Iraq is seeking to rapidly rebuild a national air defense network following the withdrawal of U.S. forces and repeated violations of Iraqi airspace during regional conflicts involving Israel, Iran and the United States.
According to a Forbes report published Saturday, citing Sabah al-Numan, the official spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Baghdad is pursuing air defense systems from several foreign suppliers as part of an accelerated modernization program.
Iraq has already ordered eight Cheongung-II, or KM-SAM, medium-range air defense batteries from South Korea under a deal first announced in 2024. The approximately $2.5 billion purchase is intended to give Iraq a modern medium-range interception capability against aircraft and missiles, although deliveries are expected to take several years.
Baghdad is also acquiring Turkish air defense equipment. Iraqi officials said earlier this year that a contract covering 20 Turkish systems was being finalized, primarily to counter drones and other low-flying threats. Turkish Korkut self-propelled anti-aircraft systems have been reported as part of Iraq's wider interest in Turkish short-range defenses.
Al-Numan said Iraq has contracts with the United States, Turkey and South Korea and expects the first new systems to begin arriving within months.
France is also becoming involved in Iraq's air defense modernization, although the French component remains at an earlier stage. During Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's September visit to Paris, Iraq signed a letter of intent with French company Harmattan AI covering autonomous air defense systems, while Baghdad and Paris agreed to pursue further discussions on counter-drone, surveillance and air defense equipment.
The U.S.-led coalition completed the withdrawal of its forces and equipment from Iraq on September 30, formally ending the Operation Inherent Resolve mission inside the country. The departure included the removal of Patriot and other air defense systems previously stationed in the Kurdistan Region. Some U.S. personnel remain in Iraq for diplomatic security, while Washington and Baghdad are moving toward a more conventional bilateral defense relationship.
The withdrawal does not mark 23 years of uninterrupted U.S. military presence. American forces entered Iraq during the 2003 invasion, withdrew in 2011 and returned in 2014 as part of the campaign against ISIS.
The removal of coalition air defenses nevertheless leaves Baghdad with greater responsibility for protecting Iraqi airspace at a time when the country has repeatedly found itself caught between regional adversaries.
Iraq formally protested Israel's use of its airspace during strikes on Iran in October 2024 and again reported violations during subsequent confrontations. When U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran began on February 28, 2026, Iraq closed its civilian airspace, but witnesses and an Iraqi military source reported Israeli aircraft and missiles crossing Iraqi territory. Iraqi aviation authorities later said the country's skies had been used by Iranian, Israeli and U.S. military traffic during the conflict.
The fighting also spilled directly into Iraq.
During the conflict, Iraqi officials and lawmakers accused the United States of facilitating Israeli operations through Iraqi airspace and territory. Some alleged that Washington had protected Israeli activity inside the country. Those accusations have not been fully independently established.
Reports published after the fighting said Israeli forces had operated from a temporary site in Iraq's Najaf desert to support operations against Iran. Two Iraqi security officials subsequently told AFP that Israeli forces had established a makeshift base at an abandoned airstrip.
Iraq's Joint Operations Command confirmed that an Iraqi patrol encountered unidentified and unauthorized armed personnel supported by aircraft in the area on March 5. One Iraqi soldier was killed and two were wounded. Baghdad did not publicly identify the force as Israeli in its official account, although subsequent media reports attributed the operation to Israel.
The incident added to concern in Baghdad that Iraq lacked sufficient surveillance and interception capabilities to prevent foreign militaries from using its territory or airspace during regional conflicts.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has sought to present Iraq as neutral in any renewed confrontation involving Washington and Tehran, continuing Baghdad's effort to avoid becoming a battlefield between outside powers.
That position was tested during the fighting earlier this year, when Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan were reported to be preparing for possible operations against Iran.
The Kurdistan Regional Government subsequently declared that its territory would not be used as a platform for attacks on neighboring states. The decision followed warnings from Iraqi armed factions, including groups associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, that Kurdish involvement in operations against Iran could widen the conflict inside Iraq.
Baghdad's broader problem is that neutrality requires more than a political declaration. Without control of its airspace, Iraq has limited ability to prevent outside powers from using the country as a transit corridor or operating area.
Iraq's modernization program is intended to change that.
Al-Numan has said the government shortened what had originally been a six-year air defense development program to three years. The plan includes medium- and long-range radar systems, missile defenses, counter-drone capabilities and a centralized command-and-control network.
Building an integrated network from equipment supplied by several countries will present technical and political complications. South Korean, Turkish, American and potentially French systems will have to be linked into a coherent national architecture rather than operated as isolated batteries.
There is also a political question. Most of Iraq's current procurement agreements involve the United States or countries closely aligned with Washington, potentially leaving Baghdad dependent on foreign suppliers for maintenance, software, spare parts and future upgrades.
That dependence could become significant if Iraqi and U.S. interests diverge over Iran or Israeli access to Iraqi airspace.
Iraq's military and state institutions are considerably stronger than they were after the U.S. withdrawal in 2011, when the rapid ISIS offensive three years later exposed severe weaknesses in the Iraqi security forces and brought the group close to Baghdad.
Washington nevertheless retains substantial economic and political leverage.
In September, Iraq suspended Iranian flights to Baghdad after the United States threatened secondary sanctions against airports and companies servicing Iranian carriers. The episode demonstrated the limits Baghdad continues to face when attempting to balance relations with Washington and Tehran.
For Iraq, the air defense program is therefore about more than acquiring missiles and radars. Baghdad is attempting to build the ability to decide for itself who can operate in Iraqi skies — a degree of military sovereignty that successive governments have struggled to establish since 2003.