| Iraqi Air Defence Command | |
|---|---|
| قيادة الدفاع الجوي العراقي | |
 Emblem of the Air Defence | |
| Founded | 1 February 1993 |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Type | Air Defence |
| Size | 24,000 personnel (2023)[1] |
| Part of | Iraqi Armed Forces |
| Headquarters | Baghdad |
| March | March of the Air Defence |
| Engagements | |
The Iraqi Air Defence Command (Arabic: قيادة الدفاع الجوي العراقي, romanized: Qiyad al-Difaa' al-Jawiya al-Iraqi) is one of the branches of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was established on February 1, 1993. It is responsible for the protection of Iraqi airspace. Before 1993 a considerable anti-aircraft gun and missile force had been built up, but not under a separate command. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the dissolution of all Iraqi Armed Forces it was reformed in 2011. In 2023 the commander was Lieutenant General Maan al-Saadi.[2]
Iraqi air defence began with the purchase of 20-mm and 40-mm anti-aircraft guns for the Iraqi Army, and each of its divisions had an anti-aircraft battalion by the 1950s.[3] Thereafter the force saw continual growth. But after the Israelis destroyed the atomic reactor at the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in 1981 through the air raid Operation Opera, the defences wee extensively redesigned. A network of radars, surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns were installed, centered on the strategic and industrial facilities of Baghdad.
In 1988 the Air Defence Command had about 10,000 personnel.[4]
After the Gulf War of 1991, the force became a separate service in 1993.
- ^ "Defense Manpower Data Center- Monthly Strength Summary active duty Iraq". Defense Manpower Data Center. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- ^ Alinejad, A. Conversation with Masih. "Kadhimi's Rolling Reshuffle (Part 1): Military Command Changes". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ See "National Intelligence Survey Iraq Ground Forces".
- ^ Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Iraq: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1988.