Iraq used converted An-32 cargo planes as bombers more often than their fleet of F-16's in the war against ISIS.

One of Iraq's An-32's modified to drop bombs. Warzone/The Drive/Iraqi Air Force. 

Iraq used converted An-32 cargo planes as bombers in the war against ISIS and even used them more than their fleet of F-16 fighters. Warzone/The Drive. A newly released graphic shows that the converted bombers were used more often than Iraqi F-16's and their Aero L-149 light attack jets. Though the SU-25 Frogfoots under Iraqi command conducted most airstrikes, the An-32 came in second with almost 1000 missions. The An-32's used "dumb" bombs, some mounted on racks and some even rolled out of the aircraft, as opposed to the precision strikes made by the F-16's. The use of those unguided bombs may have contributed to the heavy civilian casualties during the battle of Mosul and the conversion of these An-32's shows how desperate for air cover the Iraqis were during the first stage of the war against ISIS. It is unclear if Iraqi will continue to use these aircraft as bombers in the future. 

Iraqi graphic showing the statistics. Warzone/The Drive/ Iraqi Government

My Comment:

Very interesting bit of history with this story. I hadn't known that Iraq had essentially converted cargo planes into World War II style bombers. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise thought. Iraq was truly desperate in the bad old days of the ISIS war and it looked like for awhile that they might even lose Baghdad, their capital, and thus the war. 

Thankfully that didn't happen and the liberal application of air power is a large reason for it. The Iraqi Air Force, along with their US allies and special forces on the ground were able to turn the tide. Once that happen the long slog to liberate captured areas begun and the An-32's were just as useful in an offensive role as they were in a defensive one. 

Of course the SU-25's took care of most of the work load and as the war went on other planes took up some of the slack as well. But having a heavy bomb truck to drop ordinance at will helped immensely. The F-16's and L-159's were not ready to go and the SU-25's could only do so much. The A-32's filled an obvious gap in Iraq's air power.

Do I think that the article was right that using the An-32 increased casualties? Of course. Dropping unguided bombs is always going to cause collateral damage. When those bombs are dropped on a city the size of Mosul, or any populated area, civilians are going to suffer. That's the whole problem with unguided munitions. It's why most western nations have moved away from strategic bombing, it's bad press to say the least.

That being said, I do think that the Iraqi's were totally justified in using these unguided bombs. Though a few civilians probably were killed in the crossfire, it likely ended the war that much quicker. ISIS would probably be largely defeated by now anyways, but it would have taken more weeks and months, during with a lot more people that are alive now might be dead. And if the Iraqi's hadn't used these planes it's possible that Iraq could have been completely overrun by ISIS...

I do have to admire the Iraqi's creativity here. Sure other countries have done the same thing with the An-32's but I still think it is impressive. It's pretty clear that they were trying everything they could to win the war and I have to admire that.

I also have to say that this entire story is giving me a lot of nostalgia for the old World War II bombers. I've had the privilege to see most of them in person, and have even been inside a few of them, and it is cool to see a more modern version of the same concept, even if it is a jury rigged and slapdash effort. I'm hoping some day Iraqis will be able to look at these An-32's the same way...