{"id":25316,"date":"2018-06-13T19:48:11","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T19:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/13\/why-did-this-iraqi-army-brigade-swap-its-american-abrams-tanks-for-russian-ones\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:11:44","slug":"why-did-this-iraqi-army-brigade-swap-its-american-abrams-tanks-for-russian-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/13\/why-did-this-iraqi-army-brigade-swap-its-american-abrams-tanks-for-russian-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did this Iraqi army brigade swap its American Abrams tanks for Russian ones?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Iraqi armored brigade is trading its American M1A1 Abrams<\/a> tanks for the Russian T-90S main battle tank \u2014 possibly for geopolitical reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The swap comes after U.S. officials complained that Abrams tanks ended up in the hands of Iranian-backed militias<\/a>, and may be an avenue through which Russia is attempting to gain more influence in the region.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think the move was at least partly motivated by smoothing over that issue,\u201d said James Phillips, a senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut also it was a pointed reminder that the [United States] does not have a monopoly on tanks, and that Iraq can get them from Russia, as well,\u201d he added. \u201cThis diminishes U.S. leverage and increases Baghdad\u2019s options in the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal began earlier this year, when Russian state media reported that the first delivery of roughly 35 Russian tanks had arrived in February, and another batch of more than 30 additional tanks would arrive in late April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That second delivery appeared to be confirmed last week, when the Iraqi Ministry of Defense posted an Arabic-language video<\/a> showcasing the new T-90S tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Russian T-90 main battle tank variant cruises through mud and water during a demonstration. (Ramil Sitdikov\/Sputnik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iraqi Chief of General Staff Osman Ganimi said the contract for the tanks would help with \u201cincreasing combat capacity of armored troops,\u201d according to Russian state media.
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Iraqi military officials announced the tanks are going to two battalions within the 9th Armored Division, 35th Mechanized Brigade, according to a translation of the video by Military Times staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remaining Abrams tanks were redistributed over the 34th Armored Brigade, also within the same division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal was initiated at a time when as many as nine M1A1 Abrams<\/a> tanks fell into the hands of Iranian-backed militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, which are primarily Shiite units connected to Iran but permitted to fight by the Iraqi government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, told Military Times in February that the U.S. military does not provided defense equipment to the PMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\t