Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Iraq, in less than a week of fighting, has exhausted its supply of U.S.-origin air-to-ground missiles.

Officials said the Iraqi military has run out of U.S.-origin AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

They said the Iraq Air Force fired hundreds of Hellfires in the unsuccessful effort to stop the advance of Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“They fired wildly and sometimes they struck their own forces,” an official said.

Officials did not disclose how many Hellfire missiles were delivered to
the Iraqi military. They said the AGM-114K fire-and-forget laser-guided
missiles, with a range of eight kilometers, were supplied to Baghdad since
2012 when the military ordered the Bell-407 armed reconnaissance helicopter.

On June 21, ABC News reported that the Iraqi military exhausted its
Hellfire arsenal on June 15. The television report said the administration
of President Barack Obama has been delivering additional missiles to
Baghdad.

“The losses have left the Iraqi military with no offensive capability,
and no real air force,” ABC said.

The Iraq Air Force had been firing Hellfires from its Cessna light
aircraft fleet. Officials said the air force received two modified Cessna
platforms, called AC-208 Combat Caravan, for missile integration. The
upgrade was conducted by the U.S. firm Alliant Techsystems.

Officials said the Iraqi military was employing its Russian-origin Mi-17
utility helicopters and the Cessna L-19 fixed-wing aircraft for attack and
close air support missions. They said Baghdad was waiting for the more
advanced Mi-28NE attack helicopters, meant to arrive in May 2014.

A key question for the administration was whether it would proceed with
plans to deliver at least four F-16 Block 52 multi-role fighters to Iraq in
2014. Officials acknowledged that the Balad air force base, where the F-16s
were to be housed, was no longer safe from ISIL attack.

“Given the situation on the ground, there is no way we could provide
proper training or maintenance of the F-16s,” the official said.

  AGM-114K fire-and-forget laser-guided missiles, Iraq is out of Hellfire missiles, ISIL, One week into crisis