ESC group helping Iraqis control, defend their airspace Published April 14, 2009 By Monica D. Morales 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- With a formal Request for Proposal due out next month, the 350th Electronic Systems Group's work to provide long-range radars to Ali Air Base, Iraq, moves closer to fruition - all part of a plan to bolster Iraq's air force with the capabilities needed to better defend the country's airspace. According to Maj. Jim Josephson, Iraq program manager within the 350 ELSG, supplying long-range radars will help Iraqis detect incoming air traffic and provide the capability for "air defense, air sovereignty and an air picture for the military or government." The long-range radars' reach would extend to an area of about 200 miles that covers the southern sector of Iraq -- including the country's southern tip, the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The data taken in by these radars will be provided to the Iraqi Sector Operations Center from the long-range radars, will provide an added layer of situational awareness. "Data from the long-range radars will be overlayed together to provide a better picture to the Air Operations Center," the major said. The radars will eventually be linked to a nationwide command and control infrastructure project known as the Iraqi Air Force Information Infrastructure Project. I3P would serve as the backbone for information flow, permitting Iraqi air bases to communicate with aircraft and Iraq's AOC. The Iraqi air force already has an AOC in place, which Major Josephson likens to a command and control (C2) hub. The long-range radars and their companion sector operations centers function as the spokes that eventually feed data right back to the AOC. "It's similar to what we do in the U.S. Air Force with regional command and control operations that provide a distant air picture to the AOC," the major said. Since the number of radars put in place depends directly on funding by the Iraqi government, the total the 350th will procure. "The program could have as many as three to four -- that's fulfilling the plan and not part of the acquisition strategy at the moment," said Major Josephson. "We can only strategize for that we have funding for." Currently the only radars in place are those owned by the United States. According to Major Josephson, they are mobile and were designed to be temporary from the start. These radars are used to support the Air Force's functional mission as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The equipment would be purchased as part of an overall effort to modernize the Iraqi air force's command and control structure that is being managed by Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. The contract for the radars and operations center is expected to be awarded before September 2009, with a possible extension until 2012.