| 9th (Fighter) Squadron, Iraqi Air Force | |
|---|---|
 An Iraqi Air Force F-16C. The 9th Squadron has operated the F-16 since it was recreated, in 2015. | |
| Active | 1961-1963 [1] 1966-1995 [1] 2015-present [2] |
| Country | Iraq |
| Branch | Iraqi Air Force |
| Role | Fighter |
| Base | Balad Air Base |
| Insignia | |
| Fin Flash |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-16IQ |
The 9th (Fighter) Squadron is a squadron of the Iraqi Air Force.
No. 9 Squadron was established in 1959 with 16 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S aircraft and based at the Rasheed Air Base near Baghdad. [3] The squadron was officially declared operational on 11 June 1961 and envisaged as a "flying praetorian guard" for regime of Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim. [4]
During the 8–10 February 1963 Ramadan Revolution, between four and six of its aircraft were destroyed on the ground by a pair of Hawker Hunters flown by pilots supporting the coup, while none of No. 9 Squadron's pilots managed to take off to confront the coup. [5] Subsequently, most of the squadron's pilots were arrested, and the unit was grounded. Many of the remaining personnel fled to Jordan and Syria. [6] The unit was then disbanded. [1]
In 1966, No. 9 Squadron was recreated. [1] As of June 1967, it was still working up on MiG-21FL/PFMs. [7]
In 1973, the squadron was in the process of receiving MiG-21MFs. Midway through the conversion to the newer variant, with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War on 6 October, all training stopped and the squadron's older MiG-21s were transferred to al-Wallid Air Base the next morning. By the afternoon of 7 October, the first 10 aircraft were forward deployed to Dmeyr and Tsaykal Air Bases, in Syria. [8] Because the aircraft still were in aluminum finish, the Syrians took care to apply their own camouflage colours on them. [9]
The pilots quickly started flying combat air patrols, and had their first contacts with Israeli fighters less than an hour after their arrival. [8] On 9 October, during a combat between two MiG-21s from No. 9 Squadron and four Israeli Dassault Mirage III over the Golan Heights, one of the Iraqi pilots hit a Mirage with two R-3S missiles. However, the other was shot down and killed. [10] The next day, a pair of MiG-21s intercepted two Israeli McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, but they were targeted by several air-to-air missiles and had to disengage. [11] On 12 October, MiG-21s from No. 9 Squadron escorted Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F that were attacking Israeli positions in the Quneitra area; while an Israeli Mirage was claimed shot down by No. 9 Squadron's commander, Major Namiq Sa'adallah, a MiG-17 was downed by the Mirages. [12] On 13 October, a pair of MiG-21PFMs intercepted a formation of Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, and one was claimed shot down by two R-3S missiles. Later that day, a pair of MiG-21s acted as baits for a group of Israeli Mirages, one of which was shot down by surface-to-air missiles. [13] On 23 October, Major Sa'adallah claimed a second Mirage shot down. Following the end of the war, all Iraqi units were withdrawn from Syria, including No. 9 Squadron. [14]
In 1974, the squadron finally converted to MiG-21MFs. [15] As of 1980, it was based at Firnas Air Base, near Mosul, with a detachment at Abu Ubayda Air Base. [16]
Reportedly, in 2002, the 9th Squadron, and the 79th and 89th Squadrons, were respectively flying MiG-21s and Mirage F1EQs from Qayyarah Airfield West. [17]
The squadron is now based at Balad Air Base and flies General Dynamics F-16IQ Fighting Falcons. [18] 34 Iraqi F-16s operate in the country. [19]
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