Iraq Has Many Different Grad Launchers

Six years after it defeated ISIS the armed forces of Iraq continue the slow work of refurbishing and upgrading their inventory. But expensive acquisitions remain scarce with the defense budget trimmed down in the late 2010s and never raised although a substantial amount of “legacy” equipment are kept in working order. For the Army Day parade on January 6 the branches involved proved they still had enough functioning weaponry for a limited conventional war. These included a few units of Ukrainian-made Grad launchers known as the Bastion-1 whose previous deliveries to Iraq are obscured.

Seen at the parade were four Bastion-1 launchers followed by another quartet of Russian-made TOS-1A rocket launchers (these are armed with 24 thermobaric munitions) and a formation of US-made M109 155mm self-propelled howitzers. The Bastion-1 is identical to their previously Soviet, now Russian, counterparts except the transporters are Kraz-6322 models. Baghdad did arrange significant arms deals with Ukraine from 2008 to 2011 and these became engulfed in controversy. It was unclear at the time if additional rocket artillery systems were included to the armored personnel carriers and transport aircraft ordered. However, since the delivery of Bastion-1 and then Bastion-2 (the latter variant have a longer bed for the launcher) for Ukraine’s army took place from 2014 until 2022 it’s possible the Iraqis received the BM-21U instead from anywhere between 2010 and 2013.

A surprise appearance at the same parade on January 6 were different varieties of Grad launchers; those brought along by the PMF contingents who joined the army to mark the occasion. These militias, whose size and arsenal nearly overshadow the regular armed forces, receive immense quantities of equipment from Iran. Among them are Iranian-made Grad launchers based on designs originating from North Korea. Besides these vehicles there are enough clues the PMFs have more destructive rocket artillery at their disposal. Meanwhile, the PMF factions who operate combat drones have gone extraordinary lengths to conceal these from any public scrutiny unless attacks on US troops stationed in Iraq or Syria are underway.

Grad launchers have a long and crucial history with Iraq’s modern ground forces. By the 1980s it was arguable if Iraq ranked as the largest operator of rocket artillery in the Middle East with several hundred Soviet Grad variants mixed with diverse artillery systems. Iraq had a flourishing tactical missile program at the time, having reproduced the Soviet Scud B as the “Al Hussein,” and then developed large diameter rocket artillery such as the “Al Samoud” throughout the 1990s that were scrapped before the US-led 2003 invasion; no doubt the last feeble effort of a bankrupt regime. But Iraq’s bygone military-industrial sector does have a factory responsible for surface-to-surface rockets and this site appears to have been revived.

For all their splendor the army’s public displays offer little reassurance for Iraq’s citizens as at least three countries are chipping away at their sovereignty. Türkiye has thousands of troops scattered in northern Iraq who are tasked with rolling back Kurdish separatists. Iran doesn’t stop strengthening the PMFs or the network of militias it employs to pursue its goals in the broader region. With the US military now locked in an open-ended struggle against the PMFs, whose factions are eager to join a broader war against Israel, the rest of the Iraqi armed forces are caught in an awkward situation where they must preserve internal order but then stand aside for the countries using Iraq as a battleground.