters in Baghdad.

-snip-

The Hueys, the workhorse of the U.S. army in the 1970s, are part of an initial shipment
of five donated by Jordan and refitted with modern avionics and new engines in the United
States at a cost of $3.5 million each, funded by Washington.

Jordan has donated 16 Hueys in all, with the remainder due to arrive by July. The aircraft
date from the 1960s and 1970s and were originally a gift to Jordan from the United States.

But U.S. officials balk at the term "third-hand", saying almost every major part except the
control stick is brand new.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR347933.htm

[DemoTex]

1. Reminds me of a Michael Bedard poster from 1982

[baldguy]

2. The airframes are brand new, too?

[DemoTex]

3. 40 year-old airframes.

Probably "zero-timed" for life extension.

[MADem]

4. So much for those old no-fly zones! NT

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. just in time to invade Iran.

with all those new computerized gizmos and weapons systems.