THE first Iraqi tanks will be deployed on the streets ahead of the January 30 elections, senior US and British military officials said. The continuing toll of guerrilla attacks persuaded the coalition and interim Government to fast-track plans to equip the country's embattled security forces with heavy armour, The Times has learnt. Less than two years after Saddam's armoured divisions were pulverised by US-led troops, coalition advisers bowed to a request by Iyad Allawi, the Prime Minister, to reinforce his lightly armed military, which is equipped only with light weapons and trucks and buses highly vulnerable to attack by insurgents. Despite fears of the damage possible if tanks fall into the guerrillas' hands, US, Iraqi and British planners have created from scratch the new 1st Mechanised Brigade, equipped with veteran Soviet-era T-55 battle tanks and MTLB armoured vehicles.
| A T-55 is plenty heavy enough to worry a jihadi. |
Four T-55s mothballed by the old Iraqi Army have already been refurbished and transported on low loaders from the old army base in al-Muqdadiyah north of Baghdad to the training base at Taji. Commanders say they are ahead of schedule to have ten of the Russian, Chinese and East European-manufactured battle tanks deployed against insurgents — perhaps as early as Christmas — with 950 men and 44 armoured vehicles. Other elements such as the artillery battalion, likely to have 155mm howitzers, will be added later. Iraqi planners hope the full 3,000-man brigade comprising one tank, one artillery and two mechanised battalions, an engineering and reconnaissance company, air defence, communications and logistics units will be ready by the middle of next year. The tanks will be manned by experienced crews from the old Iraqi army, supervised by coalition "advisory support teams" that will train, mentor and accompany them on missions. Colonel Jani Marok, a Royal Marine serving as Chief of Plans in the development of the Iraqi Security Forces, said they would probably be deployed to guard key installations such as power stations, government facilities and "maybe in places such as Fallujah."
The T-55 was first designed in the 1950s but commanders say the Iraqi models have seen little use and are in good condition. They have a 100mm rifle bore main gun and night fighting capability. US Army Colonel David Styles said: "We drove them through Baqubah on transporters and you should have seen the looks on the faces of the Iraqi people. At first they thought, 'Oh just another American convoy', but then they saw that they were T-55s and noticed the Iraqi markings and there were a lot of cheers."
| "Ahhh, T55s! What fond memories they bring back! It seems like the old Iraq again, the good old day! Why, I can remember back when the entire 42nd Division ran over Uncle Mahmoud..." |
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